Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez Status: Retired 1/29/1942 – Nationality: Cuban Type: Government Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (born January 29, 1942) is a Cuban military officer, legislator, and former cosmonaut and the first person of African heritage in space. As a member of the crew of Soyuz 38, he became the first Cuban citizen and the first person from a country in the Western Hemisphere other than the United States to travel into Earth orbit.