Viktor M. Afanasyev
Encyclopedia
- For the journalist and editor, see Viktor Grigoryevich Afanasyev.
Viktor Mikhailovich Afanasyev ; born 31 December 1948) is a colonel in the Russian Air Force
Russian Air Force
The Russian Air Force is the air force of Russian Military. It is currently under the command of Colonel General Aleksandr Zelin. The Russian Navy has its own air arm, the Russian Naval Aviation, which is the former Soviet Aviatsiya Voyenno Morskogo Flota , or AV-MF).The Air Force was formed from...
and a test cosmonaut of the Yu. A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He was born December 31, 1948, in Bryansk
Bryansk
Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Moscow. Population: -History:The first written mention of Bryansk was in 1146, in the Hypatian Codex, as Debryansk...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and is married to Yelena Ya. Afanasyeva, born 1952. They have two children. His father, Mikhail Z. Afanasyev, is deceased. His mother, Marya S. Afanasyeva, resides in Merkulyevo, Bryansk region, Russia. His recreational interests include football, swimming, and tourism.
Education
Graduated from Kachynskoye Military Pilot School in 1970 and the Ordzhonikidze Aviation Institute, MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, in 1980.
Experience
1970 to 1976 served in the Air Force fighting troops as a pilot, senior pilot and aircraft flight commander. 1976 to 1977 attended the Test Pilot Training Center. 1977 to 1988 served as a test pilot and senior test pilot at the State Research/Test Institute named after Valery ChkalovValery Chkalov
Valery Pavlovich Chkalov was a Russian aircraft test pilot and a Hero of the Soviet Union .-Early life:...
. Viktor Afanasyev has a Class 1 military test pilot certification. He has logged over 2000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft.
GCTC experience
1985 to 1987 Viktor Afanasyev was taking basic space training course at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center on the part-time training basis. He reported to the GCTC and proceeded to advanced training in 1988. From February 1989 on Afanasyev was training for a space flight aboard the MirMir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
orbital station as the Mir-7 mission backup crew commander.
He has logged 175 flight days during his first space flight (December 2, 1990 to May 26, 1991) as the Mir-8 mission crew commander. The mission program included joint flight with a Japanese and British crewmember. He performed 4 EVAs
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
totaling 20 hours and 55 minutes.
January 8 to July 9, 1994, Afanasyev was participating in a space flight aboard the Soyuz-TM-18 transport vehicle and Mir orbital station as the Mir-15 mission crew commander.
October 1996 to January 1998 Afanasyev was training for the Mir-25 mission as a backup crew commander. The mission was supposed to include NASA-7 and Pegasus (CNES
CNES
The is the French government space agency . Established under President Charles de Gaulle in 1961, its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is under the supervision of the French Ministries of Defence and Research...
) programs.
From March 1998 he underwent training as the Mir-27
MiR-27
miR-27 is a family of microRNA precursors found in animals, including humans. MicroRNAs are typically transcribed as ~70 nucleotide precursors and subsequently processed by the Dicer enzyme to give a ~22 nucleotide product...
mission primary crew commander. February 20 to August 28, 1999, he was participating in a 189-day space flight aboard the Soyuz-TM transport vehicle and Mir orbital station. He has performed 3 EVAs.
Colonel Afanasyev is a veteran of three long-duration missions. He has logged over 545 days in space, and 7 EVAs totaling 38.55 hours. He has a Class 1 cosmonaut certification.
In 2001 Viktor Afanasyev was assigned to the ISS Taxi-1 backup crew.
Honours and awards
- Hero of the Soviet UnionHero of the Soviet UnionThe title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
(26 May 1991) - for the successful implementation of spaceflight on the orbital scientific research complex Mir and displaying courage and heroism - Order of Merit for the FatherlandOrder of Merit for the FatherlandThe Order of Merit for the Fatherland was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree. The statutes describe it as a decoration for merit, not an order of knights....
, 2nd class (10 April 2002) - for their courage and professionalism shown during the implementation of space flight on the International Space Station; 3rd class (22 November 1999) - for their courage and heroism displayed during prolonged space flight on the orbital scientific research complex Mir - Order for Personal CourageOrder for Personal CourageThe Order for Personal Courage was established by Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on December 28, 1988.This decoration could be awarded to any USSR citizen showing outstanding courage and bravery during life-saving, keeping of public order and safeguard of State property, as well as for...
(18 August 1994) - for their courage and bravery shown during prolonged space flight on the orbital scientific research complex Mir - Order of LeninOrder of LeninThe Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
(26 May 1991) - Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 3rd class (21 February 1985)
- Medal "For merits in space" (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
- Grand Officier of the Legion of Honour (France)
- Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR (26 May 1991) - for the implementation of space flight on the orbital scientific research complex Mir