Vladimir Vasilyevich Kovalyonok
Vladimir Vasilyevich Kovalyonok is a retired Soviet Air Force colonel general and cosmonaut who commanded three Soyuz missions to Salyut 6. His career included a failed first docking attempt, a record-setting long-duration , and a later command role in Soviet military research.
- Born
- March 3, 1942
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Bielaye,Soviet Union
Flights
3
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
216 days, 9 hours, 8 minutes
Bio
Kovalyonok trained as a Soviet military pilot before entering the cosmonaut corps in 1967. He belonged to the generation that moved the Soviet program from short flights toward long-duration orbital-station operations.
His first mission, Soyuz 25, failed to dock with Salyut 6 and returned early. Less than a year later, he commanded Soyuz 29 with Aleksandr Ivanchenkov for a 139-day Salyut 6 expedition, setting an endurance record and proving that the station could support extended crews.
In 1981, Kovalyonok commanded Soyuz T-4 with Viktor Savinykh for another Salyut 6 stay. After leaving the cosmonaut team, he held senior military and research posts, including leadership of a central scientific research institute.