Happy birthday, cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyev!

Anatoly Solovyev, born January 16, 1948 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of five space flights and holds the world record for number of spacewalks performed, sixteen.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz TM-5 to he space station Mir as part of expedition Mir EP-2 in June 1988. He spent about 10 days before returning to Earth Soyuz TM-4.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TM-9 in February 1990 as part of Expedition Mir EO-6.  He remained aboard until August 1990. He conducted two EVAs to effect repairs.

His third flight was aboard Soyuz TM-15 to Mir in July 1992 as part of expedition Mir EO-12.  Solovyev conducted four EVAs.  He returned to Earth in February 1993.

Solovyev's fourth flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-71) as mission specialist to Mir in June 1995. He was part of expedition Mir EO-19.  During the mission, he conducted three EVAs.  He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-21 in September 1995.

His fifth and final fligh was aboard Soyuz TM-26 to Mir in August 1997 as part of expedition Mir EO-24.  He conducted seven EVAs to set the record at sixteen. He returned to Earth in February 1998.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev!

Sergei Avdeyev, born January 1, 1956 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three space flights and once held the record for total time spent in space.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz TM-15 as flight engineer launched in July 1992 to the space station Mir.  He spent almost 189 days in space.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TM-22 as flight engineer launched in September 1995 to Mir.  He spent over 179 days in space.

His third and final flight was aboard Soyuz TM-28 as flight engineer launched in August 1998 to Mir.  He spent 379 days in space and returned on Soyuz TM-29 in August 1999.

He has conducted 10 EVAs for a total of 42 hours and 2 minutes.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Michel Tognini!

Michel Tognini, born September 30, 1949 in Vincennes, France, has gone into space on Soyuz and space shuttle missions.  He was selected by France's space agency, the National Center for Space Studies (CNES), in July 1986. 

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TM-15 in July 1992 to the space station Mir.  He stayed on board for about two weeks before returning on Soyuz TM-14.

His second and final mission in space was aboard Columbia (STS-93) as mission specialist in July 1999.  The mission lasted just under 5 days.

Soyuz TM-15 launched 1992

Soyuz TM-15 crew (L-R): Michel Tognini, Anatoly Solovyev, Sergei Avdeyev

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-15, launched July 27, 1992, was the fifteenth mission to the Mir space station.  Its crew consisted of  Commander Anatoly Solovyev, Sergei Avdeyev and Michel Tognini (CNES). 

Tognini is a National Center for Space Studies astronaut and took part in the mission as a joint project between Russia and France.

Soyuz TM-14 launched 1992

Soyuz TM-14 crew: Klaus-Dietrich Flade, Alexandr Viktorenko, Alexander Kaleri

Soyuz TM-14, launched March 17, 1992, was the 14th expedition to Mir and the first Russian Soyuz mission after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Its crew consisted of Commander Alexandr Viktorenko, Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri, and Research Cosmonaut Klaus-Dietrich Flade from Germany.  The Russians returned to Earth with Michel Tognini (who arrived on Mir on Soyuz TM-15) August 10.  Flade remained on Mir and returned on Soyuz TM-13.