Yuri Malenchenko

Cosmonaut career

After graduating from the Kharkiv Military Aviation School in 1983, Malenchenko served as a pilot, senior pilot, and multi-ship flight lead in the Odessa Region from 1983 to 1987. Selected as a cosmonaut in 1987, he arrived at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and completed general space training from December 1987 to June 1989, qualifying as a test-cosmonaut.

Advanced training courses ran from September 1989 to December 1993. From January to July 1993, he trained as commander of the Mir-14 reserve crew, then as backup commander of Mir-15 from July 1993 to January 1994. Between February and June 1994, he trained for the Mir-16 mission.

Spaceflight experience

Malenchenko commanded Soyuz TM-19, launching July 1, 1994, with Talgat Musabayev. After a two-day solo flight, the Soyuz docked with Mir on July 3. Malenchenko, Musabayev, and Valeri Polyakov formed the 16th resident Mir crew, with Malenchenko in command. They conducted medical and materials science experiments.

During the mission, Malenchenko performed the first successful manual docking of a Progress supply ship at Mir. He returned to Earth on November 4, 1994, with Musabayev and Ulf Merbold, landing 88 km northeast of Arkalyk after 125 days, 22 hours, 53 minutes in space. As a mission specialist on STS-106, he launched from Kennedy Space Center on September 8, 2000. Atlantis docked with the ISS on flight day two.

STS-106

The crew brought supplies and prepared the Zvezda Service Module for the first resident crew, unloading supplies from a double SPACEHAB module and Progress M1-3. Atlantis landed on September 19, 2000, after 11 days, 19 hours, 12 minutes. Malenchenko launched on Soyuz TMA-2 with Edward Lu on April 26, 2003, docking with the ISS on April 28. He served as Soyuz commander and became commander of Expedition 7, the seventh station crew.

Expedition 7

During this stay, he married in space. Soyuz TMA-2 returned on October 28, 2003, with Malenchenko, Lu, and Pedro Duque, landing near Arkalyk after 184 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes. On October 10, 2007, Malenchenko launched on Soyuz TMA-11 with Peggy Whitson and Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, serving as Soyuz commander. The spacecraft docked with the ISS on October 12.

Expedition 16

He joined Expedition 16 as flight engineer 1. The Soyuz capsule landed in Kazakhstan on April 19, 2008, bringing back Malenchenko, Whitson, and Yi So-Yeon.

Due to a malfunction, Soyuz TMA-11 performed a ballistic reentry, landing 475 km north of Arkalyk. The crew recovered with no injuries, but the hatch and antenna suffered burn damage. He accumulated 191 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes during Soyuz TMA-11 and ISS Expedition 16.

Personal life

Malenchenko married Ekaterina Dmitrieva on August 10, 2003, becoming the first person to marry in space. At the time, he was 240 miles over New Zealand aboard the International Space Station, while she was in Texas.

Did You Know?

• Malenchenko performed the first successful manual docking of a Progress supply ship at Mir during the Mir-16 mission.
• Malenchenko conducted his first two career spacewalks on September 9 and September 14, 1994, repairing the station's external insulation.
• On STS-106, Malenchenko and Ed Lu conducted a 6-hour 14-minute spacewalk to route power, data, and communications cables between Zvezda and Zarya modules.
• Malenchenko's fifth career spacewalk on August 20, 2012, with Gennady Padalka was delayed about an hour due to a small leak between Space Station modules.