Aleksandr Kaleri

At 67 years old, Aleksandr Kaleri has this physical status:

Aleksandr Yuriyevich "Sasha" Kaleri, a Russian cosmonaut and veteran of extended stays on the Mir Space Station and the International Space Station, was born in Jurmala, Latvia, on May 13th.

Kaleri has spent the majority of his time on space aboard the ISS as a flight engineer for the long-distance Expedition 25/26 missions.

He has been in space for the fourth time, the longest time on record for any currently active cosmonaut, and the longest time in space for any person not born in Russia.

Education

Kaleri graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in Dolgoprudny, Moscow, in 1979 as a Boeing Flight Dynamics and Control expert. He completed post-graduate studies at the same school in 1983 as a Fluid Dynamics and Plasma engineer.

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Cosmonaut career

In April 1984, Kaleri was selected as the Energia RSC cosmonaut candidate. He completed basic training and evaluation at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center between 1985 and 1986. He was fit for flight as a test cosmonaut in 1987.

Kaleri attended a spaceflight training course on board the Mir orbital station as a backup crew flight engineer on the Mir-3 mission from 1 April to September 1987. He completed a training course on a spaceflight aboard the Mir as a backup crew flight engineer on the Mir-9 mission from January to April 1991. Kaleri was active as a primary crew flight engineer on the Mir-11 mission from October 1991 to February 1992.

Kaleri has been involved in three extended missions aboard the Mir Space Station. He was involved in a 145-day flight aboard the Soyuz-TM-14 spacecraft and the Mir in 1992. Kaleri spent 197 days in space between August 1996 and March 1997 aboard the Soyuz-TM-24 spacecraft and the Mir-22 mission flight engineer. Kaleri completed his third space flight on board the Soyuz-TM-30 spacecraft and the Mir as the Mir-28 mission flight engineer in 2000.

On his fourth spaceflight, NASA astronaut Michael Foale first flew to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2003. Kaleri served as a Flight Engineer on Expedition 8 from 18 October 2003 to 30 April 2004. On April 30, 2004, the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft carrying Kaleri, Foale, and ESA astronaut André Kuipers safely landed in Kazakhstan at 00:11 GMT. The landing site was located some 60 kilometers northeast of Arkalyk's town.

Kaleri, a member (Flight Engineer) of the ISS Expedition 25/26, which was launched on October 7th, 2010 from Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft, alongside cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. He served as the Soyuz commander. Kaleri's fifth flight into space was on this mission. He landed on the ISS after the Soyuz spacecraft linked up with the space station at 00:01 UTC on October 10, 2010. He remained in the ISS until March 2011. Kaleri and the rest of the Expedition 25/26 crew carried out a wide variety of research, including fundamental physics, biometric analysis, and studies of crystal growth in space, as well as education outreach.

Kaleri has been involved in five spacewalks and has collected 23 EVA hours.

Kaleri's first spacewalk began at 12:38 hrs. on July 8, 1992. During the spacewalk, he and cosmonaut Aleksandr Viktorenko inspected some of Mir's gyrodynes. The spacewalk lasted 2 hours and 3 minutes.

Kaleri and fellow cosmonaut Valery Korzun completed a 5 hours, 57 minutes spacewalk on December 2nd, 1996. The primary aim was to connect the cooperative solar array in order to bring more electrical energy to Mir station. Kaleri's second spacewalk was his second in the field.

Kaleri and fellow cosmonaut Valery Korzun completed a 6 hour, 36 minutes spacewalk on December 9, 1996. At 13:50 UTC and ended at 20:28 UTC, the spacewalk began at 13:50 UTC and ended at 20:28 UTC. The two cosmonauts completed connecting the solar array and extending a new Kurs docking antenna, which was later used to guide Progress vehicles docking with Mir during the spacewalk. They also repaired the transceiver system that the Mir crew used to communicate with amateur operators from all around the world.

Kaleri and fellow cosmonaut Sergei Zalyotin completed a five-hour spacewalk on May 12, 2000, inspecting Mir's exterior. The two spacewalkers also tried a glue that might have been useful to close tiny cracks, and applied the new airtight sealant to a special panel imitating a damaged portion of Mir's skin. Both cosmonauts also investigated the exterior of the Progress M1-2 cargo spacecraft.

Michael Foale, a Kaleri and NASA explorer, stood outside the ISS from the Pirs Docking Compartment airlock on February 26th. Foale and Kaleri were able to complete only two of their proposed tasks, swapping out experiment kits and installing an instrumented torso on the station's hull to determine the radiation environment faced by spacewalking astronauts. Despite the fact that the spacewalk had been scheduled for 5 hours and 30 minutes, it was cut short due to a cooling system malfunction in Kaleri's spacesuit. Kaleri reported that drops of water had appeared on the inside of his spacesuit's visor. The spacewalk took place for three hours and 55 minutes. Kaleri's fifth spacewalk was on display.

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Honours and awards

• Hero of the Russian Federation (11 August 1992) - for the successful implementation of long-duration space flight on the orbital station Mir and displaying courage and heroism
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland;
  • 2nd class (9 November 2000) - for courage and heroism displayed during spaceflight on the orbital scientific research complex Mir
  • 3rd class (11 April 1997) - for courage and heroism displayed during prolonged space flight 22nd major expedition to the orbital scientific research complex Mir
  • 4th class (12 April 2011) - for courage and professionalism shown during the implementation of long-duration space flight on the International Space Station
• Order of Friendship (31 October 2005) - for dedication and professionalism shown during the implementation of the 195-day space flight, and the strengthening of friendship between peoples
• Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration"
• NASA Space Flight Medal
• NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal
• Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (France, 1997)
• Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation (11 August 1992) - for the successful implementation of spaceflight on the space station Mir and expressed at high level of professionalism