Yury Usachov

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Yury Usachov bigraphy, stories - Russian cosmonaut

Yury Usachov : biography

October 9, 1957 –

Yury Vladimirovich Usachov ( born October 9, 1957 in Donetsk, Rostov Oblast, Russia) is a former cosmonaut who resides in Star City, Moscow. Usachov is a veteran of four spaceflights, including two long duration missions on board the Mir Space Station and another on board the International Space Station. During his career, he also conducted seven spacewalks before his retirement on April 5, 2004.

Honours and awards

  • Hero of the Russian Federation (18 August 1994) – for courage and heroism displayed during prolonged space flight on the orbital scientific research complex Mir
  • Order of Merit for the Fatherland;
    • 2nd class (10 April 2002) – for courage and professionalism shown during the implementation of space flight on the International Space Station
    • 3rd class (16 October 1996) – for the successful implementation of the international space flight on the orbital scientific research complex Mir and displaying courage and heroism
  • Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (12 April 2011) – for the great achievements in the field of research, development and use of outer space, many years of diligent work, public activities
  • Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (France, 1997)
  • Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation (18 August 1994)
  • NASA Space Flight Medal
  • NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal

Cosmonaut career

In 1989, he was appointed to the position of cosmonaut candidate at the Cosmonaut Training Center. From 1989 to 1992, he underwent a course of general space training. He was a member of the back-up crew for the Mir-13, 14 and 19 missions. From January 8, 1994 to July 9, 1994, he served as Board Engineer on Space Station Mir.

Mir EO-15

Usachov made his first trip into space on January 8, 1994. The Soyuz TM-18 spacecraft carrying Usachov with cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev and Valeri Polyakov lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 10:05:34 UTC. Usachov served as the Flight Engineer. After two days of solo flight, Soyuz TM-18 docked at the Kvant-1 module of the Mir space station on January 10 at 11:15 UTC. The three cosmonauts became the 15th resident crew of the Mir. Usachov joined as a Flight Engineer. He was on board the Mir on January 14, when the departing Soyuz TM-17 spacecraft struck Kristall module two glancing blows during the customary inspection fly-around prior to the deorbit burn. After the incident, the EO-15 crew on Mir checked over Kristall and found no damage. During Usachov’s stay three Progress spacecraft arrived at Mir. On 30 January, on March 24 and on May 24: Progress M-21, Progress M-22 and Progress M-23 spacecraft arrived at Mir. The Progress spacecraft delivered food, water, fuel, spare parts and equipment for the maintenance of Mir’s systems and additional equipment for medical experiments.

Usachov and Afanasyev uneventfully returned to Earth on board the Soyuz TM-18 descent module which landed 110 km north of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan at 10:32:35 GMT on July 9, 1994. Usachov flew on the Mir space station for 182 days.

Mir EO-21

From February 21 to September 2, 1996, Usachov served as a Board Engineer of the Mir EO-21 expedition. The Soyuz TM-23 spacecraft carrying Usachov with cosmonaut Yuri Onufriyenko lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on February 21, 1996 at 12:34:05 UTC. After two days of autonomous flight, the Soyuz spacecraft docked with the Mir space station’s forward-facing port on February 23 at 14:20 UTC. One month later, he and Onufriyenko were joined by NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid. During Mir-21 Usachev performed numerous research experiments. The new module Priroda, the seventh and final module of the Mir Space Station arrived on April 26, 1996. Its primary purpose was to conduct Earth resource experiments through remote sensing and to develop and verify remote sensing methods. During Mir EO-21 supplies arrived with the Progress M-31 spacecraft. Usachov and Onufriyenko were joined by French astronaut Claudie André-Deshays after the departure of Shannon Lucid.