[3] The Interkosmos cooperation led by the Soviet Union made it possible for a representative from each of the member countries to go into space.

The selection of Hungarian astronaut candidates from among fighter pilots began in May 1977 at the Aeromedical Research and Testing Institute in Kecskemét.

Bertalan Farkas's astronaut colleague and commander was Valery Kubasov, and Bela Magyari's was Vladimir Dzhanyibekov.

[4] After the mission, he was promoted from captain to major and received the Order of the Flag of the Hungarian People's Republic, decorated with a laurel wreath.

His thesis was on materials science experiments in Hungarian-Soviet space flight; crystallization of aluminium-copper alloy under microgravity conditions.