Happy birthday, Kazakh cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev!

Talgat Musabayev, born January 7, 1951 in present-day Kazakhstan, is a veteran of three space flights.  

His first trip was aboard Soyuz TM-19 as Flight Engineer to the space station Mir, in July 1994.  He participated in expedition Mir EO-16 and returned to Earth in November 1994.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TM-27 as Commander to Mir in January 1998.  He participated in expedition Mir EO-25 and returned to Earth in August 1998.

His third and final mission was aboard Soyuz TM-32 to the International Space Station in April 2001.  He participated in expedition ISS EP-1.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-31 in May 2001.

He has spent over 341 days in space. 

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.