Happy birthday, cosmonaut Aleksandr Laveykin!

Aleksandr Laveykin, born April 21, 1951 in Moscow, Russia, went into space aboard Soyuz TM-2 to Mir in February 1987.  He was part of expedition Mir EO-2 and spent 174 days in space.  He returned to Earth in July 1987.

Soyuz TM-3 launched 1987

Soyuz TM-3 crew (L-R): Muhammed Faris, Aleksandr Aleksandrov, Alexander Viktorentko  

Soyuz TM-3, launched July 22, 1987, was the third manned spacecraft to visit the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Alexander Viktorenko, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Aleksandrov, and research cosmonaut Muhammed Faris, first Syrian astronaut.

Viktorenko and Faris stayed on board approximately a week (Mir EP-1) and returned on Soyuz TM-2, but Aleksandrov stayed aboard as part of Mir EO-2.

Soyuz TM-3 returned to Earth December 29 with Yuri Romanenko, Aleksandrov and Anatoli Levchenko.