Poland’s only cosmonaut, Mirosław Hermaszewski, dies aged 81

Hermaszewski circled Earth in the Soyuz 30 spacecraft in 1978 as part of the Soviet Intercosmos programme

Poland's only cosmonaut, Gen Mirosaw Hermaszewski, who circled the Earth in a Soviet spacecraft in 1978, has died. He was 81.

The retired air force pilot's death on Monday was announced via Twitter by his son-in-law, European Parliament member Ryszard Czarnecki. He later told Polish media outlets that Hermaszewski died at a hospital in Warsaw of complications from a surgery he had undergone in the morning.