He was born in Gyulaháza, and graduated from aeronautical college at Szolnok. He also attended the Air Military College, Krasnodar, in the Soviet Union.
After earning his qualifications at university, Farkas joined the Hungarian Air Force and rose to the rank of Brigadier General. He was selected as part of the fifth international programme for Intercosmos. His backup cosmonaut was Béla Magyari.
Farkas, along with Soviet cosmonaut Valeri Kubasov, was launched into space on Soyuz 36 from Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 26, 1980, at 18:20 (GMT).
While in orbit, Farkas conducted experiments on material science. After 7 days, 20 hours and 45 minutes, and having completed 124 orbits, Farkas and Kubasov returned to Earth, landing 140 km southeast of Dzheskasgan.
Farkas is married to Anikó Farkas, and has three children: Aida, Ádám and Bertalan. He loves soccer and plays it often.
He is a member of the Hungarian Democratic Forum, a Hungarian conservative political party, and was its candidate at the 2006 parliamentary election in the Baktalórántháza election district. <!-- http://velvet.hu/celeb/hcdb/napcelebje/bertalan0227/ -->
External links
*Spacefacts biography of Bertalan Farkas*His biography at Hungary.hu
Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!
