Gennadi Manakov, cosmonaut, born 1950

Gennadi Manakov, born June 1, 1950 in the former Soviet Union, went into space twice.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz TM-10 as commander to the space station Mir.  He spent almost 131 days in space, from August to December 1990 before returning to Earth.

His second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TM-16 as commander to Mir.  He spent 179 days in space, from January-July 1993, before returning to Earth. 

He passed away in September 2019.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Aleksandr Poleshchuk!

Aleksandr Poleshchuk, born October 30, 1953 in the former Soviet Union, went into space aboard Soyuz TM-16, launched in January 1993 to the space station Mir. He was flight engineer and spent over 179 days in space with fellow cosmonaut Gennadi Manakov.  He returned to Earth in July 1993.

Soyuz TM-16 launched 1993

Soyuz TM-16 crew (L-R): Gennadi Manakov, Alexander Poleshchuk

Soyuz TM-16 mission patch

Soyuz TM-16, launched January 24, 1993, was the sixteenth expedition to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of  Commander Gennadi Manakov and Alexander Poleshchuk.  They made up the crew of expedition Mir EO-13.  They remained in space for 179 days and returned to Earth in July with Jean-Pierre Haignere, a French astronaut. 

Soyuz TM-10 launched 1990

Soyuz TM-10 crew: Gennadi Manakov (L) and Gennady Strekalov

Soyuz TM-10, the tenth mission to the Soviet space station Mir, blasted off August 1, 1990.  It was Commander Gennadi Manakov's first flight and Flight Engineer Gennady Strekalov's fourth.  They took off with one passenger, but by the time they got to Mir, they had two.  A quail, which was aboard for some experiments, had laid an egg before they reached the station.

The quail and Toyohiro Akiyama, a reporter and the first Japanese in space, returned with the cosmonauts in December 1990 aboard Soyuz TM-11.

I could not find any videos of Soyuz TM-10 on Youtube, but here is the launch of Soyuz TM-11 which took Akiyama into space.