Poland’s only cosmonaut, who circled Earth in 1978, has died

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Family members of Poland’s only cosmonaut, who circled Earth in a Soviet spacecraft in 1978, say he has died. Gen. Miroslaw Hermaszewski was 81. His death Monday was announced by his son-in-law, European Parliament member Ryszard Czarnecki. The retired air force pilot died at a hospital in Warsaw of complications from surgery. Hermaszewski became a national hero thanks to his trip to space. For nine days in the summer of 1978, Hermaszewski and a Soviet cosmonaut circled the Earth in the Soyuz 30 spaceship, which docked at the Salyut 6 orbital space station.