Happy birthday, cosmonaut Aleksandr Kaleri!

Cosmonaut Aleksandr Kaleri, born May 13, 1956 in present-day Latvia, ranks fourth in time spent in space.  

His first flight was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz TM-14 to the Mir space station in March 1992.  He spent over 145 days in space as part of Mir EO-11.

His second flight was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz TM-24 to Mir in August 1996.  He spent over 196 days in space as part of Mir EO-22.

His third flight was aboard Soyuz TM-30 as Flight Engineer to Mir in April 2000.  He spent over 72 days in space as part of Mir EO-28.

His fourth flight was as Commander of Soyuz TMA-3 to the International Space Station in October 2003. He participated in Expedition 8 and spent over 194 days in space.

His fifth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-01M as commander to the International Space Station.  He participated in Expeditions 25-26, spending over 159 days in space.

In total, he has spent more than 769 days in space, which is over 2 years!  

Happy birthday, British/American astronaut Michael Foale!

Michael Foale, born January 6, 1957 in Lincolnshire, England, is a veteran of six space missions.  He is the only NASA astronaut to have spent extended missions on Mir and the International Space Station.  He is the first Briton to perform a spacewalk and holds the record for time-in-space for a UK citizen.

His first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-45) as mission specialist in March-April 1992.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-56) as mission specialist in April 1993.

His third mission was aboard Discovery (STS-63) as mission specialist in February 1995.  It was the first space shuttle mission to dock with Mir.  He conducted his first EVA with fellow astronaut Bernard Harris, the first African-American astronaut to conduct an EVA.

His fourth mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-84) as mission specialist to Mir launched in May 1997.  He was part of expeditions Mir EO-23 and Mir EO-24.  He returned to Earth aboard Atlantis (STS-86) in October 1997.

His fifth flight was aboard Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist to service the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1999.  He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Claude Nicollier.

His sixth and final mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-3 to the ISS launched in October 2003 as part of Expedition 8.  He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Aleksandr Kaleri. He returned to Earth in April 2004.

Soyuz TMA-3 launched 2003

Soyuz TMA-3 crew (L-R): Pedro Duque, Aleksandr Kaleri, Michael Foale

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-3, launched October 18, 2003, was the seventh trip to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksandr Kaleri (Roscosmos), Michael Foale (British astronaut, NASA) and Pedro Duque (Spanish astronaut, ESA).  Kaleri and Foale were part of Expedition 8, but Pedro Duque returned on Soyuz TMA-2 about a week later. 

Kaleri and Foale returned to Earth in April 2004 with Andre Kuipers (Dutch astronaut, ESA) after more than 194 days.