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.

Soyuz TM-22 launched 1995

Soyuz TM-22 crew (L-R): Yuri Gidzenko, Thomas Reiter, Sergei Avdeyev

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-22, launched September 3, 1995, carried three cosmonauts to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Avdeyev and Thomas Reiter (ESA).  They docked with Mir on September 5 and returned to Earth February 29, 1996.

Happy birthday, German astronaut Thomas Reiter!

German astronaut Thomas Reiter, born May 23, 1958 in Frankfurt, West Germany, went into space for the European Space Agency.  He has spent over 350 days in space, more than any non-American or non-Russian.  He is also the first German to perform an EVA.

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-22 to the space station Mir.  He was part of expedition Mir EO-20 from September 1995 to February 1996.  During this time he conducted two EVAs, becoming the first German to perform a space walk. 

His second trip was aboard Discovery (STS-121) to the International Space Station as a mission specialist in July 2006, when he became part of Expedition 13.  He remained on board the ISS to become a member of Expedition 14.  He was replaced by Sunita Williams in December, aboard Discovery (STS-116).

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko!

Yuri Gidzenko, born March 26, 1962 in Ukraine, has flown on Soyuz spacecraft and a space shuttle, and has spent time on both Mir and the International Space Station.

His first trip into space was as Commander aboard Soyuz TM-22, launched September 3, 1995 to the space station Mir, as part of the twentieth expedition, Mir EO-20.  He remained on board until February 29, 1996.

His second trip into space was as Commander of Soyuz TM-31, launched October 31, 2000, which carried Sergei Krikalev and William Shepherd (NASA), for the first long-duration ISS crew. Expedition 1.  They returned to Earth aboard Discovery (STS-102) in March 2001.

Gidzenko's third and final flight was Commander aboard Soyuz TM-34, launched April 25, 2002, to the ISS.  Then he remained on ISS for about 10 days and returned aboard Soyuz TM-33 May 5, 2002.