Sci/Tech Valery Polyakov, Russian cosmonaut who logged longest space mission, dies

tom_mai78101

The Helper Connoisseur / Ex-MineCraft Host
Staff member
Reaction score
1,632
September 19, 2022 — Soviet-era cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who logged the single longest stay in space, has died at the age of 80.

Polyakov's death on Monday (Sept. 19) was reported by Roscosmos, Russia's federal space corporation.

"The Roscosmos State Corporation regrets to announce the death of the Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Russia, USSR pilot-cosmonaut, holder of the world record for the longest flight into space (437 days) Valery Polyakov," Roscosmos officials wrote on the messaging service Telegram (machine translated from the original Russian). "We express our deep condolences to the relatives and friends of Valery Vladimirovich."

Selected in 1972 with Russia's third group of medical doctors to train to become cosmonauts, Polyakov launched on two long-duration missions to the Russian space station Mir. In total, he was off Earth for 678 days, 16 hours and 32 minutes, ranking him today as eighth in the world for total time spent in space.

Polyakov's first mission began with his launch aboard Soyuz TM-6 on Aug. 29, 1988. Lifting off with commander Vladimir Lyakhov and Intercosmos cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Momand, the first Afghani to fly into space, Polyakov arrived at Mir three days later, where he became part of the third expedition crew to live aboard the space station (Lyakhov and Momand returned to Earth after nine days).

Joining Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov, who had already been on Mir for eight months, Polyakov was assigned to monitor his new crewmates' health as they entered the final months of their year-long stay. Titov and Manarov departed the station and landed aboard Soyuz TM-6 on Dec. 21, 1988, after 366 days in orbit.

As for himself, Polyakov spent the remainder of his 241-day stay with Alexander Volkov and Sergei Krikalev, who arrived aboard Soyuz TM-7 with Jean-Loup Chrétien, the first citizen of France to fly into space making his second spaceflight. Polyakov returned to Earth with Volkov and Krikalev on April 27, 1989.

 

The Helper

Necromancy Power over 9000
Staff member
Reaction score
1,688
Sucks! Time is just flying by! I graduated high school in 1987. This lady had her mission in 1988. Time is just moving too fast.
 
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.

      The Helper Discord

      Members online

      Affiliates

      Hive Workshop NUON Dome World Editor Tutorials

      Network Sponsors

      Apex Steel Pipe - Buys and sells Steel Pipe.
      Top