Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev
Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev is a Soviet and Russian mechanical engineer, cosmonaut, and one of the central figures in the transition from Mir to the International . Across six spaceflights he served on long-duration Mir missions, flew on the Space Shuttle, entered the early ISS, and later commanded the station.
- Born
- August 27, 1958
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Leningrad,Soviet Union
Flights
6
Spacewalks
8
EVA time
41 hours, 8 minutes
In space
803 days, 9 hours, 39 minutes
Bio
Krikalev trained as an engineer before selection into the NPO Energia cosmonaut group in 1985. He was originally tied to Soviet space-station and Buran-era operations, then became one of the people most trusted with bridging Russian and American programs after the Cold War.
His second Mir mission became historically famous because he launched from the Soviet Union in May 1991 and returned to a newly formed Russian Federation in March 1992 after the Soviet collapse delayed his return. That mission helped create the popular description of him as the last Soviet citizen.
His completed spaceflight record is six missions: two Mir long-duration flights, STS-60, STS-88, 1 via Soyuz TM-31 and STS-102 return, and Soyuz TMA-6 for Expedition 11. Mir expedition and ISS expedition names are station context inside those transport missions, not additional flight cards.