Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov (; born February 20, 1943) is a former

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 ...

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

and twice

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 ...

(November 23, 1983, and December 29, 1987).

Biography

Born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Russia, he graduated from Moscow Bauman-Highschool in 1969 with a doctorate degree, specialised on spacecraft steering systems. He was selected as cosmonaut on December 1, 1978. For his first spaceflight, he flew as Flight Engineer on Soyuz T-9, which lasted from June to November 1983. For his second spaceflight, he replaced one of the long-duration crew members of Mir EO-2. For the spaceflight, he was launched with the spacecraft Soyuz TM-3 in July 1987, and landed with the same spacecraft in December 1987. All together he spent 309 days, 18 hours, 2 minutes in space. He served as backup for Soyuz T-8, Soyuz T-13, and Soyuz T-15. He resigned from the cosmonaut team on October 26, 1993, when he became chief of NPOE Cosmonaut-group; since 1996 he is Chief flight test directorate of RKKE. He is married with two children.

Honours and awards

*Twice

Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR The honorary title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR () was a state award of the Soviet Union presented to all cosmonauts who flew for the Soviet Space Agency. Usually accompanying the distinction was the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the hi ...

*Two

Orders 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 ...

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 ...

(Russian Federation)

References

1943 births Living people Cosmonauts from Moscow 20th-century Russian explorers Soviet cosmonauts Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" Salyut program cosmonauts Spacewalkers Mir crew members Laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology {{Hero-USSR-stub