Yelena Vladimirovna Kondakova
Yelena Vladimirovna Kondakova is a Russian engineer-cosmonaut and public figure who became the first woman to complete a long-duration spaceflight. Her Soyuz TM-20 mission placed her aboard Mir for more than five months.
- Born
- March 30, 1957
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast,Soviet Union
Flights
2
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
178 days, 10 hours, 41 minutes
Bio
Kondakova entered the cosmonaut program from an engineering background and was selected in 1989. She flew during the Shuttle-Mir transition era, when Russian station experience became central to international spaceflight cooperation.
Soyuz TM-20 launched in October 1994 with Aleksandr Viktorenko and Ulf Merbold, and Kondakova remained aboard Mir until March 1995. Her long stay made her the first woman to live in space for a duration comparable to station crews.
She flew again on STS-84 in 1997, a Space Shuttle Atlantis mission to Mir. Kondakova later served in Russian public life, and her record stood as Russia's last woman in space until Yelena Serova flew in 2014.