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.

Cosmonaut Oleg Makarov born 1933

Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, born January 6, 1933 in the former Soviet Union, was a veteran of four trips into space. 

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz 12 in September 1973.  After the tragedy of Soyuz 11, the Soviets reduced crew capacity of the capsule to two (from three) to allow pressure suits to be worn during take off, re-entry and landing.  Makarov and fellow cosmonaut Vasily Lazarev spent two days testing the new suits.

His second mission was the unsuccessful launch of Soyuz 18a in April 1975.  The mission was scheduled to dock with Salyut 4 space station, but the crew failed to make orbit, due to the failure of the launch vehicle.

His third attempt was successful.  He flew as flight engineer for Soyuz 27, which docked with Salyut 6 space station in January 1978.  Makarov and cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov made up the crew of expedition EP-1.  They spent five days aboard the space station and returned in Soyuz 26.

Makarov's fourth and final flight was aboard Soyuz T-3 November-December 1980 as flight engineer.  The mission flew to the Salyut 6 space station and was the first Soyuz spacecraft to carry three cosmonauts since Soyuz 11 in 1971.

He died May 2003 in Moscow from a heart attack.

Cosmonaut Gennadi Strekalov born 1940

Gennady Strekalov, born October 26, 1940, went into space 5 times.  He lived on Salyut 6, Salyut 7 and Mir.

His first mission into space was aboard Soyuz T-3 as a research cosmonaut November-December 1980 to Salyut 6.  He and the rest of the crew of Soyuz T-3 stayed aboard for almost 13 days.

His second trip was as flight engineer on Soyuz T-8 in April 1983 to Salyut 7.  The craft failed to dock with the space station and due to damage to Soyuz T-8, the decision was made to return to Earth after only 2 days.

In September 1983, Strekalov attempted to go into  space on Soyuz T-10-1 with fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Titov.  The launch vehicle was destroyed by fire before the countdown had completed.  The escape system fired two seconds before the rocket exploded, saving the crew, battered and bruised but alive.

His third trip, which was successful, was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz T-11 in April 1984 to Salyut 7.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz T-10 about a week later.

Gennady's fourth trip was on Soyuz TM-10 as flight engineer to Mir in August 1990.  He and Gennadi Manakov spent over 4 months on Mir and returned to Earth December.

His fifth and final trip was on Soyuz TM-21 as flight engineer, launched in March 1995 to Mir.  He was part of the crew of the expedition Mir EO-18. He returned to Earth on Atlantis (STS-71) in July.

He passed away Christmas Day 2004 from cancer.

Soyuz T-3 launched 1980

Soyuz T-3 crew (L-R): Kizim, Makarov, Strekalov

Soyuz T-3, launched November 27, 1980, was the 15th expedition to the Salyut 6 space station and the first spacecraft to carry three cosmonauts since 1971.  Its crew consisted of Commander Leonid Kizim, Flight Engineer Oleg Makarov and Research Cosmonaut Gennady Strekalov.  This was the first flight for Kizim and Strekalov, but fourth for Makarov.

Although they carried out studies on biological material brought with them, much of their time was devoted to station maintenance.  They worked on the thermal control system, installed a new hydraulic unit with four pumps, replaced electronics in the telemetry system, and the next day fixed problems with the electronics in the telemetry system.

Soyuz T-3 and her crew returned to Earth December 11.