Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (russian: Юрий Иванович Маленченко; born December 22, 1961) is a retired Russian

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 ...

. Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, while he was over New Zealand, on 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 ( ...

. As of June 2016, Malenchenko ranks second for career time in space due to his time on both

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 ...

and the

(ISS). He is a former Commander of the

Personal life

Malenchenko was born in Khrushchev,

Kirovohrad Oblast Kirovohrad Oblast ( uk, Кіровоградська область, translit=Kirovohradska oblast; also referred to as Kirovohradschyna — uk, Кіровоградщина) is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administrative center of the ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

. He and his wife Ekaterina Dmitrieva have one child.

Education

Malenchenko graduated from the

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.

Awards

Malenchenko was awarded: * Hero of the Russian Federation, * the National Hero of Kazakhstan medal, * Military award of excellence, * Commendation medal, * Achievement medal, *

Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (russian: Юбилейная медаль «70 лет Вооружённых Сил СССР») was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established on January 28, 198 ...

* Meritorious Service Medals 1st, 2nd and 3rd class.

Cosmonaut career

After graduation from the Military Aviation School, he served as a pilot, senior pilot and multi-ship flight lead from 1983 till 1987 in the Odessa Region. In 1987 he was selected as a cosmonaut, and arrived 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 ...

. From December 1987 to June 1989 Malenchenko underwent a course of general space training. After completion of the course, he was qualified as a test-cosmonaut. Between September 1989 to December 1993 he was taking advanced training courses in preparation for spaceflight. In January–July, 1993 Malenchenko trained as commander of the Mir-14 reserve crew. He completed training as a backup commander of the Mir-15 crew from July 1993 to January 1994. From February to June 1994 Malenchenko trained for the Mir-16 mission.

Spaceflight experience

Soyuz TM-19

On July 1, 1994, Malenchenko and

Talgat Musabayev Talgat Amangeldyuly Musabayev ( kk, Талғат Аманкелдіұлы Мұсабаев, ''Talğat Amankeldıūly Mūsabaev''; born 7 January 1951) is a Kazakh test pilot and former cosmonaut who flew on three spaceflights. His first two spa ...

lifted off to space on board the

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 ...

spacecraft with Malenchenko in command of the Soyuz. Following a two-day solo flight the Soyuz docked with Mir on July 3, 1994. Main goal of the mission was the partly exchange of the resident crew. Malenchenko, Musabayev and cosmonaut

Valeri Polyakov Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov (russian: Валерий Владимирович Поляков, born Valeri Ivanovich Korshunov, russian: Валерий Иванович Коршунов, 27 April 1942 – 7 September 2022) was a Soviet and Rus ...

became the 16th resident Mir crew, with Malenchenko in command. The crew conducted medical experiments and experiments in materials science. There were many problems during the mission, which finally ended with the first successful manual docking of a

Progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...

supply ship at Mir by Malenchenko. On November 4, 1994, Malenchenko, Musabayev and

Ulf Merbold Ulf Dietrich Merbold (born June 20, 1941) is a German physicist and astronaut who flew to space three times, becoming the first West German citizen in space and the first non-American to fly on a NASA spacecraft. Merbold flew on two Space Shu ...

returned to Earth aboard their Soyuz capsule after landing 88 km northeast of

Arkalyk Arkalyk ( kz, Arqalyq; cyrl, Арқалық, russian: Аркалык) is a city in Kostanay Region, northern Kazakhstan. Earlier, it was the centre of Torgay Region, which was abolished in 1997. Today, it is the administrative centre of Torgay D ...

. Aboard Soyuz TM-19 and Mir complex Malenchenko spent 125 days, 22 hours, 53 minutes in space. YMalenchenko Expedition16

STS-106

Malenchenko served as a mission specialist for STS-106. lifted off from the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

(KSC) on September 8, 2000. On flight day two, ''Atlantis'' completed a successful rendezvous and docking with the ISS. The objectives of the mission were to bring supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) and to prepare the '' Zvezda'' Service Module for the arrival of the first resident crew. During the 12-day mission, the shuttle crew spent a week inside the ISS unloading supplies from both a double

SPACEHAB Astrotech Corporation, formerly Spacehab Inc., is a technology incubator headquartered in Austin, Texas. Astrotech uses technology sourced internally and from research institutions, government laboratories, and universities to fund, manage and s ...

cargo module in the rear of ''Atlantis'' cargo bay and from Progress M1-3 which was docked to the aft docking port of ''Zvezda''. After circling the globe for 186 orbits, ''Atlantis'' landed on September 19, 2000, at Runway 15, KSC. The mission lasted 11 days, 19 hours and 12 minutes.

Expedition 7

Malenchenko with astronaut Edward Lu lifted on board the

Soyuz TMA-2 Soyuz TMA-2 was a Soyuz (Russian Союз ТМА-2, ''Union TMA-2'') mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. The spacecraft docked with the ISS on April 28, 2003 and undocked on October 10, 200 ...

spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on April 26, 2003, to the ISS. The spacecraft docked with the ISS on April 28, 2003. Malenchenko served as the Soyuz commander, and after docking with the ISS they exchanged with the resident crew on board ISS and became the seventh station crew,

Expedition 7 Expedition 7 was the seventh expedition to the International Space Station. Crew Planned crew before ''Columbia'' disaster Mission parameters *Perigee: 384 km *Apogee: 396 km *Inclination: 51.6° *Period: 92 min Mission objec ...

. He was the commander of the Expedition 7, and during his stay on the station, Malenchenko became the first person to get married in space. Soyuz TMA-2 returned to Earth on October 28, with both the Expedition 7 crew as well as

Pedro Duque Pedro Francisco Duque Duque, OF, OMSE (Madrid, 14 March 1963) is a Spanish astronaut and aeronautics engineer who served as Minister of Science of the Government of Spain from 2018 to 2021. He was also Member of the Congress of Deputies from ...

on board. The spacecraft landed at 02:40 UTC near Arkalyk. Aboard Soyuz TMA-2 and the ISS, Malenchenko spent 184 days, 22 hours and 46 minutes in space.

Expedition 16

Malenchenko with NASA astronaut

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 ...

and Malaysian spaceflight participant

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie bin Sheikh Mustapha (born 27 July 1972) is the first Malaysian astronaut. He launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-11 with the Expedition 16 crew on 10 October 2007. Sheikh Muszaphar fl ...

blasted off to space on October 10, 2007, on

Soyuz TMA-11 Soyuz TMA-11 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 13:22 UTC on October 10, 2007, when the spacecraft was launched from the ...

from the Baikonour Cosmodrome. He served as the Soyuz commander. The Soyuz spacecraft docked with the ISS after 2 days of autonomous flight on October 12, 2007. Malenchenko joined the ISS

Expedition 16 Expedition 16 was the 16th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The first two crew members, Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson, launched on 10 October 2007, aboard Soyuz TMA-11, and were joined by spaceflight participant Shei ...

crew as Flight Engineer 1. The Soyuz capsule landed in

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 ...

on April 19, 2008, bringing back Malenchenko, Whitson and South Korean spaceflight participant

Yi So-Yeon Yi So-yeon (born June 2, 1978) is a South Korean astronaut and biotechnologist who became the first Korean to fly in space. Upon return from her mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Yi continued as a KARI researcher attendin ...

. Similar to

Soyuz TMA-1 Soyuz TMA-1, also catalogued as Soyuz TM-35, was a 2002 Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle with a Russian-Belgian cosmonaut crew blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Thi ...

and

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 ...

, Soyuz TMA-11 performed a

ballistic reentry Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the ...

, a reentry steeper than a normal reentry, due to a malfunction and landed 475 km from intended landing point, north of Arkalyk. Although the crew were recovered with no injuries, the spacecraft's hatch and antenna suffered burn damage during the unusual reentry. He accumulated 191 days, 19 hours and 8 minutes time in space during Soyuz TMA-11 and ISS Expedition 16 missions.

Expedition 32/33

Spacewalks

Malenchenko conducted his first and second career spacewalks during the Mir-16 mission. He and Musabayev performed two spacewalks on September 9, 1994 (5h 06m) and September 14, 1994, in which the station's external insulation was repaired. The first and second spacewalks lasted 5 hours and 6 minutes, and 6 hours and 1 minute respectively. Malenchenko performed his third career spacewalk during the STS-106 mission to the ISS. On flight day three, Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Ed Lu conducted a 6-hour and 14 minute space walk. The spacewalk started at 04:55 GMT on September 11 when the two spacewalkers exited the shuttle's airlock. The spacewalk's objective focused on routing and connecting nine power, data and communications cables between the ''Zvezda'' module and the '' Zarya'' module, as well as installing the six-foot-long magnetometer to the ISS to serve as a compass showing the space station in respect to the Earth. This spacewalk marked the sixth spacewalk in support of the ISS assembly and the 50th spacewalk in space shuttle history. ISS-32 Russian EVA12

On November 9, 2007, Malenchenko performed his fourth career spacewalk. He and Expedition 16 commander, Peggy Whitson, in US EMUs ventured into space from the station's '' Quest'' airlock at 09:54 UTC. Malenchenko's suit was all white, and the purpose of the spacewalk was to prepare for the relocation of

Pressurized Mating Adapter The Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA) is a class of spacecraft adapters that convert the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) used on the US Orbital Segment to APAS-95 docking ports. There are three PMAs located on the International Space Station (I ...

(PMA-2) and the subsequent move of the '' Harmony'' node to its permanent location. As the first task, the two spacewalkers disconnected the Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS) cables between the ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'' laboratory and PMA-2. Next they disconnected eight other cables between PMA-2 and the ''Destiny''. Malenchenko removed and replaced a failed electrical circuit box and together with Whitson removed the active

Common Berthing Mechanism The Common Mechanism (CBM) connects habitable elements in the US Orbital Segment (USOS) of the International Space Station (ISS). The CBM has two distinct sides that, once mated, form a cylindrical vestibule between modules. The vestibule is ...

cover that was located at the outboard end of ''Harmony''. Next, Malenchenko moved back behind the Z1 truss to reconfigure a power system, removing an electrical jumper. The spacewalk ended at 16.49 UTC when the two spacewalkers returned to the ISS. The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 55 minutes. On 20 August 2012, Malenchenko together with cosmonaut Gennady Padalka participated in his fifth career spacewalk. Tasks assigned to the two cosmonauts included hardware relocations, installations, retrievals, and deployments. For the spacewalk, Malenchenko donned an Orlan spacesuit with the blue stripe. The duration of the spacewalk was 5 hours and 51 minutes. The spacewalk was delayed for about an hour due to a small leak between Space Station modules. The spacewalk started from the Pirs Docking Compartment Module at 15:37 GMT. The first task for Padalka and Malenchenko was to relocate the Strela-2 boom from the Pirs module to the forward end of the Zarya module. The relocation was needed since Pirs module will be detached from the Space Station in the future for the arrival of the new Multi-purpose Laboratory Module (MLM) Nauka. The next task completed by Padalka and Malenchenko was to deploy a 21-inch diameter spherical satellite. The two cosmonauts also retrieved five debris shields from the Pirs Module, prior to installing them on the Zvezda Module. They also completed several get-ahead tasks (since they both opted not to take rests during the night passes) as the duo were about an hour ahead of the timeline. They retrieved an external experiment called Biorisk from the Pirs Module for return to Earth, and for added stability installed two structural support struts between the Pirs Module and the EVA ladder. Padalka and Malenchenko then both ingress the Pirs Module, prior to closing the hatch and beginning the re-pressurisation procedure, to end a highly successful spacewalk. ISS-47 Yuri Malenchenko with camera in the Cupola module

ISS-47 Yuri Malenchenko with camera in the Cupola module

Expedition 46/47

Soyuz TMA-19M crew in front of their spacecraft

Malenchenko arrived at the ISS

Soyuz TMA-19M Soyuz TMA-19M was a 2015 Russian Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station. It was launched on December 15, 2015 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, transporting three members of the Expedition 46 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-1 ...

to join the Expedition 46 crew. He performed a manual docking due to a malfunction in the automatic docking system. Progress MS-1 was then scheduled for launch to the ISS, atop a Soyuz 2.1a, on 21 December. Planned for a launch date of no earlier than 7 February 2016, the

SpaceX CRS-8 SpaceX CRS-8, also known as SpX-8, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched on April 8, 2016, at 20:43 UTC. It was the 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, the tenth flight of a ...

mission provided the ISS with the

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an experimental expandable space station module developed by Bigelow Aerospace, under contract to NASA, for testing as a temporary module on the International Space Station (ISS) from 2016 to ...

. Two

EVA Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

s were performed during Expedition 46. He returned to Earth on

, and landed on 18 June 2016 09:15 UTC, after spending additional 186 days in space.

References

External links

NASA biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malenchenko, Yuri Ivanovich 1961 births Living people People from Svitlovodsk Crew members of the International Space Station Heroes of the Russian Federation Commanders of the International Space Station Russian Air Force officers Russian cosmonauts Soviet Air Force officers Russian people of Ukrainian descent Heroes of Kazakhstan Space Shuttle program astronauts Spacewalkers Mir crew members