Talgat Amangeldyuly Musabayev ( kk, Талғат Аманкелдіұлы Мұсабаев, ''Talğat Amankeldıūly Mūsabaev''; born 7 January 1951) is a Kazakh test pilot and former

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 ...

who flew on three

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in or ...

s. His first two spaceflights were long-duration stays aboard the Russian

space station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

''. His third spaceflight was a short duration visiting mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

, which also carried the first paying

space tourist Space tourism is human space travel for recreational purposes. There are several different types of space tourism, including orbital, suborbital and lunar space tourism. During the period from 2001 to 2009, seven space tourists made eight s ...

Dennis Tito Dennis Anthony Tito (born August 8, 1940) is an American engineer and entrepreneur. In mid-2001, he became the first space tourist to fund his own trip into space, when he spent nearly eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1, a visitin ...

. He retired as a cosmonaut in November 2003. Since 2007 he has been head of Kazakhstan's National Space Agency,

KazCosmos The National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасы Ұлттық ғарыш агенттiгi, Qazaqstan Respublikasy Ūlttyq ğaryş agenttıgı), also known as KazCosmos, or KazKosmos, is Ka ...

Early career

Musabayev graduated from Riga Civil Aviation Engineers Institute in 1974. Then in 1983 he graduated from Higher Military Aviation School in

Akhtubinsk Akhtubinsk (russian: Ахту́бинск; kk, Ақтөбе, ''Aqtóbe'') is a town and the administrative center of Akhtubinsky District in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Akhtuba River (a tributary of the Volga), nort ...

, with an engineering diploma. Musabayev received several awards as an aerobatic flyer and was selected as a cosmonaut on 11 May 1990. In 1991, he was appointed to Major and transferred to the cosmonaut group of Air Force (TsPK-11).

Cosmonaut career

Musabayev was selected to be a cosmonaut on 11 May 1990.

Mir EO-16

His first spaceflight was as a crew member of the long-duration mission

Mir EO-16 ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

, which was launched and landed by the spacecraft

Soyuz TM-19 Soyuz TM-19 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight to Mir. It launched on 1 July 1994, at 12:24:50 UTC. Crew Mission highlights Commander Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Musabayev, both spaceflight rookies, were to have been launched with veteran cos ...

. Musabayev was designated Flight Engineer; the mission lasted from 1 July 1994 to 4 November 1994, for a total duration of 125 days 22 hours 53 minutes.

Mir EO-25

His second spaceflight was as Commander of another long-duration expedition called

Mir EO-25 ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

, which was launched by the spacecraft

Soyuz TM-27 Soyuz TM-27 was a Russian spaceflight that ferried cosmonauts and supplies to the Russian space station Mir. It was the 33rd expedition to Mir. It was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome on January 29, 1998. The main mission wa ...

. The mission lasted from 29 January 1998 to 25 August 25, 1998.

ISS EP-1

His third mission was as Commander of

ISS EP-1 Expedition 2 (also called ISS EO-2) was the second long-duration spaceflight aboard the International Space Station, immediately following Expedition 1. Its three-person crew stayed aboard the station from March to August 2001. In addition to st ...

, which was a visiting mission to the

. It was launched by

Soyuz TM-32 Soyuz TM-32 was a crewed Soyuz spaceflight which was launched on April 28, 2001, and docked with the International Space Station two days later. It launched the crew of the visiting mission ISS EP-1, which included the first paying space touris ...

, and was landed by

Soyuz TM-31 Soyuz TM-31 was the first Soyuz spaceflight to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft carried the members of Expedition 1, the first long-duration ISS crew. It was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 07 ...

on 6 May 2001, for a total duration of 7 days 22 hours 4 minutes. This visiting mission was notable for carrying the first ever paying

. , he was among the top 30 cosmonauts by time in space.

Later life

He retired from being a cosmonaut in November 2003. He became deputy head of the

Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy () – is a higher military educational institution for training and retraining of engineers for the Russian Air Force. The academy trains specialists – engineers, research engineers in the following sp ...

and was appointed to Major General in September 2003. From 2005 to 2007 he was General Director of "Bayterek" Corp. which was a Kazakhstani-Russian Joint Venture. 11 April 2007, Musabayev was appointed Head of the National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, also known as

Personal life

He is married and has two children.

Honours and awards

Talgat Musabayev 2015 stamp of Kazakhstan

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 ...

(24 November 1994) – for active participation in the preparation and successful implementation of lengthy space flight on the orbital scientific research complex ''Mir'', displaying courage and heroism *

People's Hero of Kazakhstan The title of People's Hero of Kazakhstan ( kk, Халық қаһарманы, Halyq qaharmany) is the highest distinction conferred by the Republic of Kazakhstan, along with the Order of the Golden Eagle. Overview According to the Law on State ...

(1995) *

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

; **2nd class (28 September 2001) – for their courage and heroism in the implementation of the international space flight **3rd class (25 December 1998) – for their courage and selflessness shown during spaceflight on the orbital scientific research complex ''Mir'' * Order Otan (1998) * Order Barys (Leopard), 1st class (2002) *

Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" The Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (russian: Медаль "За заслуги в освоении космоса") is a state decoration of the Russian Federation aimed at recognising achievements in the space program. It was established ...

(12 April 2011) – for outstanding contribution to the development of international cooperation in manned space flight * Medal "Astana" (1999) *

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples (russian: oрден Дружбы народов, translit=orden Druzhby narodov) was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military unit ...

(10 October 1991) – for active participation in preparation for space flight on the orbital scientific research complex ''Mir'', a great contribution to strengthening mutual understanding, friendship and trust between the peoples of the Soviet Union and the Republic of Austria *

Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation The Honorary Title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation (russian: Летчик-космонавт Российской Федерации) is a state award of the Russian Federation presented to all cosmonauts who fly for the Russian Federa ...

(1994) * Pilot-Cosmonaut of Kazakhstan (1995) *

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...

(Austria, 1991) * Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(France, October 2010) – for services to the exploration of space and, in particular, for close cooperation with France and French astronauts during his second 208-day space flight in 1998, as well as effective strategic partnership with France as the head of

NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronau ...

(United States, 1998) for distinguished contributions to the Shuttle-Mir program

References

External links

Personal website (Russian)The official website of the city administration Baikonur – Honorary citizens of Baikonur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musabayev, Talgat 1951 births Living people People from Almaty Region Riga Aviation University alumni Kazakhstani cosmonauts Heroes of the Russian Federation Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Heroes of Kazakhstan Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Russian cosmonauts Recipients of the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" Recipients of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Kazakhstani engineers Spacewalkers Mir crew members