Cosmonaut Anatoli Berezovoy born 1942

Anatoli Berezovoy, born April 11, 1942 in Moscow, Russia, made one record-setting trip into space. He trained as a fighter pilot and reached the rank of colonel in the Soviet Air Force.

He launched in Soyuz T-5 as commander to Salyut 7 in May 1982.  It was the first mission to the new Salyut space station. 

He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz T-7 in December 1982, after 211 days in space, setting a record at the time for longest stay in space with fellow cosmonaut, Valentin Lebedev.

Berezovoy passed away in September 2014.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev!

Valentin Lebedev, born April 14, 1942 in Moscow, Russia, went into space twice.

His first flight was aboard Soyuz 13 in December 1973 as flight engineer.  The flight lasted almost 8 days.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz T-5 as flight engineer to Salyut 7 in August 1982.  He stayed aboard until December, when he returned to Earth aboard Soyuz T-7.  

Soyuz T-7 launched 1982

Soyuz T-7, launched August 19, 1982, was the third mission to the Salyut 7 space station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Leonid Popov, Aleksandr Serebrov and Svetlana Savitskaya.  They swapped places with the Salyut 7 crew and remained aboard.

Soyuz T-7 returned to Earth in December 1982 with Anatoli Berezovoy and Valentin Lebedev.

Cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov born 1944

Aleksandr Serebrov, born February 15, 1944 in Moscow, Russia, is a veteran of four space flights.  He is one of the few people to fly for both the Soviet and Russian space programs. 

His first mission was aboard Soyuz T-7, launched in August 1982 as Flight Engineer to Salyut 7.  He returned two and half weeks later aboard Soyuz T-5. 

His second mission was aboard Soyuz T-8 as Flight Engineer to Salyut 7 in April 1983.  Unfortunately, the spacecraft failed to dock with the space station and returned to Earth two days later.

His third trip was aboard Soyuz TM-8 in September 1989 to Mir as part of expedition Mir EO-5 with fellow cosmonaut Aleksandr Viktorenko.  They remained in space for 166 days before returning to Earth in February 1990.

Serebrov's fourth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TM-17, launched in July 1993 to Mir with fellow cosmonaut Vasili Tsibliyev.  They remained in space for almost 197 days and returned to Earth in January 1994.

He passed away in November 2013.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Leonid Popov!

Leonid Popov, born August 31, 1945 in the Ukraine in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three Soyuz flights.  Selected as a cosmonaut in 1970, he flew his first mission on Soyuz 35 as commander in June 1980 to Salyut 6.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz 37 in October 1980.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz 40 as commander in May 1981 to Salyut 6.  It was a cooperation between the Soviet Union and Romania, with cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu.  It was also the last flight of that type Soyuz spacecraft.

His third and final flight was as commander aboard Soyuz T-7 launched in August 1982 to Salyut 7.  Svetlana Savitskaya, the second woman in space, was also on board.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz T-5 later that month.

He has logged over 200 days in space.

Happy birthday, Svetlana Savitskaya, second woman in space!

Svetlana Savitskaya, born August 8, 1948 in Moscow, is the second woman in space, the first woman to go into space twice, and the first woman to perform an EVA.

Her first trip into space was aboard Soyuz T-7, in August 1982 to Salyut 7.  She stayed about 12 days on board and returned to Earth in Soyuz T-5.

Her second trip into space was aboard Soyuz T-12 to Salyut 7.  She performed an EVA for about 3 hours and 35 minutes, conducting welding exercises outside Salyut 7.  When NASA announced that Kathryn Sullivan would become the first woman to make an EVA, the Soviets assigned Savitskaya three weeks later to another short-term mission on Salyut 7.  She conducted her spacewalk on July 25, 1984, just 3 months before Sullivan made her historic EVA.  She returned to Earth July 29, after 12 more days in space.

Soyuz T-5 launched 1982

Soyuz T-5 crew (L-R): Valentin Lebedev, Anatolis Berezovoy

Soyuz T-5, launched May 13, 1982, was the first mission to the new Salyut 7 space station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Anatoli Berezovoy and Flight Engineer Valentin Lebedev.  While docked with Salyut 7, Soyuz T-6 (with Jean-Loup Chretien, first French astronaut) and Soyuz T-7 (with Svetlana Savitskaya, the first female astronaut in 20 years).

Soyuz T-5 returned to Earth August 27.  The return crew consisted of Commander Leonid Popov, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Serebrov and Research Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya.

First space walk by a woman - Svetlana Savitskaya 1984

Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to perform an Extra-Vehicular Activity, July 25, 1984.  In a rush to upstage the U.S.'s plans to put women into space, the Soviets launched Savitskaya in 1982, seven months before Sally Ride, on Soyuz T-7.  She took her second trip into space on Soyuz T-12 to Salyut 7.

She spent 3 hours and 35 minutes in an EVA repairing Salyut 7 with fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov.