Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez was born in Guantánamo on January 29th. 1942 in lap of a worker family. When he was one he was orphan of mother and later of father. His childhood was difficult, he grew up mainly with his maternal grandmother, only with 10 years old he had to start working shining shoes or some other small work, later when he was older entered at a carpentry as an apprentice. When the Cuban Revolution triumphed the young  Arnaldo Tamayo was 17 and incorporated to the first young association that was founded, the Young Rebels Association.

He was formed at the Ejecito Rebelde Technological Institute and later at Revolutionary Armed Forces, starting from the same association is made a call to young people in order to form future officers of the armed forces, the offerings included different for a childhood dream, because of Guantánamo is very near Guantánamo territory and that was forming his disciplined spirit traveled to the USSR in order to continue his course of pilot by an accelerated course and started to accumulate experience as a pilot improving his habits in the units and the Know ledges about this complex technics.

During the “Crisis de Octubre ” (1962) the pilot Arnaldo Tamayo realized a score of patrol missions. In 1963 he was ascended to lieutenant, and in 1967 he is designed Chief of Squadron in the same year he visited Vietnam. In 1969 studied at Maximo Gómez Academy. He is designed Chief of Main State of the Air Brigade in Santa Clara charge that performed during 4 year (1971 - 1975). In 1975 he is a Commander and Pilot Instructed and ascended to Lieutenant – Colonel in 1976.

With almost 20 years old, accumulating experience and improving his professional profile Arnaldo Tamayo was selected by his Condition and in March, 1978 went to the USSR to train as a cosmonaut selected to integrate the Soviet space Program “Intercoms”.

Exactly at 19:11 hr on September 18th, 1980 from the cosmodromo of Baikonur (today Kazjistan Republic) Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez is threw to his historical flight to the space on the ship Soyuz 38 joining to the Commander Yuri Romanenko cosmonaut who executed his second mission at the space.  Never before a black man who came from a sub-developed country had even dreamed about traveling in the out space as an investigator on a space ship.

The mission lived 7 days and 20 hours in the space and developed with success the more than 20 scientific experiment that they have in mind among them the cultivation of the first organic mono-glasses in micro-gravity using Cuban sugar for which they were prepared and trained methodically.

Arnaldo Tamayo is honored with the Orden Lenin and the Estrella de Oro the Héroe de la URSS in Moscow. On October 21st in opened the exhibit “El cosmo al servicio de la paz y el progreso” at the Cuban Pavilion. When he got back to Cuba is honored with the first medal of Héroe de la República de Cuba. Today Tamayo is General of Brigade and Chief of the Department of exterior Relations of MINFAR. I’am dreaming about gets back to the cosmos. “I’am pilot since my youth and I will be forever, it does not matter how old I’am”. Arnaldo Tamayo says