Krikalev biography. The life and unusual adventures of cosmonaut sergey krikalev

In February 1994, the first flight of a Russian cosmonaut on an American spacecraft took place. It was Sergei Krikalev's flight on the Discovery shuttle as part of the STS-60 space flight. In orbit, the shuttle's ventilation system has failed. The Americans had clear instructions: report the breakdown to Earth and wait for instructions. While in Houston they were deciding what to do, the condensate accumulated in the air ducts began to freeze, it was necessary to do something.

Krikalev did not want to interfere. When the astronauts asked: "What would you do?" - Sergei replied: "I would fix it." And then he took it and fixed it.

In December 1990, Krikalev began preparations for participation in the ninth expedition to the Mir station. Soyuz TM-12 was launched on May 19, 1991 with commander Anatoly Pavlovich Artsebarsky, flight engineer Krikalev and British astronaut Helen Sharman. A week later Sharman returned to Earth with the previous crew, while Krikalev and Artsebarsky remained on the Mir. Over the summer, they carried out six spacewalks, while conducting numerous scientific experiments, as well as work on maintaining the station.

Before his second flight in May 1991, Sergei Krikalev could not even imagine that events on Earth would make him a “cosmic long-liver”. On May 19, 1991, as part of the Soyuz TM-12 crew, he took off to the Mir orbital station. The crew of the space expedition successfully completed all flight missions and was about to return home. But the August events made their own adjustments to the flight plan. The collapse of the Soviet Union pulled a chain of destructive changes for our country. The budgets of space programs have been significantly reduced, while the obligations to other countries have not disappeared. Under the program of international cooperation, cosmonauts from Austria and Kazakhstan were supposed to go into space. It was planned that they would fly with different crews, but there was no money to launch two spaceships at that moment. It was decided to combine the flights, and one spacecraft went into orbit, in which there was no room for everyone to return to Earth.

Krikalev is known and admired all over the world (in some countries there are entire museum stands dedicated to our cosmonaut). In 1998, American director Michael Bay shot the film "Armageddon", where the Russian cosmonaut-colonel Lev Andropov was shown in a cartoon form, living alone at the space station (insane, unshaven, drunk, wearing a hat with earflaps and a quilted jacket, beating instruments, opens the fuel supply valve with a crowbar, blows up the Mir space station), although in the end it is he who, by his actions, saves all American cosmonauts, hitting the computer of the “non-starting” shuttle with an adjustable wrench. It is not at all necessary that Krikalev was taken as the basis of the character, of course, but there are too many coincidences.

In a training suit, June 30, 2004

Today Sergey Krikalev works as the first deputy general director of FSUE Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering for manned programs and is the most famous cosmonaut in the world, after Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.

VIDEOBIOGRAPHY OF THE SPACE

ORDER NUMBER: 67/212

NUMBER OF FLIGHTS: 6

FLIGHT: 803 days 09 hours 41 minutes 23 sec.

OUTPUTS TO OPEN SPACE: 8

TOTAL DURATION: 41 hours 26 minutes

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:

EDUCATION:

in 1975 finished 10 classes of secondary school No. 77 in the city of Leningrad;

since 1977 started flying at the DOSAAF Leningrad Aero Club;

in 1981 graduated with honors from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute (LMI) (Voenmech), mechanical engineering faculty, specialty - "design and production of aircraft", received a diploma of mechanical engineer.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY:

1981-1983 years- Engineer, senior engineer of the 111th department of the head design bureau (GKB) NPO Energia;

in 1983 passed the medical selection and in February 1984, after passing the necessary exams, was selected to the cosmonaut corps of NPO Energia;

1983-1985 - head of the group, GKB NPO Energia. He was engaged in the development of instructions for cosmonauts, training the actions of crews of manned spacecraft. He worked in the MCC as a crew actions methodologist, in 1985 - in the group of restoration of the Salyut-7 station operability from May 1990 to April 1992 - deputy head of the 191st department (formerly 111th department) of NPO Energia;

from April1992 year... to November1994 year. - Deputy Head of the 115th Department of NPO Energia;

since february2007 year... to August2007 year. - Vice President of RSC Energia;

since august2007 year... to March2009 year. - Deputy General Designer of RSC Energia;

since March2009 year... to March 2014- was the head of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Scientific Research Testing Center for the Training of Cosmonauts named after Yu.A. Gagarin "(FSBI" NII CTC named after Y. Gagarin ").

SPACE TRAINING:

August 21985 year. - by the decision of the State Interdepartmental Commission, he was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps of NPO Energia;

in September1985 year... - by order of the Minister of General Machine Building No. 384, he was appointed as a candidate for test cosmonauts of the cosmonaut corps of NPO Energia (Section 291);

November 281986 year. - by the decision of the MVKK he was awarded the qualification "test cosmonaut";

in 1986 successfully completed the course of general space training;

in 1986 - 1988 - was trained as part of a group of cosmonauts under the Buran program;

from March 22 to November 111988 year. - was trained as a flight engineer of the main crew of the Soyuz TM-7 spacecraft under the EO-4 / Aragats program at the Mir space station, together with A. Volkov and J.-L. Chretien (France);

11 February1987 year. - was appointed to the post of test cosmonaut of the NPO Energia cosmonaut corps;

v1990 year. - trained as a flight engineer for the backup crew of the Soyuz TM-11 spacecraft under the EO-8 program and a joint Soviet-Japanese flight to the Mir spacecraft together with A. Artsebarsky and R. Kikuchi (Japan);

from March to November 1988 he was trained as a flight engineer of the main crew of the Soyuz TM-7 spacecraft under the EO-4 / Aragats program at the Mir Orbital, together with A. Volkov and J.-L. Chretien (France);

7 april1992 year. - was appointed to the position of instructor-test cosmonaut, deputy head of the NPO Energia department;

from 5 November1992 year... to January1994 year. - was trained at the Center. L. Johnson as an understudy of V. Titov - Mission Specialist of the crew of the Discovery spacecraft under the STS-60 program. Received a certificate for work with a shuttle manipulator, was trained in flights on a T-38 aircraft as a co-pilot;

from April1994 year... to January1995 year. - was trained at the Center. L. Johnson as a backup for V. Titov - flight-4 specialist of the Discovery spacecraft under the STS-63 program, took part in the work of the ISS group of the NASA astronauts office, including the development of station assembly methods;

Was trained to work in an American weekend spacesuit;

During the STS-63 flight, as well as the STS-71, STS-74 and STS-76 flights, he was the head of the 1st advisory group of experts of the Moscow MCC in Houston, helped to establish interaction between the Russian and American MCCs;

in 1995 -1996 worked at MCC as deputy flight director for crew actions;

in February 1996 was appointed to the first ISS crew;

since october1996 year. - Trained as a flight engineer for the prime crew of the first expedition to the International Space Station (ISS-1), together with Y. Gidzenko and William Shepherd (USA);

in September - November1998 year. - was trained at the Johnson Center as part of the STS-88 crew;

since october2000 g... - February 2003- was the commander of the backup crew of Expedition 7 to the ISS (ISS-7d) together with M. Suraev (replaced by S. Volkov) and Paul Richards (replaced by John Philips) (USA);

2003 - 2005 years- Trained as a prime crew commander for Expedition 11 to the ISS together with John Phillips (USA).

Full member (academician) of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky (2011).

CLASSITY:

test cosmonaut of the 3rd class (10/16/1989);
1st class test cosmonaut, class 1 test cosmonaut instructor (07.04.1992).

PERFECT SPACE FLIGHTS:

1 flight - from November 26 1988 year ... to April 27 1989 year . as a flight engineer of the Soyuz-TM-7 TC and the Mir Space Station under the EO-4 program and the Aragats Soviet-French program. Launched together with Alexander Volkov and Jean-Loup Chretien (France) on the Soyuz TM-7 spacecraft. Due to the change in the flight program, together with the other crew members, he performed the station shutdown. He landed together with Alexander Volkov and Valery Polyakov.
Flight duration: 151 days 11 hours 08 min 24 sec. Call sign: Donbas-2.

2 flight- from May 18 1991 year ... to March 25 1992 year . as a flight engineer of the Soyuz TM-12 TC and Mir OK under the EO-9 programs together with Anatoly Artsebarsky and EO-10 together with Alexander Volkov. He landed on the Soyuz TM-13 TC. H. Sharman (Great Britain), T. Aubakirov, F. Fiebeck (Austria), K.-D. Flade (Germany) worked together with him in space. He landed on the Soyuz TM-13 TC. During the flight, he performed 7 spacewalks with a total duration of 36 hours and 29 minutes - he set a record for the duration of his stay in open space.
Flight duration: 311 days 20 hours 00 min 54 sec. Call sign: Ozone-2 / Donbas-2.

3 flight -from 3 to 11 February 1994 year . as part of the STS-60 crew on board the Discovery spacecraft as a Mission Specialist-4.
Flight duration: 8 days 07 h 09 min 22 sec.

4th flight -from 4 to 16 December 1998 year . as a flight specialist-4 aboard the Endeavor spacecraft under the STS-88 program. This was the first manned flight under the International Space Station assembly program. During the flight, the American NODE 1 Unity node module was docked to the Zarya functional cargo block. Together with the shuttle commander R. Kabana, he opened the ISS hatch for the first time. As part of the first ISS crew, he carried out work to prepare the station for the start of operation
Flight duration: 11 days 19 hours 17 minutes 55 seconds

5 flight -from October 31 2000 g ... to March 21 2001 year . under the program of the first prime crew of the ISS (ISS-1) as a flight engineer of the Soyuz TM-31 and flight-3 specialist of the Discovery spacecraft (STS-102) during the return phase.
Flight duration: 140 days 23 hours 38 minutes 55 seconds.

6 flight -from April 15 2005 year ... to October 10 2005 year . on the Soyuz TMA-6 TC as the ISS Expedition 11 crew commander. During the flight, he performed one spacewalk, lasting 4 hours 57 minutes.
Flight duration: 179 days 00 hour 23 min 35 sec.

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY:

candidate of psychological sciences (2008);
Full member (academician) of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky (2011) .

SPORTS RANKS:

Has the 1st category in swimming, candidate for master of sports in all-around;
"Master of Sports of the USSR" in aerobatics (1981);
"Master of Sports of International Class" in aerobatics (1995);
Honored Master of Sports of Russia (2007).

SPORTS ACHIVMENTS:

Since 1977 he has been involved in airplane sports. In 1980 - 1981 he was a member of the Leningrad national aerobatics team.

Since 1981, he has been engaged in airplane sports at the Central Aero Club. V.P. Chkalov in Moscow. In 1982 he played at the USSR Championship for the team of the Central Aero Club and became a candidate for the USSR national airplane sports team.

In 1983 he became the absolute champion of the city of Moscow in aerobatics. In the final of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR and the USSR Championship, he played for the RSFSR national team, where he took 3rd place in the team and 8th place in the individual competition.

In 1985 he took part in the aerobatics championship of the socialist countries as a member of the 2nd national team of the USSR. In 1986 he became the champion of the USSR in the team competition, as well as a prize-winner in exercises. In 1996 he became the winner of the European Championship in the team event and the champion in the exercise.

In 1997, at the First World Air Games in Turkey, he was a member of the Russian national glider aerobatics team. He took first place in the team competition, became the silver medalist in the individual competition.

Mastered piloting of Yak-18A, Yak-50, Yak-52, Yak-55, Yak-55M, Su-26, Su-29, L-39, Tsesna planes. As part of his training under the Buran program, he flew the MiG-21, MiG-25 and Tu-134. On a T-38 aircraft (USA), he flew more than 140 hours as a co-pilot.

Medal "Gold Star" of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin (Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 27, 1989).

Medal "Gold Star" of the Hero of the Russian Federation (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of April 11, 1992).

Order of Honor (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 204 of April 15, 1998, for achieving high sports results at the First World Air Games).

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV degree (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 353 dated April 5, 2002).

AWARDS OF FOREIGN STATES:

Legion of Honor (Legion d'Honneur) (France, 1989)
NASA Space Flight Medal (1996, 1998, 2001)
2003 NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal.

PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS AWARDS:

Order "For Zeal for the Good of the Fatherland" (established by the Foundation "For the Good of the Fatherland") (2006).
The Pride of Russia Order (established by the Pride of Russia Foundation and positioned as the highest public award of the Russian Federation) (2008).
Honorary Lifetime Membership of the Royal Photographic Society (UK) (2009).

HOBBIES:

Aerobatics, swimming, scuba diving, alpine skiing, windsurfing, tennis, amateur radio (call sign - U5MIR).

Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev watched the disintegration of his country from space.

When, in May 1991, two Soviet cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Anatoly Artsebalsky, as well as the British citizen, cosmonaut Helen Sharmen, went into space on a Soyuz carrier rocket, no one on the planet even thought that in a couple of months the world would change , and astronautics will change a little later.

Sergei Krikalev, the hero of our material, did not think about it either. The Soviet citizen did not know that when he returned home, his hometown of Leningrad would be renamed to St. Petersburg, and the huge country in which he had lived for 33 years would split into 15 independent states. In fact, Sergei Krikalev will become the last citizen of the USSR.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, chaos began in the domestic cosmonautics: the new state - Russia - had problems with the maintenance of the Mir orbital station that it inherited, and there were disagreements with the United States regarding an agreement on sending astronauts from the Baikonur cosmodrome. Nevertheless, the two countries managed to solve the problem of international cooperation in the field of astronautics: they signed a document that laid the foundation for the construction of the ISS.

Unlike Yuri Gagarin, Sergei Krikalev was not a folk hero. Most of the compatriots did not even know his name (many do not even today). And the cosmonaut himself did not seek general attention. By the end of the 1980s, he was already a master of sports in aerobatics and a member of the USSR national team.

When the command of the Soviet Union lost contact with its Salyut-7 space station in 1985, Sergei Krikalev worked in a ground team that was planned to be used for an orbital rescue mission. Participation in this group allowed Krikalev to undergo training for a space flight, and in 1988 he made his first flight to the new Mir station.

Helen Sharmen, the first British female cosmonaut to work with Sergei Krikalev at Mir during his second flight on May 18, 1991, says:

“We had problems with the butt, my heart was beating so hard that I thought in a second it would jump out of my chest. We could have died. Sergei Krikalev remained confident and calm and even joked. Fortunately, everything went well and we met with the previous crew. "

Mir has earned a reputation as a dirty place. In addition to the fact that on board the station there was a smell of burnt trash and fried meat, there were also microorganisms hiding there, which constantly disabled the most important devices. A fire could break out at any moment.

However, for Sergei Krikalev, none of this mattered. "He always said he felt at home in space.", - Helen Sharmen later told in one of the interviews. - “Sergei loved weightlessness, and he also flew like a bird: from one end of the station to the other without touching the walls or the floor”... Most of the cosmonauts whiled away the time reading books, and Krikalev looked out of the window at the Earth.

Seven days after staying in orbit, Sharmen returned home with the previous crew, while Krikalev and Artsebarsky remained on Mir. The astronauts were supposed to be in orbit for five months, carry out six spacewalks, conduct scientific experiments and a number of work on maintaining the station.

But even haughtily Krikalev did not have the opportunity to see what was happening in his homeland. By the summer of 1991, the policy of the USSR General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev led to the collapse of the communist country and the emergence of new independent states. One of these countries was Kazakhstan, where the Baikonur cosmodrome was located. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the spaceport moved to its own country, and in order not to go into conflict with Alma-Ata, Moscow offered the Kazakh cosmonaut the place of Krikalev's replacement on Mir. It was not known exactly when the next ship would leave for the station.

As a result, Krikalev had to stay at the station indefinitely, despite the health risks. The consequences of the effect on the body of prolonged stay in space are poorly understood even today. However, it is known that in this case, the likelihood of cancer increases, muscle atrophy, loss of bone tissue may occur, and problems with the immune system may occur. Krikalev knew about the dangers and later shared his impressions with the media.

“I thought, would I have the strength to survive until the end of the program? I doubted "

On this morning, tanks appeared on Red Square in Moscow. There was a coup d'etat, or, as it is also called in history, the August putsch. Gorbachev was on vacation at the time. The radio told people about Gorbachev's voluntary resignation for health reasons, but many citizens took to the streets to protest against this course of events.

A couple of days after the start of the putsch, the fate of the USSR was decided. Gradually, one after another, the countries seceded from the Soviet Union and declared their independence.

While at the Mir station, Krikalev contacted his wife Elena, and she told him everything that was happening on the streets of Moscow. Since political instability led to economic collapse, Krikalev thought about the future of his family in the new state, because he then had a 9-month-old daughter, and the cosmonaut at that time received a meager salary.

“I tried not to talk to him about unpleasant things, they would upset him”, - Elena later said. - “And Sergei never touched upon such topics”.

When the time spent by Krikalev at the station came to an end, the Soyuz TM-13 spacecraft with three cosmonauts on board: Toktar Aubakirov from Kazakhstan, Franz Fiebeck from Austria and Alexander Volkov from Ukraine, docked at Mir. The only person who had experience in space flights was a Ukrainian specialist. A week later, Franz Fiebeck, Anatoly Artsebarsky and the cosmonaut from Kazakhstan returned to Earth.

The more time passed, the greater the shortage of funds became. A crisis has begun in the new country. Some media reported that there was even talk in the government about the sale of the orbital station.

The Mir carried a disposable Raduga capsule, which Sergei Krikalev and Alexander Volkov could use to return to Earth. But if they decided to return home ahead of time, maintenance and work of the station would be completely stopped, the station would become uninhabited. Therefore, the astronauts stayed.

The last point in the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States was put on Catholic Christmas 1991 (December 25, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the USSR). George W. Bush, although his country won the Arms Race, was still worried. He was afraid for the cosmonautics of his country: the fate of the Mir station and the Baikonur cosmodrome, which were used by NASA, were unknown.

"The United States welcomes and supports the historic freedom choices made by the new Commonwealth states."- George W. Bush told the press on December 25, 1991. - "We will build relationships with the leaders of Russia and other republics with due respect and openness.".

In the countries of the former USSR, world-renowned rocket scientists were no longer busy building rockets, but looking for a way to feed themselves and their families. States such as Iran, India and North Korea tried to lure these specialists into their service for a lot of money. American officials needed to preserve Russian space exploration. Behind the scenes, representatives from the United States and Russia struck deals, and America poured dollars into the new country's space industry.

“I perfectly understood what position Russia is in. I perfectly understood what position I was in at an altitude of 350 km. We had to save our astronautics, so I stayed at the station ”, - Sergei Krikalev said in an interview.

At the end of March 1992, Krikalev and Volkov returned home. The last USSR citizen and his partner landed near the city of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan. For almost 10 months in space (then it was a record), Krikalev orbited the Earth about 5,000 times. A little later, in 2015, another Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka will set a new record for the duration of a person's stay in orbit.

“It was nice to feel the ground under your feet”, - Sergey Krikalev recalls in one of his interviews. - "But space is always attractive."

A few months after Krikalev's return, US President George W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin met in Washington to sign the document that launched the Shuttle World program. This is a joint space program of the Russian Federation and America, within the framework of which Russian cosmonauts were delivered to orbit by Shuttles, and American astronauts conducted expeditions to the Mir orbital station.

Krikalev returned to training almost immediately and traveled to the United States to prepare for the first joint US-Russian Shuttle flight in 1994. Thus, Krikalev became the first Russian cosmonaut to fly on an American spacecraft.

In one video interview, when asked if it was hard for him, the astronaut replied:

“Unaccustomed environment, completely different technique, colleagues are all foreigners, foreign language ... It was not easy for them either!”

Shortly thereafter, the United States and Russia joined forces on a new project - the International Space Station. However, on the way of building the ISS, the Russian authorities faced some difficulties. "In the course of fulfilling the terms of the agreement, Russia faced financial difficulties and was ready to abandon the project." Says James Oberg, an expert in the space industry. - "The Clinton Administration has decided to support colleagues".

The Zarya functional cargo module, built with American money, became the first Russian element of the new station. In 1998, Krikalev and his colleagues from the United States attached Zarya to the first American component of the ISS, the Unity module. Thus began the history of the International Space Station.

In 2001, the Mir space station was sunk in the Pacific Ocean. Reason: outdated equipment.

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KRIKALEV Sergey Konstantinovich

ISS Commander,
Commander of the Soyuz TMA TC,
test cosmonaut
Rocket and Space Corporation Energia
named after S.P. Queen, Russia

EDUCATION: In 1981 he graduated with honors from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute (LMI) (Voenmech), mechanical engineering faculty, specialty - "design and production of aircraft", received a diploma of mechanical engineer.

Marital status: Married.
Wife - Elena Yuryevna Terekhina, born in 1956, engineer at RSC Energia.
Daughter - Olga Sergeevna Krikaleva, born in 1990, schoolgirl.

AWARDS AND RANKS: Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Russian Federation, Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR. Awards: the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Russian Federation, the Order of Friendship of Peoples. Awards of foreign countries: officer of the Legion of Honor (France), NASA medals "For space flight" (1994, 1998, 2001), NASA medal "For special merit". Awards of scientific and public organizations: Order of the Eagle, 1st degree (Association of Industrialists of Russia).

HOBBY: Aerobatics, swimming, scuba diving, alpine skiing, windsurfing, tennis, amateur radio (X75M1K).

WORK EXPERIENCE: Since 1981 - engineer of the State Design Bureau NPO Energia. He was engaged in the development of instructions for cosmonauts, the development of proposals for displaying operator information on the consoles and displays of the Mir orbital complex, corrected the onboard documentation of the Salyut-7 space station.
In January 1984, based on the results of examinations, he was selected as a candidate for the cosmonaut corps of NPO Energia.
On September 2, 1985, by the decision of the State Interdepartmental Commission, he was enlisted in the cosmonaut corps of NPO Energia. On November 10, 1985, by order of the Minister of General Machine Building, he was appointed as a candidate for test cosmonauts of the NPO Energia cosmonaut corps.
On February 11, 1987, he was appointed test cosmonaut of the NPO Energia cosmonaut corps.
From April 7, 1992, instructor-test cosmonaut, deputy head of the NPO Energia department.
He worked at the Mission Control Center, first as a radiogram developer, and then, during several long-term expeditions, as a "Crew and onboard documentation methodologist". After the loss of communication with the Salyut-7 station in February 1985, he worked in a group that created and worked out the method of flight to an uncontrolled station. Prior to the start of training for the prime crew (Dzhanibekov-Savinykh), he worked out various options for the techniques as part of the "technological crew" (Viktorenko-Krikalev).
While working in the department, he took part in the training of cosmonauts at the CTC and at Baikonur. After being enrolled in the cosmonaut corps, he continued to work in the same department as the head of the group, and then as deputy head of the department.
In 1985-1986, he took a course of general space training at the TsPK im. Yu.A. Gagarin. In 1986, by the decision of the Interdepartmental Qualification Commission, he was awarded the qualification "test cosmonaut".
In 1986 - 1988 he was trained as part of a group of cosmonauts under the Buran program, and then, as part of the crew (crew 4 with Shchukin), on March 22, 1988, he replaced A. Kaleri in the main crew of the Soyuz-TM-7 spacecraft. from training for health reasons.
From March 22, 1988 to November 11, 1988 he was trained as a flight engineer of the main crew of the Soyuz TM-7 spacecraft under the EO-4 / Aragats program on the Mir space station together with A. Volkov and J.-L. Cretien (France).
He was trained as the main tester for the first test of the cosmonaut's vehicle (SPK).
Together with A. Volkov, they were preparing for the acceptance and start of operation of the new Kvant 2 module. In accordance with the flight program, they were trained for spacewalks.
First space flight performed from November 26, 1988 to April 27, 1989 as a flight engineer of the Soyuz-TM-7 spacecraft and the Mir spacecraft under the EO-4 / Aragats program. Flight duration: 151 days 11 hours 08 minutes 24 seconds.
In 1990 he was trained as a flight engineer of the backup crew of the Soyuz TM-11 spacecraft under the EO-8 program and a joint Soviet-Japanese flight to the Mir space station together with A. Artsebarsky and R. Kikuchi (Japan).
From December 1990 to April 1991 he was trained as a flight engineer of the main crew of the Soyuz TM-12 spacecraft under the EO-9 program at the Mir space station together with A. Artsebarsky and H. Sharman (Great Britain).
Second space flight performed from May 18, 1991 to March 25, 1992 as a flight engineer of the Soyuz TM-12 spacecraft and the Mir spacecraft under the EO-9 and EO-10 programs. During the flight, he performed 7 spacewalks with a total duration of 36 hours and 29 minutes. Flight duration: 311 days 20 hours 00 minutes 54 seconds.
From November 1, 1992 to January 1994, he was trained at the Center. L. Johnson (NASA) as Flight 4 Specialist of the Discovery crew under the STS-60 program. Fully trained and certified to operate the shuttle manipulator (for capturing a free-flying satellite, including working with a disorientated satellite).
Third space flight performed from 3 to 11 February 1994 as a member of the STS-60 crew on the side of the Discovery spacecraft as a flight 4 specialist. Flight duration: 8 days 07 hours 09 minutes 22 seconds.
From April 1994 to January 1995 he was trained at the Center. L. Johnson as a backup for V. Titov - flight-4 specialist of the Discovery spacecraft under the STS-63 program. Simultaneously with training on STS-63 duplication, together with a detachment of NASA astronauts, began work on a new international station. After studying and passing tests in the American spacesuit for spacewalk, he worked in it in the hydro laboratory to work out the assembly procedures for the future station in space. Before the flight, he worked at the Mission Control Center in Houston (MCC-X), assisting in the interaction between the two MCCs.
On February 3, 1995, he was a backup for flight-4 specialist of the STS-63 Discovery spacecraft. During the flight, he was appointed head of the 1st advisory group (a group of experts from the Moscow control center to work in the control center in Houston). In the most critical flight phases, he worked in the main hall, helping to organize communication between 2 MCC and two crews. Further, similar work during flights STS-71, 74, 76. As a representative of the control group, he took part in negotiations between the RSA and NASA on the distribution of work.
In January 1996, he was appointed flight engineer for the prime crew of the first expedition to the International Space Station (ISS-1). The launch was planned for May 1998.
Since October 1996, he was trained as a flight engineer of the ISS-1 prime crew together with Yu. Gidzenko and U. Shepard (USA).
On July 30, 1998 he was assigned to the Endeavor spacecraft crew under the STS-88 program.
From September 17 to November 1998 he was trained at the Center. L. Johnson (USA) as part of the STS-88 crew.
Fourth space flight performed from December 2 to December 14, 1998 as a flight specialist-4 on the Endeavor spacecraft under the STS-88 program. This was the first manned flight under the International Space Station assembly program. During the flight, the American NODE 1 Unity node module was docked to the Zarya functional cargo block. Together with the shuttle commander R. Kabana, he opened the ISS hatch for the first time. Participated in works on board the ISS. Flight duration: 11 days 19 hours 17 minutes 55 seconds.
From 1999 to October 2000, he continued training as a flight engineer for the ISS-1 prime crew, together with Y. Gidzenko and W. Shepard (USA).
Fifth space flight performed from October 31, 2000 to March 21, 2001 under the program of the first prime crew of the ISS (ISS-1) as a pilot of the ISS, commander of the Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft and flight-3 specialist of the Discovery spacecraft (STS-102) on return stage. The ISS-1 crew reactivated the Zvezda Service Module and the Zarya Functional Cargo Block, accepted three shuttle vehicles, whose crews attached the P6 solar array module and the Destiny Laboratory Module to the station. Destiny and Unity modules were deactivated, two Progress M / M1 cargo ships and a Leonardo cargo module were accepted and unloaded, scientific research under the Russian and American programs began. The station was handed over to the crew of the 2nd main expedition. Flight duration: 140 days 23 hours 38 minutes 55 seconds.
He is currently preparing for a space flight as a commander of the ISS-11 prime crew.

SPORTS ACHIEVEMENTS: 1st category in swimming, candidate for master of sports in all-around (at the championship of Leningrad in 1979).
Since 1977 he has been involved in airplane sports. In 1980-1981 he was a member of the Leningrad national aerobatics team. In 1981. - received the title of "Master of Sports of the USSR" in aerobatics.
Since 1982 - engaged in airplane sports at the Central Aero Club. V.P. Chkalov in Moscow.
In 1982, he played at the USSR Championship for the team of the Central Aero Club and was a candidate for the USSR national airplane sports team.
1983 - became the absolute champion of the city of Moscow in aerobatics.
In the final of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR and the USSR Championship, he played for the RSFSR national team, where he took 3rd place in the team competition and 8th place in the individual competition.
1985 - Performs at the Aerobatics Championship of the socialist countries as part of the 2nd USSR national team and was a member of the Russian national glider aerobatics team. He became the silver medalist of the World Gliding Championship in one of the exercises.
In 1986 he became the champion of the USSR and the champion of Europe in the team competition, as well as the champion in exercise. Received the title of "Master of Sports of International Class".
1997 - Champion of the World and 1st Air Games in the team competition, as well as the silver medalist in the individual competition.
He mastered piloting the Yak-18A, -50, -52, -55, -55M, Su-26, -29, L-39 aircraft. He made familiarization flights with an instructor on MiG-21, -25, and Tu-134. Received the license of the 2nd pilot of the T-38 aircraft (USA) and flew over 140 hours on it.

January 2005
Based on the materials of the RGNII TsPK im. Yu.A. Gagarina
and the reference book "Soviet and Russian cosmonauts. 1960-2000"

In 1981 he graduated from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute with the qualification of a mechanical engineer.

Development engineer

After graduation, he worked at NPO Energia. He tested equipment used in space flights, developed methods of work in space and participated in the work of the ground control service. In 1985, when malfunctions arose at the Salyut-7 station, he worked in the recovery group, developed methods for docking with an uncontrolled station and repairing its onboard systems.

Krikalev was selected for training for space flights in 1985, the next year he completed a basic training course and was temporarily assigned to a group under the Buran reusable spacecraft program.

At the beginning of 1988, he began preparations for his first long-term flight at the Mir station. The trainings included preparation for spacewalks, for docking with new modules, for the first tests of the installation for moving an astronaut, and for work on the second Soviet-French scientific expedition.

Space flights

Soyuz TM-7 was launched on November 26, 1988, the crew consisted of commander Alexander Alexandrovich Volkov, flight engineer Krikalev and French astronaut Jean-Loup Chretien. The previous crew remained at the Mir station for another twenty-six days, thus establishing the longest stay at the station for a crew of six. After the previous crew returned to Earth, Krikalev, Polyakov and Volkov continued to carry out experiments on board the station. Due to the fact that the arrival of the next crew was delayed, they prepared the station for an unmanned flight and returned to Earth on April 27, 1989. For this flight, Krikalev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1990, Krikalev was preparing for his second flight as a member of the backup crew for the eighth long-term expedition to the Mir station.

According to the plan, the return of Krikalev was supposed to take place in five months, but in July 1991 Krikalev agreed to stay at the Mir station as a flight engineer with another crew (which was to arrive in October), since the next two flights were combined into one. On October 2, 1991, the place of flight engineer in the Soyuz TM-13 spacecraft was taken by Toktar Aubakirov, a cosmonaut from Kazakhstan who was not prepared for a long flight. He and Franz Viebeck, the first astronaut of Austria, together with Artsebarsky returned to Earth on October 10, while the commander Alexander Volkov remained with Krikalev. After changing the crew in October, Volkov and Krikalev continued their experiments on the Mir, made another spacewalk and returned to Earth on March 25, 1992. This flight is interesting because the cosmonauts left the USSR and returned to Russia - during their flight the Soviet Union ceased to exist. For this flight, Krikalev was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (star of the Hero of the Russian Federation No. 1).

During the first two flights, Krikalev spent more than a year and three months in space and made seven spacewalks.

In October 1992, the NASA leadership announced that a Russian cosmonaut with experience in space flight would fly on the American reusable spacecraft. Krikalev became one of two candidates sent by the Russian Space Agency for training with the STS-60 crew. In April 1993, he was announced as the main candidate.

Krikalev took part in the STS-60 flight - the first joint US-Russian flight on a reusable spacecraft (shuttle Discovery). The STS-60 flight, which began on February 3, 1994, was the second flight with the Spacehab (Space Habitation Module) and the first flight with the WSF (Wake Shield Facility) device. Over the course of eight days, the Discovery crew performed many different scientific experiments in the field of materials science, both in the WSF device and in the Spacehab module, biological experiments and observations of the Earth's surface. Krikalev performed a significant part of the work with the remote manipulator. After completing 130 orbits and flying 5486215 kilometers, on February 11, 1994, the Discovery spacecraft landed at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Thus, Krikalev became the first Russian cosmonaut to fly on an American shuttle.

After the STS-60 flight, Krikalev returned to his work in Russia. He traveled periodically to the Lyndon Johnson Space Center in Houston to work at the Mission Control Center with the Search and Rescue Service on joint US-Russian flights. In particular, he took part in ground support of flights STS-63, STS-71, STS-74, STS-76.

Krikalev was assigned to the first crew of the International Space Station and was the first in December 1998 to make a short-term mission to the ISS on the shuttle Endeavor.

In October 2000, as part of the first crew of a long-term expedition, Sergei Krikalev, together with Yuri Gidzenko and William Shepherd, began permanent manned flights to the ISS. In this flight, the astronauts met the 21st century in orbit.

On October 11, 2005, Sergei Krikalev completed his sixth flight, returning to Earth from the ISS in the Soyuz TMA-6 descent vehicle after six months in orbit.

Work in an airless space

Work at enterprises and institutions of the space industry

Since February 2007 - Vice-President of RSC Energia for manned flights (while maintaining flight status in the cosmonaut corps). Subsequently - Deputy General Designer.
March 27, 2009 - with the transfer to another job, he was relieved of his post as instructor-test cosmonaut of the 1st class of OAO RSC Energia im. S. P. Korolev ".
Since March 30, 2009 - Head of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Research Testing Center for Cosmonaut Training named after V.I. Yu. A. Gagarin ".

Hobbies

Aerobatics, swimming, scuba diving, alpine skiing, windsurfing, tennis, amateur radio (X75M1K). Candidate for master of sports in all-around. Master of Sports of the USSR in aerobatics. Member of the USSR, European and world aerobatics championships. Champion of the USSR in the team competition (1986). European champion in the team competition (1996). World champion in the team competition (1997).

The radio amateur callsign is U5MIR.

Awards and titles

Hero of the Soviet Union (April 27, 1989)
Order of Lenin (1989)
Hero of the Russian Federation (April 11, 1992) - for courage and heroism shown during a long space flight on the Mir orbital station (Gold Star medal No. 1)
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (April 5, 2002) - for courage and high professionalism displayed during a long space flight on the International Space Station
Order of Honor (April 15, 1998) - for successful participation and achievement of high sports results in the First World Air Games
Order of Friendship of Peoples (March 25, 1992) - for the successful implementation of a space flight on the Mir orbital station and for the courage and heroism shown at the same time
Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (April 12, 2011) - for great services in the field of exploration, exploration and use of outer space, long-term conscientious work, active social activities
Medal "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of St. Petersburg" (2005)
Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honor (France, 1989)
Honorary title "Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR" (1989)
Three NASA Space Flight Medals (1996, 1998, 2001)
NASA Medal for Outstanding Public Service (2003)
Honorary Citizen of St. Petersburg (2007)
Honored Master of Sports of Russia

Lifetime Honorary Member of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain
Laureate of the National Prize "Golden Eye of Russia"