Endeavour (STS-111) launched 2002

STS-111 crew (L-R): Philippe Perrin, Paul Lockhart, Kenneth Cockrell, Franklin Chang Diaz

STS-111 mission patch

Expedition 5 crew (L-R): Valery Korzun, Peggy Whitson, Sergei Treshchov

Expedition 4 crew (L-R): Daniel Bursch, Yuri Onufrienko, Carl Walz

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-111), launched June 5, 2002, carried members of Expedition 5 to the International Space Station.  Endeavour's crew consisted of Commander Kenneth Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Philippe Perrin (CNES), and Franklin Chang Diaz on his seventh and final flight.  The members of Expedition 5 consisted of Valery Korzun (Roscosmos), Peggy Whitson, and Sergei Treshchov (Roscosmos).

Chang Diaz and Perrin conducted three EVAs during the mission.  Endeavour returned to Earth after almost two weeks in space with the members of Expedition 4: Yuri Onufrienko (Roscosmos), Carl Walz, and Daniel Bursch.

Endeavour (STS-113) launched 2002

STS-113 (L-R): Paul S. Lockhart, Michael López-Alegría, John Herrington, James D. Wetherbee

Mission patch

Expedition 6 crew (L-R): Donald Pettit, Ken Bowersox and Nikolai Budarin

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-113), launched November 23, 2002, was a mission to exchange Expeditions 5 and 6 on the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington.  The members of Expedition 6 being carried to the ISS were Kenneth Bowersox, Nikolai Budarin and Donald Pettit.  The returning members of Expedition 5 were Valery Korzun, Peggy Whitson, and Sergei Treshchov.

Soyuz TM-24 launched 1996

Soyuz TM-24 crew (L-R): Claudie Andre-Deshays, Valery Korzun, Aleksandr Kaleri

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-24, launched August 17, 1996, was the 27th expedition to Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Valery Korzun, Aleksandr Kaleri and Claudie Andre-Deshays, first French woman in space.

Andre-Deshays spent 16 days on Mir conducting biological and medical experiments before returning to Earth on Soyuz TM-23 in September 1996.

Korzun and Kaleri stayed for over 196 days and returned to Earth in March 1997.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Valery Korzun!

Valery Korzun, born March 5, 1953 in the former Soviet Union, has been to space twice but spent over a year total in space.

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-24 in August 1996 as part of Mir EO-22.  He returned to Earth in March 1997 having spent almost 197 days on Mir.

His next trip into space was aboard Endeavour (STS-111) in June 2002 to the International Space Station.  He joined Expedition 5 as commander.  He returned to Earth on Endeavour (STS-113) December 7, 2002 after almost 185 days.

He performed 2 spacewalks during each mission.