Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov (; born December 1, 1951) is a retired

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n cosmonaut. He is the second Bulgarian to have flown to space, behind Georgi Ivanov.

Biography

Aleksandrov was born in Omurtag, Bulgaria on December 1, 1951. He graduated from the

Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force () is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Bulgarian airspace, and jointly with ...

Academy in 1974 and obtained a degree in technical sciences in 1983. In the Bulgarian Air Force, Aleksandrov rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Aleksandrov was selected as a research cosmonaut on March 1, 1978, as part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Intercosmos Interkosmos () was a Soviet space program, designed to help the Soviet Union's allies with crewed and uncrewed space missions. The program was formed in April 1967 in Moscow. All members of the program from USSR were given the Hero of the Sov ...

program. The selection featured six semifinalists, including the parachute jump record holder, Chavdar Djurov, who was killed during the selection process. Aleksandrov was selected as backup to Georgi Ivanov on the

Soyuz 33 Soyuz 33 (, ''Union 33'') was an April, 1979, Soviet Union, Soviet crewed space flight to the Salyut 6 space station. It was the ninth mission to the orbiting facility, but an engine failure forced the mission to be aborted, and the crew had to r ...

mission to the

Salyut 6 Salyut 6 () was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth station of the Salyut programme, and alternatively known DOS-5 as it was the fifth of the Durable Orbital Station series of civilian space stations. It was launched on 29 September 19 ...

space station. Subsequently, Aleksandrov was assigned to the prime crew of the Soyuz TM-5 mission to the

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

space station. Sokol of Aleksandar Aleksandrov

On June 7, 1988, Aleksandrov launched aboard TM-5 as a research cosmonaut along with mission commander

Anatoly Solovyev Anatoly Yakovlevich Solovyev (; ; alternate spelling "Solovyov"; born 16 January 1948) is a retired Latvian and Soviet Union, Soviet cosmonaut and pilot. Solovyev holds the List of cumulative spacewalk records, world record on the number of extra- ...

and Viktor Savinykh. Upon arriving at Mir, Aleksandrov became the first Bulgarian to reach a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

space station, as the Soyuz 33 mission carrying Georgi Ivanov failed to reach the

space station. On June 17, Aleksandrov returned aboard

Soyuz TM-4 Soyuz TM-4 was a crewed Soyuz (spacecraft), Soyuz spaceflight to Mir. It was launched on 21 December 1987, and carried the first two crew members of the third long duration expedition, Mir EO-3. These crew members, Vladimir Titov (cosmonaut), Vl ...

along with his fellow crew members. He, along with his crew-mates, spent just under 10 days in space. Aleksandrov later became Deputy Director of the Institute of Space Research,

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; , ''Bŭlgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, with headquarters in Sofia, is autonomous and consists of a S ...

. Currently Aleksandrov works as a research scientist. He is married and has one child.

Honours and awards

Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria The Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria () was awarded to Bulgarian and foreign citizens for merits in defending Bulgaria and other countries allied to Bulgaria. Established on 15 June 1948, it was awarded until 1990. It was the highest hon ...

(1988) *

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

(1988) * Order of Georgi Dimitrov *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

(1988) *

Order of Stara Planina Orders, decorations and medals of Bulgaria are regulated by the law on the Orders and Medals of the Republic of Bulgaria of 29 May 2003. The National Military History Museum of Bulgaria in Sofia currently has over 150 Bulgarian Orders in the co ...

(2003), first class, on the 15th anniversary of the second Soviet-Bulgarian flight * Military Pilot First Class * Pilot-Cosmonaut of Bulgaria *

Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" The Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation aimed at recognising achievements in the space program. It was established by Decree of the President of Russia, presidential decree №1099 of September ...

(12 April 2011) – for outstanding contribution to the development of international cooperation in crewed space flight

References

External links

Spacefacts biography of Aleksandar Panayotov Aleksandrov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aleksandrov, Aleksandr Panayotov 1951 births Living people People from Omurtag (town) Bulgarian cosmonauts Heroes of the Soviet Union Heroes of the People's Republic of Bulgaria Recipients of the Order of Lenin Bulgarian Air Force personnel 20th-century Bulgarian military personnel Mir crew members

Biography

Honours and awards

See also

References

External links