Happy birthday, cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyayev!

Aleksandr Samokutyayev, born March 13, 1970 in Penza, Russia, has been into space twice.  

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-21 as commander to the International Space Station in April 2011.  He participated in Expeditions 27 and 28.  During Expedition 28, he conducted an EVA with fellow cosmonaut Sergey Volkov for 6 hours 23 minutes.  He returned to Earth in September 2011.

His second mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-14M as commander to the International Space Station in September 2014.  He participated in Expeditions 41 and 42, during which he conducted a second EVA with fellow cosmonaut Maksim Surayev. He returned to Earth in March 2015. 

Happy birthday, astronaut Barry Wilmore!

Barry Wilmore, born December 29, 1962 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has been in space twice, and will return in 2021.

His first trip into space was aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) as pilot to the International Space Station in November 2009. He celebrated Thanksgiving with the other crew members and the residents of the International Space Station.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-10M to the International Space Station in September 2014.  He participated in Expeditions 41 and 42.  He returned to Earth in March 2015 after more than 167 days in space.

He is scheduled to be commander of the Boeing Crewed Flight Test (Boe-CFT), the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station, expected to launch in July 2021.

Happy birthday, NASA astronaut Terry Virts!

Terry Virts, born December 1, 1967 in Baltimore, Maryland, has been in space twice.

His first mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-130) as pilot to the International Space Station in February 2010.  Its primary payloads were the Tranquility module and the Cupola, a control station that provided a 360° view of the station.

His second trip was aboard Soyuz TMA-15M, launched in November 2014.  He participated in Expedition 42 and served as commander of Expedition 43.  

He has performed 3 EVAs for just over 19 hours.

Soyuz TMA-14M launched 2015

Soyuz TMA-14M crew (L-R): Aleksandr Samokutyayev, Barry Wilmore, Yelena Serova

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-14M, launched September 25, 2014, carried members of Expedition 41 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted Commander Aleksandr Samokutyayev (Roscosmos), Yelena Serova (Roscosmos) and Barry Wilmore (NASA).

The crew also participated in Expedition 42 before returning to Earth in March 2015.

Happy birthday, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti!

Samantha Cristoforetti, born April 26, 1977 in Milan, Itlay, has been in space once. She is the first Italian woman in space, and currently holds th erecord for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight for a European astronaut, at 199 days and 16 hours.

She went into space aboard Soyuz TMA-15M as flight engineer to the International Space Station in November 2014.  She remained aboard for more than 199 days, returning to Earth in June 2015.  She participated in Expeditions 42 and 43.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Yelena Serova!

Yelena Serova, born April 22, 1976 in the former Soviet Union, is the fourth Soviet woman in space.  Her single trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-14M to the International Space Station in September 2014.  She participated in Expeditions 41 and 42 before returning to Earth in March 2015.

Soyuz TMA 15M launched 2014

Soyuz TMA-15M crew (L-R): Anton Shkaplerov, Samantha Cristoforetti, Terry Virts

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-15M, launched November 23, 2014, carried the crew of Expedition 42 to the International Space Station.  The crew consisted of Commander Anton Shkaplerov (Roscosmos), Samantha Cristoforetti (ESA) and Terry Virts (NASA).

They returned to Earth in June 2015 after almost 200 days in space.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov!

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, born February 20, 1972 in Sevastopol, Ukraine, is a veteran of three space flights to the International Space Station.  He has served as an instructor and pilot for the Russian Air Force.

His first flight was as commander of Soyuz TMA-22, which launched in November 2011 and returned to Earth in April 2012.  He served as flight engineer for Expeditions 29 and 30.  He made on EVA during the mission with fellow cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, which lasted 6 hours, 15 minutes.

His second flight was as commander of Soyuz TMA-15M, launched in November 2014 and returned to Earth June 2015 after 199 days in space. Shkaplerov's total time in space was up to 365 days.  He was part of Expeditions 42 and 43.

His third flight was as commander of Soyuz MS-07, launched in December 2017 and returned to Earth in June 2018 after 166 days.  He participated in Expeditions 54 and 55.  He performed another EVA with fellow cosmonaut and Expedition 54 commander Alexander Misurkin, which lasted 8 hours, 13 minutes, the longest Russian spacewalk ever.