Happy birthday, cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov!

Pavel Vinogradov, born August 31, 1953 in Magadan in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three space flights.

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TM-26 as flight engineer to the space station Mir in August 1997.  He remained on board for almost 198 days before returning to Earth in February 1998.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-8 as commander to the International Space Station in March 2006.  He participated in Expedition 13 and conducted 2 EVAs.  He returned to Earth in September after almost 181 days.

His third flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-08M as commander to the ISS in March 2013.  He participated in Expeditions 35 and 36.  He stayed aboard for over 166 days before returning to Earth in September 2013.

Soyuz TMA-8 (Expedition 13) launched 2006

Soyuz TMA-8 crew (L-R): Marcos Pontes, Jeffrey Williams, Pavel Vinogradov

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-8, launched March 30, 2006, carried members of Expedition 13 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Pavel Vinogradov (Roscosmos), Jeffrey Williams (NASA) and Marcos Pontes (first Brazilian astronaut).

Pontes spent about a week on the ISS and returned with the crew of Expedition 12 on Soyuz TMA-7.

Vinogradov and Williams stayed on the ISS until September 29 when they returned to Earth with space tourist Anousheh Ansari, the first Iranian in space and the first self-funded woman in space.  Ansari arrived at the ISS about a week before on Soyuz TMA-9.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Marcos Pontes!

Marcos Pontes, born March 11, 1963 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the first Brazilian in space.  He went into space aboard Soyuz TMA-8 in March 2006.  He spent a week aboard the International Space Station and returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-7.  He is the only Brazilian to complete astronaut training and cosmonaut training in Russia.

Happy birthday, Shuttle and Soyuz astronaut Jeff Williams!

Jeffrey Williams, born January 18, 1958 in Wisconsin, is a veteran of a space shuttle flight and three Soyuz flights.

His first trip into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-101) in May 2000 to the International Space Station as Mission Specialist.  Before his second trip, Williams served as the Commander of the NEEMO 3 mission on the Aquarius underwater laboratory in July 2002.

His next trip was as flight engineer on Soyuz TMA-8 for Expedition 13 on the ISS in March-September 2006.  He spent about 6 months aboard the ISS.

Williams' third mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-16 to the ISS in November 2009.  He participated in Expedition 21 and was Commander of the ISS for Expedition 22.

HIs fourth flight (and hopefully not his last) was on Soyuz TMA-20M in March 2016 for Expedition 47 and was Commander for ISS Expedition 48.