Yury Lonchakov

Did You Know?

• Lonchakov's first spaceflight was STS-100, which installed the International Space Station's robotic arm, Canadarm2.
• He launched on Soyuz TMA-1 in thick fog so dense that cameras showed only a silhouette of the rocket and flame exhaust.
• During Expedition 18, he participated in filming a science-fiction movie made in space called Apogee of Fear.

Awards and ranks

Lonchakov was awarded the Hero of the Russian Federation medal and the honorary title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation. He received the Order For Merit to the Fatherland IV class, the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration", and the NASA Space Flight Medal. He is a National Prize winner for the Glory of Fatherland in nomination Russia Glory, instituted by the International Academy of Social Sciences and International Academy of Patronage, and is an "Honoured Man of the Aktubinsk region".

Cosmonaut career

Lonchakov was selected as a test-cosmonaut candidate of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center Cosmonaut Office in December 1997. In July 2004 he trained for survival in extreme situations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. His first spaceflight was STS-100 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, which launched on 19 April 2001 at 18:40:42 UTC. He served as a mission specialist; the mission installed Canadarm2, berthed the Raffaello logistics module, transferred cargo, and reberthed Raffaello.

Endeavour docked with the ISS on 21 April 2001 at 13:59 UTC and undocked on 19 April at 17:34 UTC, landing at Edwards Air Force Base after 11 days, 21 hours, 31 minutes, 14 seconds. On 25 March 2002, he trained as backup crew commander of Soyuz-TM and Soyuz-TMA spacecraft for the 4th visiting crew under the ISS program. On 1 October 2002, he was selected as prime crew flight engineer-2 while remaining backup crew commander. He returned to the ISS in October 2002 on Soyuz TMA-1 as commander, with flight engineer Sergei Zalyotin and ESA astronaut Frank De Winne.

The launch from Baikonur on 30 October 2002 at 03:11 UTC was obscured by thick fog. Docking occurred on 1 November 2002 at 05:01 UTC. After 10 days, 20 hours, 53 minutes, Lonchakov returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-34, which undocked from the Zarya module on 9 November at 20:44 GMT and landed 100 km northeast of Arkalyk on 10 November 2002 at 00:04 UTC. Soyuz TM-34 was the last Soyuz-TM spacecraft.

Lonchakov was originally selected for Expedition 19 but transferred to Expedition 18 as flight engineer and Soyuz commander after Salizhan Sharipov was removed. Soyuz TMA-13 launched on 12 October 2008 at 7:01 UTC with Lonchakov, Michael Fincke, and space tourist Richard Garriott. It docked to Zarya on 14 October at 08:26 GMT, seven minutes ahead of schedule. During his personal time, Lonchakov participated in filming and starring in the science-fiction movie Apogee of Fear.

On 12 March 2009, a piece of debris from a Delta II rocket passed close to the ISS; the crew prepared to evacuate but the debris safely passed at 16:38 UTC. Lonchakov returned to Earth on 8 April 2009 at 7:16 UTC with Fincke and Charles Simonyi. Lonchakov performed two career spacewalks totaling 10 hours and 27 minutes. On 23 December 2008, with Fincke, he installed a Langmuir probe on Pirs, removed the Biorisk experiment, installed the Expose-R experiment package on Zvezda (later removed after it failed to activate), and installed the Impulse experiment.

The spacewalk lasted 5 hours and 38 minutes. On 10 March 2009, again with Fincke, he installed the EXPOSE-R experiment, removed tape straps from Pirs, and inspected the Russian portion of the station. The spacewalk lasted 4 hours and 49 minutes and marked the 120th spacewalk in support of station assembly and maintenance. In 2013, he submitted his resignation effective 14 September for a more interesting job.

He had been scheduled for Expedition 44; Gennady Padalka replaced him. He resigned from the cosmonaut corps and took a position at Gazprom. On 31 March 2014 he was appointed acting head of GCTC.