Maksim Surayev

Early life and education

Surayev was born in Chelyabinsk and moved frequently during childhood due to his father's military postings, living in Siberia and later near Moscow. He graduated with honors from the Kacha Air Force Pilot School in 1994 and from the Zhukovski Air Force Academy in 1997. He earned a law degree from the Russian Academy of Civil Service in 2007. He is married with two daughters and enjoys sports, reading, diving, and parachuting.

Cosmonaut career

Surayev completed basic space training from December 1997 to November 1999 and qualified as a test-cosmonaut. He served as backup for ISS Expeditions 17 and 19 between 2006 and 2009. He commanded Soyuz TMA-16, launching on 30 September 2009, and served as flight engineer for Expeditions 21 and 22 during a 167-day stay. He returned on 18 March 2010.

On 14 January 2010, he performed a 5-hour 44-minute spacewalk with Oleg Kotov, connecting cables between Poisk and Zvezda, installing docking targets and Kurs aerials, attaching handrails, retrieving a biological experiment, and discarding space trash. He later commanded Soyuz TMA-13M, launching on 28 May 2014 with Alexander Gerst and Reid Wiseman, docking with the Rassvet Module. As part of Expeditions 40 and 41, he conducted scientific activities and observed visiting vehicles including Progress, Dragon, Cygnus, and the final ATV.

He served as ISS expedition commander of Expedition 41 from 10 September to 10 November 2014, returning to Earth on 10 November. He performed a second spacewalk in 2014 with Aleksandr Samokutyaev lasting 3 hours 38 minutes.

Did You Know?

• Surayev kept a blog while in space during Expedition 21/22.
• He is a qualified diver and paraborne instructor.
• During his second spacewalk, Surayev jettisoned the RK 21-8 Radiometria science payload 33 minutes into the EVA.