Oleg Skripochka

Roscosmos career

Skripochka was chosen as a test cosmonaut in 1997 and took the advanced space training course from January 1998 to November 1999. From April 2007 to April 2008, he served as a backup crewmember for ISS Expedition 17, training as a Soyuz TMA and ISS flight engineer. Starting in August 2008, he trained as a flight engineer for ISS Expedition 25/26 and the Soyuz TMA-M spacecraft. He launched on 7 October 2010 from Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard Soyuz TMA-01M with cosmonaut Aleksandr Kaleri and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, docking with the ISS at 00:01 UTC on 10 October 2010.

During the mission, the crew worked on fundamental physics, biometric experiments, crystal growth studies, and education outreach. After 159 days in space, Skripochka returned to Earth on 16 March 2011. The Soyuz TMA-01M undocked from the Poisk module at 4:27 GMT and touched down on its side at 7:54 GMT near Arkalyk in north central Kazakhstan. The landing weather was harsh with high winds and viciously cold temperatures; NASA spokesman Rob Navias said, 'You would think that was a scene out of the North Pole.'

Skripochka performed three spacewalks during Expeditions 25 and 26. On 15 November 2010, he joined Fyodor Yurchikhin for Russian EVA #26, a six-hour 27-minute spacewalk where they removed Kontur and Expose-R experiments, installed a portable multipurpose workstation on Zvezda, added handrail extensions between Poisk and both Zvezda and Zarya, performed the Test experiment for microorganisms under insulation, and tried to relocate a TV camera from Rassvet but could not due to insulation interference.

On 21 January 2011, during Russian EVA #27 with Dmitri Kondratyev, Skripochka wore a NASA wireless TV camera and helmet lights for live video to Mission Control-Moscow. They deployed an antenna for a high-speed data transmission system, removed a plasma pulse generator from Zvezda, retrieved the Expose-R experiment, and installed a new docking camera on Rassvet. On 16 February 2011, for Russian EVA #28, Skripochka and Kondratyev installed a radio antenna, deployed a nano satellite, set up the Molniya-Gamma experiment and a high-speed data transmission experiment, and retrieved two exposure panels from the Komplast experiment.

Did You Know?

• Skripochka was born into a soldier's family and lived in Nevinnomyssk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and Zaporizhia before entering Bauman Moscow State Technical University.
• He worked as a test-metal worker from 1987 to 1991 and as a technician from 1991 to 1993 at the Energia scientific-industrial association project bureau.
• During his first spacewalk (Russian EVA #26), Skripochka wore an Orlan-MK spacesuit marked with blue stripes.
• On Russian EVA #27, Skripochka used a NASA-provided wireless TV camera system and helmet lights to give live point-of-view video to Mission Control-Moscow.