Yuri Malenchenko

Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (Юрий Иванович Маленченко; born December 22, 1961) is a retired Russian cosmonaut.

Malenchenko graduated from the Kharkiv Military Aviation School in 1983, and attended the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy, graduating in 1993.

Malenchenko was awarded:

After graduation from the Military Aviation School, he served as a pilot, senior pilot and multi-ship flight lead from 1983 till 1987 in the Odessa Region.

In 1987 he was selected as a cosmonaut, and arrived at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

From December 1987 to June 1989 Malenchenko underwent a course of general space training.

After completion of the course, he was qualified as a test-cosmonaut.

Between September 1989 to December 1993 he was taking advanced training courses in preparation for spaceflight.

In January–July, 1993 Malenchenko trained as commander of the Mir-14 reserve crew.

He completed training as a backup commander of the Mir-15 crew from July 1993 to January 1994.

From February to June 1994 Malenchenko trained for the Mir-16 mission.

On July 1, 1994, Malenchenko and Talgat Musabayev lifted off to space on board the Soyuz TM-19 spacecraft with Malenchenko in command of the Soyuz.

Following a two-day solo flight the Soyuz docked with Mir on July 3, 1994.

Main goal of the mission was the partly exchange of the resident crew.

On November 4, 1994, Malenchenko, Musabayev and Ulf Merbold returned to Earth aboard their Soyuz capsule after landing 88 km northeast of Arkalyk.

Aboard Soyuz TM-19 and Mir complex Malenchenko spent 125 days, 22 hours, 53 minutes in space.

Malenchenko served as a mission specialist for STS-106.

lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on September 8, 2000.

On flight day two, Atlantis completed a successful rendezvous and docking with the ISS.

The objectives of the mission were to bring supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) and to prepare the Zvezda Service Module for the arrival of the first resident crew.

During the 12-day mission, the shuttle crew spent a week inside the ISS unloading supplies from both a double SPACEHAB cargo module in the rear of Atlantis cargo bay and from Progress M1-3 which was docked to the aft docking port of Zvezda.

After circling the globe for 186 orbits, Atlantis landed on September 19, 2000, at Runway 15, KSC.

The mission lasted 11 days, 19 hours and 12 minutes.

Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 mi over New Zealand, on the International Space Station.

As of December 2023, Malenchenko ranks third for career time in space due to his time on both Mir and the International Space Station (ISS).

He is a former commander of the International Space Station.

Malenchenko was born in Khrushchev, Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukrainian SSR.

He and his wife Ekaterina Dmitrieva have one child.

Malenchenko with astronaut Edward Lu lifted on board the Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on April 26, 2003, to the ISS.

The spacecraft docked with the ISS on April 28, 2003.

Malenchenko served as the Soyuz commander, and after docking with the ISS they exchanged with the resident crew on board ISS and became the seventh station crew, Expedition 7.

He was the commander of the Expedition 7, and during his stay on the station, Malenchenko became the first person to get married in space.

Soyuz TMA-2 returned to Earth on October 28, with both the Expedition 7 crew as well as Pedro Duque on board.

The spacecraft landed at 02:40 UTC near Arkalyk.

Aboard Soyuz TMA-2 and the ISS, Malenchenko spent 184 days, 22 hours and 46 minutes in space.

Malenchenko with NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and Malaysian spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor blasted off to space on October 10, 2007, on Soyuz TMA-11 from the Baikonour Cosmodrome.

He served as the Soyuz commander.

Malenchenko, Musabayev and cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov became the 16th resident Mir crew, with Malenchenko in command.

The crew conducted medical experiments and experiments in materials science.

There were many problems during the mission, which finally ended with the first successful manual docking of a Progress supply ship at Mir by Malenchenko.