Oleg Viktorovich Novitskiy (russian: Олег Викторович Новицкий; born October 12, 1971) is a former Lieutenant Colonel in the

Russian Air Force " Air March" , mascot = , anniversaries = 12 August , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , bat ...

who logged over 700 hours of flight time and was awarded for bravery. He is currently serving as a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

with

Roscosmos The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

and has participated in multiple expeditions, during which he has spent over 531 days in space.

Biography

Novitskiy was born on October 12, 1971, in Cherven, a

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

ian town of

Minsk Region Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́бласть, ''Minskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Minsk, ...

. He graduated from school No.2 in Cherven in 1988 and entered the Borisoglebsk Military Pilot School named after V. Chkalov. In 1994 he graduated from the Kachinskoye Military Pilot School named after A. Myasnikov, where he studied at the department specializing in command tactical aviation. Novitskiy was certified as a pilot-engineer. Between September to December 1995, Novitskiy served as a pilot-instructor in the fighter aviation regiment of V. Chkalov Training Center. From December 1995 to June 2004 he served in a variety of positions, from pilot to air squadron deputy commander at the fighter air regiment of the 1st Guard Composite Air Division of the 4th Air Army and Air Defense Army of the North Caucasus Military Command. Graduated in 2006 from the

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Tr ...

Air Force Academy specializing in military units/Air Force detachments management. After graduation from the Academy Novitskiy was a commander of an attack air squadron. By the time of selection to the Cosmonaut Corps he has mastered skills of piloting the Л-39 and Су-25 aircraft. He has logged a total of 700 hours of flight time. He is a Class 2 military pilot. Novitskiy is a qualified paratrooper instructor and military diver.

Spaceflight experience

Novitskiy was selected as a cosmonaut in 2006.Between February 2007 to July 2009 he completed basic spaceflight training and passed state exams with excellent grades. On August 1, 2009, he was qualified as a test-cosmonaut by the Interdepartmental Qualification Board, and between August 2009 to March 2010 he took the ISS advanced training course.

Expedition 33/34

From March 2010 to May 2012 he trained as the ISS

Expedition 31 Expedition 31 was the 31st long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). It began on 27 April 2012 with the departure from the ISS of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft, which returned the Expedition 30 crew to Earth. The expeditio ...

/ 32 backup crew member, the Soyuz TMA-M Commander/ISS Flight Engineer. Part of

Expedition 33 Expedition 33 was the 33rd long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). It began on 16 September 2012 with the departure from the ISS of the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft, which returned the Expedition 32 crew to Earth. Crew ...

/ 34 to the international space station where he served as ISS flight engineer. He was launched to space as part of the

Soyuz TMA-06M Soyuz TMA-06M was a spaceflight to the International Space Station launched on 23 October 2012, transporting three members of the Expedition 33 crew. TMA-06M was the 115th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching in 1967. Soyuz TM ...

crew on October 23, 2012 and returned on March 16, 2013. Overall time in space was 143 days 16 hours and 15 minutes.

Expedition 50/51

Novitskiy returned to space as part of

Expedition 50 Expedition 50 was the 50th expedition to the International Space Station. Robert S. Kimbrough, Andrei Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov transferred from Expedition 49. Expedition 50 began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-01 on October 28, 2016 and ...

Expedition 51 Expedition 51 (April - June 2017) was the 51st expedition to the International Space Station, which began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-02 on April 10, 2017 and concluded upon the departure of Soyuz MS-03 on June 2, 2017. Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novi ...

which launched on November 17, 2016 on

Soyuz MS-03 Soyuz MS-03 was a Soyuz spaceflight launched on 17 November 2016. It transported three members of the Expedition 50 crew to the International Space Station. MS-03 was the 132nd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew consisted of a Russian comma ...

. On June 2, 2017, MS-03 undocked from the ISS, carrying Novitskiy and

Thomas Pesquet Thomas Gautier Pesquet (; born 27 February 1978 in Rouen) is a French aerospace engineer, pilot, and European Space Agency astronaut. Pesquet was selected by ESA as a candidate in May 2009, and he successfully completed his basic training in Nove ...

back to Earth after 196 days in space.

Peggy Whitson Peggy Annette Whitson (born February 9, 1960) is an American biochemistry researcher, retired NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut. Whitson has a total of 665 days in space, more than any other woman or American. Her first space mi ...

remained on the ISS and returned on

Soyuz MS-04 Soyuz MS-04 was a Soyuz spaceflight that launched on 20 April 2017 to the ISS. It transported two members of the Expedition 52 crew to the International Space Station. Soyuz MS-04 was the 133rd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew consisted ...

. Soyuz MS-03 touched down just over 3 hours after undocking, concluding Novitsky's second spaceflight.

Expedition 64/65

Novitskiy returned to space for the third time in April 2021, launching aboard

Soyuz MS-18 Soyuz MS-18 (spacecraft named "Y. A. Gagarin") was a Soyuz spaceflight that was launched on 9 April 2021 at 07:42:41 UTC. It transported three members of the Expedition 64 crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Soyuz MS-18 was the 146t ...

, alongside

cosmonaut

Pyotr Dubrov Pyotr Valerievich Dubrov ( rus, Пётр Валерьевич Дубров; born 30 January 1978) is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut selected by Roscosmos in 2012. Early life and education Dubrov was born on 30 January 1978 in Khabarovsk, Russ ...

and American astronaut

Mark T. Vande Hei Mark Thomas Vande Hei (born November 10, 1966) is a retired United States Army officer and current NASA astronaut who has served as a flight Engineer for Expedition 53, 54, 64, 65, and 66 on the International Space Station. Early life ...

. Novitsky landed on MS-18 on 17 October 2021, with actress

Yulia Peresild Yulia Sergeevna Peresild (russian: Юлия Сергеевна Пересильд; born 5 September 1984) is a Russian stage and film actress. She is the first professional actress to act in outer space after her spaceflight to the ISS in Octobe ...

and director

Klim Shipenko Klim Alekseevich Shipenko (russian: Клим Алексеевич Шипенко; born 16 June 1983) is a Russian film director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Career Filming in outer space In 2021, Shipenko shot portions of a science ficti ...

Cinematography

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (commander) and

, the director of the film " The Challenge" together with the film's star,

, will go to the ISS on the Soyuz MS-19 scheduled for October 5, 2021.Dvorsky, George
"What to Know About the Film Crew Shooting the First Movie in Space This Week"
Gizmodo.com, October 4, 2021 The drama is a joint project of

, Russia's Channel One and the

Yellow, Black and White Yellow, Black and White (YBW) Group is a Russian company, engaged in TV shows, series and movies production. The main company's partner from 2008 to 2017 (in 2021 partnership was restored) is "STS" TV channel. In the period from 2018 till 2020 YBW ...

studio. Since May 24 the crew members have been training at the

Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC; Russian: Центр подготовки космонавтов имени Ю. А. Гагарина) is a Russian training facility responsible for train ...

. Alternates trained for the mission and filming are actress Alyona Mordovina and director Alexei Dudin and the commander Oleg Artemyev. On July 23, 2021, the prime crew participated in a four-hour simulation inside a Soyuz replica while wearing the Sokol suit, and on July 30, the spacecraft began its pre-launch preparation. The director and actress returned to Earth on October 17, 2021 on Soyuz MS-18, with Commander Oleg Novitskiy, who will play the role of a cosmonaut who needs medical assistance in the film. Cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who arrived at the ISS on Soyuz MS-18, joined Shkaplerov on the return of Soyuz MS-19. Soyuz MS-19 landed on 30 March 2022.

Movie portion to be shot on ISS

Klim Shipenko shot about 35-40 minutes of film on the ISS, as well as taking on the position of director, operator, art director, and makeup artist. Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov will appear in the film, with Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei assisting in the production. Shkaplerov will appear in some scenes of the movie.

Honors and awards

Ministry of Defense of Russian Federation medals: *

Hero of the Russian Federation Hero of the Russian Federation (russian: Герой Российской Федерации, Geroy Rossiyskoy Federatsii), also unofficially Hero of Russia (russian: link=no, Герой России, Geroy Rossii), is the highest honorary title ...

* “For Participation in Military Operations” * “For Military Virtue”, II degree * “For Distinguished Military Service”, I, II and III degree * “For Service in the Air Force”. * Veteran of Military Operations

References

External links

Spacefacts biography of Oleg Novitskiy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novitsky, Oleg 1971 births Living people People from Chervyen Russian cosmonauts Heroes of the Russian Federation Belarusian emigrants to Russia Russian people of Belarusian descent Spacewalkers