Jean-Pierre Haignere, born May 19, 1948 in Paris, France, has been in space twice as an astronaut for France's National Centre for Space Studies.
His first flight was aboard Soyuz TM-17 to the space station Mir, launched July 1, 1993. He returned to Earth July 22 aboard Soyuz TM-16.
His second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TM-29 to Mir in February 1999. He participated in Mir EO-27 and stayed aboard for almost 189 days before returning to Earth in August 1999.
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-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.
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.
Soyuz TM-29, launched February 20, 1999, was the 38th mission to Mir. Its crew consisted of Commander Viktor Afanasyev, Flight Engineer Jean-Pierre Haignere (France), and Research Cosmonaut Ivan Bella (Slovakia). Bella is the first Slovak citizen to go into space. He stayed on Mir for about a week and returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-28.
Afanasyev and Haignere remained on board until August 28 and returned with fellow cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev.
Viktor Mikhailovich Afanasyev, born December 31, 1948 (same day as Donna Summer!) in Bryansk, Russia, is a cosmonaut who has visited both Mir and the International Space Station. From 1985-1987 he took space training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and flew his first mission on Soyuz TM-11, which launched December 2, 1990. He spent 175 days on Mir as part of the eighth manned expedition (EO-8) returning May 1991.
Afanasyev was commander of Soyuz TM-18 from January-July 1994 as part of the EO-15 crew. This time he spent 182 days on Mir.
His third flight was as commander on Soyuz TM-29, which launched February 1999 to Mir for the EO-27 crew. He returned to Earth in August after 188 days in space.
His fourth and last flight was on Soyuz TM-33 to the International Space Station in October 2001 as commander and returned later that month on Soyuz TM-32.
He has conducted 7 EVAs for a total of over 38 hours and has logged 545 days in space.
