Mikhail Kornienko
Russian cosmonaut who completed a year-long ISS mission.
Mikhail Borisovich Kornienko, born 15 April 1960, is a Russian cosmonaut who has traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) on several occasions. He is most recognized for spending a full year in orbit, from March 2015 to March 2016, alongside American astronaut Scott Kelly. That mission, launched on Soyuz TMA-16M, covered Expeditions 43 through 46 and was designed to gather data on how the human body and mind respond to long-duration spaceflight, with the aim of supporting future missions that require extended stays in space.
Kornienko first flew to the ISS as a flight engineer for Expeditions 23 and 24 in 2010. He launched on 2 April 2010 aboard Soyuz TMA-18 from Baikonur Cosmodrome with fellow Russian Aleksandr Skvortsov and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson. The trio returned to Earth on 25 September 2010, landing near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. After that mission, Kornienko remarked that what he missed most was Earth itself—its smells, trees, and even the scent of a barbecue fire. He said he hung pictures of trees on the walls to lift his spirits.
During that same expedition, on 27 July 2010, Kornienko performed a spacewalk with cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. They spent six hours and 42 minutes outside the station outfitting the Rassvet module’s Kurs docking system, installing cables, and replacing a video camera. At one point, an unidentified object—possibly a cable fixture—floated away, followed later by a washer.
Kornienko was born in Syzran, Kuybyshev Oblast, in the Russian SFSR. His father, Boris G. Kornienko, was a military pilot who died in an Mi-6 helicopter crash in October 1965. His mother, Faina M. Kornienko, was born in 1931 and is retired. He is married to Irina Kornienko, a doctor, and they have a grown daughter.
After finishing secondary school No. 15 in Chelyabinsk in 1977, he worked at a radio equipment plant there. In May 1978, he was drafted into the Soviet Army and served in the Airborne Forces in Kirovabad, Azerbaijan, leaving in May 1980 as a junior sergeant. From 1980 to 1986, he worked for the Moscow Municipal Militsiya while attending evening classes at the Moscow Aviation Institute. He graduated in 1987 as a mechanical engineer specializing in liquid propellant rocket engines. He left the militsiya in 1986 and joined a mechanical engineering design bureau.
Quick Facts
- Other Names
- Mikhail Borisovich Korniyenko
- Birth Date
- 1960-04-15
- Birth Place
- Syzran, Kuibyshev (Samara) Region, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
- Occupation
- Engineer
- Evas
- 2
- Eva Time
- 12 hours, 13 minutes
- Selection
- 1998 Cosmonaut Group
- Space Time
- 516d 10h 1m
- Missions
- Soyuz TMA-18 (Expedition 23/24), Soyuz TMA-16M/Soyuz TMA-18M (Expedition 43/44/45/46, ISS year-long mission)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Kornienko was born in Syzran and graduated from secondary school No. 15 in Chelyabinsk in 1977. He worked at a radio equipment plant before serving in the Soviet Army's Airborne Forces from 1978 to 1980, reaching the rank of junior sergeant. He then worked for the Moscow Municipal Militsiya from 1980 to 1986 while studying at the Moscow Aviation Institute, graduating in 1987 as a liquid propellant rocket engines mechanical engineer. After working at the Baikonur Launch Facility and in commercial companies, he joined RSC Energia in 1995, where he developed technical documentation for cosmonaut training and participated in EVA tests in simulated zero-gravity.
Selected as a test cosmonaut candidate on 24 February 1998, he qualified as a test cosmonaut in 1999. He served as flight engineer on Expedition 23 and 24 in 2010, launching on Soyuz TMA-18 on 2 April 2010 and landing on 25 September 2010. During that mission, he performed a spacewalk on 27 July 2010 with Fyodor Yurchikhin lasting 6 hours 42 minutes, during which two small unidentified objects floated away. After returning, he remarked that he missed Earth's smells and trees, even hallucinating the smell of a fire and barbecue.
In November 2012, Kornienko was selected with Scott Kelly for a year-long mission launching in March 2015 on Soyuz TMA-16M. The mission spanned Expedition 43 through 46 and aimed to study how the human body reacts to long-duration spaceflight, informing future missions to the Moon, an asteroid, and Mars. They landed on 1 March 2016.
Reader's Guide
Kornienko's year-long mission with Scott Kelly represents a landmark in human spaceflight research, providing critical data on the physiological and psychological effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity. The mission was designed to help prepare for future deep-space exploration, including missions around the Moon and to Mars. His earlier service on Expedition 23/24 and his spacewalk experience contributed to his selection for this extended duration flight. The data collected from the 12-month expedition continues to inform assessments of crew performance and health, and helps validate countermeasures to reduce risks for future exploration. Kornienko's background—from military service and police work to engineering at Baikonur and RSC Energia—illustrates the diverse path that led to his role in this pioneering research. His personal reflections on missing Earth's sensory experiences during spaceflight add a human dimension to the scientific objectives of long-duration missions.
Did You Know?
- During his 2010 spacewalk, two small unidentified objects floated away from the cosmonauts.
- He appeared as himself in the 2016 comedy film Yolki 5.
More in Amateur Radio People, Part 3 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced