Leonid Kizim, cosmonaut, born 1941

Leonid Kizim, born August 5, 1941 in present-day Ukraine, was a veteran of three space flights.

His first flight was aboard Soyuz T-3 to the Salyut 6 space station in November 1980.  He stayed in space for almost 13 days before returning to Earth.

His second flight was on Soyuz T-10 to the Salyut 7 space station in February 1984.  He and his fellow cosmonauts had to enter Salyut 7 with flashlights until they could reactivate the station.  He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz T-11 in October 1984

His third and final flight was aboard Soyuz T-15 to Salyut 7 and Mir space stations in March 1986.  It was the first time a spacecraft visited two space stations in the same mission.  He returned to Earth in July 1986.

He spent more than 374 days in space.

He passed away in June 2010.

Salyut 7 launched 1982

Salyut 7, Soviet space station, was launched April 19, 1982.  It was the last of the Salyut program, which was replaced by Mir.  It had six resident crews, the first of which arrived in December 1982.

In February 1985, contact with the space station was lost and began to drift.  Soyuz T-13 with Valdimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh arrived in June 1985 to repair the malfunctions.

The crew of Soyuz T-15 was the final crew to visit Salyut 7 and transferred equipment to the new Mir space station. 

Salyut 7 underwent an uncontrolled reentry in February 1991, breaking up over the southern Pacific Ocean.

Soyuz T-15 launched 1986

Soyuz T-15 crew: Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov

Soyuz T-15, launched March 13, 1986, was the first mission that visited and docked with two space stations during the same mission.  Commander Leonid Kizim and Flight Engineer Vladimir Solovyov arrived at Mir, the first craft to visit the new space station on March 15.  During their 55 day stay (Mir EO-1), they unloaded two Progress spacecraft (supplies and scientific equipment) since Mir was launched with little science equipment. 

On May 5, Kizim and Solovyov boarded Soyuz T-15 and undocked from Mir.  Salyut 7 was 4000 km ahead of Mir and in a lower orbit, so Mir was lowered 13 km to help expedite the journey.  Twenty-nine hours later, Soyuz T-15 docked with Salyut 7.

The previous crew EO-4 had been assigned to conduct EVAs but since Vladimir Vasyutin became ill and had to return early to Earth, they had not been able to perform the EVAs.  As EO-5, Kizim and Solovyov completed the EVAs

On June 25, they undocked from Salyut 7, the last expedition to the space station, and headed back to Mir, reaching it on June 26.

On July 3, Kizim passed Valeri Ryumin's record for time spent in space, becoming the first person to have spent a full year in space.  They returned to Earth July 16.  Soyuz T-15 was the last mission to use the Soyuz -T spacecraft since it was replaced by the Soyuz-TM.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Vladimir Solovyov!

Vladimir Solovyov, born November 11, 1946 in Moscow, Russia, made two flights into space on Soyuz T-10 and Soyuz T-15.

The Soyuz T-10 mission was a critical flight because the Salyut 7 space station was dark and empty due to the loss of Soyuz T-10-1.

Soyuz T-15 was the last flight to Salyut 7, the first flight to Mir and the last Soyuz T spacecraft, since they were replaced by the Soyuz TM.

After his second flight, Solovyov became the Mir flight director.  He retired in 1994 but then came back to head the Russian segment of the International Space Station.