Aleksey Ovchinin

Early life

Ovchinin graduated from high school No. 2 in Rybinsk. He was a cadet at Borisoglebsk Higher Military Pilot School from August 1988 to September 1990, then studied at Yeisk Higher Military Pilot School until August 1992, qualifying as a pilot-engineer. He served as a pilot instructor in the Training Aviation Regiment at Yeisk from August 1992 to February 1998, then as a pilot instructor and later commander of an aviation section at Krasnodar Military Aviation Institute in Kotelnikovo until September 2003.

Subsequently, he commanded an aviation unit of the 70th Separate Test Training Aviation Regiment of Special Purpose. He accumulated over 1300 flying hours in Yak-52 and L-39 aircraft and is a Pilot Instructor Second Class. By order of the Minister of Defense in 2012, he was dismissed into the reserve.

Cosmonaut career

On 11 October 2006, the Interdepartmental Commission recommended Ovchinin as a cosmonaut candidate at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. In June 2008 he participated in descent vehicle training in Sevastopol for water landings alongside Robert Thirsk and Richard Garriott. He qualified as a test cosmonaut on 9 June 2009, receiving Cosmonaut Certificate No. 205, and was appointed a test cosmonaut at the training center on 1 August 2009. In October 2009 he trained in the Mini Research Module at Baikonur, and on 26 April 2010 he was certified as a cosmonaut in the center's detachment.

In September 2013 he joined the CAVES mission in Sardinia with five other astronauts. He trained as backup for Soyuz TMA-16M, launched 27 March 2015. In autumn 2015, he and Oleg Skripochka evaluated 160 culinary dishes for ISS astronauts over eight days. Ovchinin launched as commander of Soyuz TMA-20M on 18 March 2016, returning on 7 September 2016 after 172 days.

On 11 October 2018, he and Nick Hague launched on Soyuz MS-10; the mission aborted due to a booster failure at about 50 km altitude, reaching an apogee of 93 km, and the crew landed safely after 19 minutes and 41 seconds.

Did You Know?

• In June 2008, he trained for water landings in Sevastopol alongside Canadian Robert Thirsk and American Richard Garriott.
• In autumn 2015, he and Oleg Skripochka tasted 160 culinary dishes for ISS astronauts over 8 days, rating them on a 9-point scale.
• During the Soyuz MS-10 abort, the spacecraft reached an apogee of 93 km, just short of the Kármán line, and landed 19 minutes and 41 seconds after launch.
• Ovchinin commanded the International Space Station for Expedition 60 starting 24 June 2019.