Roman Yurievich Romanenko (Major, Russian Air Force; russian: Роман Юрьевич Романенко; born 9 August 1971) is a Russian retired

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 ...

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 ...

. He is also a politician, sitting in the

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...

since

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

representing the Chertanovo constituency.

Personal life

Romanenko was born in

Shchyolkovo Shchyolkovo ( rus, Щёлково, p=ˈɕːɵlkəvə) is a city and the administrative center of Shchyolkovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River (Oka's tributary), northeast of Moscow. Population: 112,865 ( 2002 ...

, near

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. His parents, Yuri Victorovich Romanenko and Aleftina Ivanovna Romanenko, live in Star City. He is married to Yulia Leonidovna Romanenko (Danilovskaya). They have a son and a daughter. His hobbies include underwater hunting, tennis, car repairs, tourism, yachting, volleyball and music.

Education

After when he graduated from Star City high school in 1986, Romanenko entered the Leningrad Suvorov military school, from which he graduated in 1988. In 1988, he entered the Chernigov High Air Force School for pilots, from which he graduated in 1992 as a pilot-engineer.

Experience

Following graduation from pilot school Romanenko served as a second commander in the Air Force. He flew L-39 and

Tu-134 The Tupolev Tu-134 (NATO reporting name: Crusty) is a twin-engined, narrow-body jet airliner built in the Soviet Union for short and medium-haul routes from 1966 to 1989. The original version featured a glazed-nose design and, like certain ot ...

aircraft. Romanenko has logged over 500 hours of flight time. He is a Class 3 Air Force pilot.

Awards

On 6 May 2010 Romanenko was awarded the

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 ...

medal by the decree of the Russian President

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...

. He was also awarded the honorary title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation.

Cosmonaut career

Romanenko was selected as a cosmonaut candidate at the

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 ...

Cosmonaut Office in December 1997. From January 1998 to November 1999 he undertook his basic training course. In November 1999 he was qualified as a Test Cosmonaut. He served as the backup to

Oleg Kotov Oleg Valeriyevich Kotov (russian: Олег Валериевич Котов) was born on 27 October 1965 in Simferopol, Crimean oblast in the Ukrainian SSR. After a career as a physician assigned to the Soviet space program, he joined the Russian ...

as the Commander of

Soyuz TMA-10 Soyuz TMA-10 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The mission began at 17:31:09 UTC on April 7, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Ba ...

and

Fyodor Yurchikhin Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin (russian: Фёдор Николаевич Юрчихин, Greek: Θεόδωρος Γιουρτσίχιν του Νικόλαου; born 3 January 1959) is a Russian cosmonaut of Greek descent, engineer and RSC Ene ...

as Commander of

Expedition 15 Expedition 15 was the 15th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). Four crew members participated in the expedition, although for most of the expedition's duration only three were on the station at any one time. During Expedition 15, ...

Expedition 20/21

On 27 May 2009 Romanenko was launched into space as the commander of the

Soyuz TMA-15 Soyuz TMA-15 was a crewed spaceflight to the International Space Station. Part of the Soyuz programme, it transported three members of the Expedition 20 crew to the space station. TMA-15 was the 102nd crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, since So ...

spacecraft from Site 1/5 at the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. He was part of the

Expedition 20 Expedition 20 was the 20th long-duration flight to the International Space Station. The expedition marked the first time a six-member crew inhabited the station. Because each Soyuz-TMA spacecraft could hold only three people, two separate laun ...

and

Expedition 21 Expedition 21 was the 21st long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began on 11 October 2009, with Frank de Winne becoming the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission. The handover between Expeditio ...

crews and was the third second-generation space traveller after Sergey Volkov and

Richard Garriott Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth. ...

. Romanenko served as a Flight Engineer aboard the ISS during the two long duration missions. After spending 187 days and 20 hours in space, Romanenko returned to Earth along with astronauts,

Robert Thirsk Robert Brent "Bob" Thirsk, (born August 17, 1953) is a Canadian engineer and physician, and a former Canadian Space Agency astronaut. He holds the Canadian record for the most time spent in space (204 days 18 hours). He became an officer of th ...

and

Frank de Winne Frank, Viscount De Winne (born 25 April 1961, in Ledeberg, Belgium) is a Belgian Air Component officer and an ESA astronaut. He is Belgium's second person in space (after Dirk Frimout). He was the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission whe ...

on 1 December 2009.

Expedition 34/35

On 19 December 2012, Romanenko was launched to space on Soyuz TMA-07M along with

Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also serv ...

and

Thomas Marshburn Thomas Henry Marshburn (born August 29, 1960) is an American physician and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three spaceflights to the International Space Station and holds the record for the oldest person to perform a spacewalk at 61 years o ...

. He was a part of the crews of Expedition 34 and

Expedition 35 Expedition 35 was the 35th long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition started 13 March 2013, and marked the first time a Canadian astronaut – Colonel Chris Hadfield – was in command of the station. Expedi ...

aboard the ISS. He served as a Flight Engineer. Romanenko returned to Earth on 14 May 2013 spending 145 days and 14 hours in space.

First Spacewalk

On 19 April 2013 Romanenko completed his first spacewalk with fellow cosmonaut

Pavel Vinogradov Pavel Vladimirovich Vinogradov (russian: Павел Владимирович Виноградов; born 31 August 1953 in Magadan, USSR) is a cosmonaut and former commander of the International Space Station. As of January 2023, he has flown in ...

, a 6-hour 38 minute EVA to conduct repairs to the ISS.

References

External links

NASA Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romanenko, Roman 1971 births Living people Russian cosmonauts Crew members of the International Space Station Heroes of the Russian Federation Spacewalkers Sixth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Seventh convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Eighth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)