Yuri Usachov

Cosmonaut career

Usachov was appointed a cosmonaut candidate at the Cosmonaut Training Center in 1989. He completed general space training from 1989 to 1992. He served on the back-up crew for the Mir-13, 14, and 19 missions. From 8 January to 9 July 1994, he was Board Engineer on Space Station Mir.

His first spaceflight began on 8 January 1994, when Soyuz TM-18 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome with cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev and Valeri Polyakov. Usachov was flight engineer. The spacecraft docked at the Kvant-1 module of Mir on 10 January. The three became the 15th resident crew, with Usachov as flight engineer.

On 14 January, the departing Soyuz TM-17 struck the Kristall module twice during a fly-around; the crew found no damage. During his stay, three Progress spacecraft arrived: Progress M-21 on 30 January, Progress M-22 on 24 March, and Progress M-23 on 24 May, delivering supplies and equipment. Usachov and Afanasyev returned to Earth on 9 July 1994 in the Soyuz TM-18 descent module, landing 110 km north of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. He spent 182 days on Mir.

Did You Know?

• Usachov has a twin sister who is five minutes older than him.
• During his second spacewalk, he inflated a Pepsi Cola can model and filmed it against Earth for a commercial that never aired.
• He was the first crew member to enter the International Space Station during STS-101, alongside Susan Helms.
• Usachov served as commander of Expedition 2 on the ISS.
• He spent 182 days on Mir during his first flight and 193 days on his second.