Happy birthday, cosmonaut Yuri Baturin!

Yuri Baturin, born June 12, 1949 in Moscow, Russia, is a veteran of two space flights.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz TM-28 to the space station Mir in August 1998.  He was part of the expedition Mir EP-4 and stayed on board for over 11 days.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-27.

His second and final mission was aboard Soyuz TM-32 in April 2001 to the International Space Station.  He was part of ISS EP-1 and remained on board for almost 8 days.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-31.

Prior to becoming an astronaut,Baturin was an Assistant to the President for Boris Yeltsin.

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, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka!

Gennady Padalka, born June 21, 1958, holds the current record for the longest time spent in space, 879 days.  That's time spent on both Mir and the International Space Station.  He attained the rank of colonel in the Russian Air Force.

His first flight into space was aboard Soyuz TM-28 in August 1998 as commander as part of Mir expedition EO-26. He returned to Earth in February 1999.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-4 in April 2004 as commander to the ISS as part of Expedition 9.

His third flight was on Soyuz TMA-14 in March 2009 as commander of Expeditions 19 and 20 on the ISS.  During the mission, he logged almost 16 hours of EVA time.

His fourth flight was on Soyuz TMA-04M in May 2012 as flight engineer for Expedition 31 and then commander of Expedition 32.

His fifth and final flight was about Soyuz TMA-16M in March 2015 as commander for Expeditions 43 and 44.

Soyuz TM-28 launched 1998

Soyuz TM-28 crew (L-R):   Yuri Baturin, Gennady Padalka, Sergei Avdeyev

Soyuz TM-28 mission match

Soyuz TM-28, the 26th mission to the space station Mir, launched August 13, 1998.  Its crew consisted of Commander Gennady Padalka, Sergei Avdeyev and Yuri Baturin, who is the first Russian politician in space.

When Soyuz TM-28 returned to Earth in February 1999, Padalka was the only original crew member on board.  Flight Engineer Sergei Avdeyev stayed until August 1999, returning on Soyuz TM-29. 

Baturin stayed on Mir for about a week and a half, returning to Earth August 25 aboard Soyuz TM-27.

However, Padalka was not alone on his return trip.  Slovakian cosmonaut Ivan Bella returned on Soyuz TM-28 after a week stay on Mir.  He arrived on Soyuz TM-29 February 20.

Happy birthday, Slovakian cosmonaut Ivan Bella!

Ivan Bella, born May 25, 1964 in Brezno, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), is the first Slovak citizen to travel in space.  He flew aboard Soyuz TM-29 to the space station Mir.  He remained on board conducting experiments for a little over a week, and returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-28.

It was his only trip to space.