Happy birthday, cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov!

Valeri Polyakov, born April 27, 1942 in the former Soviet Union, holds the record for the longest single stay in space for a human.  He stayed aboard Mir for 427 days, 18 hours.  His total time in space is 678 days, 16 hours.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz TM-6 to Mir in August 1988.  He participated in expeditions Mir EO-3 and Mir EO-4, returning to Earth on Soyuz TM-7 in April 1989.

His second and final flight was his record setting stay.  He went into space aboard Soyuz TM-18 in January 1994.  He participated in expeditions Mir EO-15, Mir EO-16 and Mir EO-17.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-20 in March 1995, after more than 14 months.

Soyuz TM-20 launched 1994

Soyuz TM-20 crew (L-R): Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova, Ulf Merbold

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-20, launched October 4, 1994, was the 20th mission to the Mir space station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksandr Viktorenko, Yelena Kondakova, and Ulf Merbold (ESA).

Merbold returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-19, while Viktorenko and Kondakova remained on the space station as part of Mir EO-17.  Valeri Polyakov, who had been on board since Mir EO-15 returned to Earth with them in March 1995.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Yury Usachov!

Yury Usachov, born October 9, 1957 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of four space flights, including two on Soyuz spacecraft and two on space shuttles.

Usachov's first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-18 in January 1994 as part of the Mir EO-15 crew.  He performed EVAs to assess potential damage done to Mir when Soyuz TM-17 hit the space station twice while leaving.  They found no damage.  He returned to Earth in July 1994.

His second trip to space was aboard the Soyuz TM-23 spacecraft in February 1996 as part of the Mir EO-21 crew.  Shannon Lucid joined him for part of his stay.  He returned to Earth September 1996.

Usachov's third mission was on Atlantis (STS-101) in May 2000 as mission specialist to the International Space Station.  The mission lasted almost 10 days.

His fourth and final trip into space was aboard Discovery (STS-102) in March 2001 to the ISS.  He was the commander of Expedition 2, which lasted until August, when he returned to Earth on Discovery (STS-105).

Over the course of his career, he has performed seven EVA and has spent 553 days in space.