Viktor Mikhailovich Afanasyev (; born 31 December 1948) is a colonel in the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

and a test

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 ...

of the Yu. A.

Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC; Russian: Центр подготовки космонавтов имени Ю. А. Гагарина) is a Russian training facility responsible for trai ...

. He was born 31 December 1948, in

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, and is married to Yelena Ya. Afanasyeva, born in 1952. They have two children. His father, Mikhail Z. Afanasyev, is deceased. His mother, Marya S. Afanasyeva, resides in Merkulyevo, Bryansk region,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. His recreational interests include football, swimming, and tourism. He considers his favorite meal to be

borscht Borscht () is a sour soup, made with meat stock, vegetables and seasonings, common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word ''borscht'' is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red b ...

Education

Graduated from Kachynskoye Military Pilot School in 1970 and the

Ordzhonikidze Aviation Institute Ordzhonikidze was the surname of Soviet political leader Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze, after whom several places in the USSR were named. Ordzhonikidze may refer to: People * Ordzhonikidze (surname) Places Armenia * Vahan, Armenia, formerly, Ordzhoniki ...

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 ...

, in 1980.

Special honors

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 ...

;

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 ...

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 Chkalov Valery Pavlovich Chkalov (; ; – 15 December 1938) was a test pilot awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union (1936). Early life Chkalov was born to a Russian family in 1904 in the upper Volga region, the town of Chkalovsk, Russia, Vasi ...

. 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 a basic space training course at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center on a 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

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 ...

orbital station A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains in orbit and hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring habitation facilities. The purpose of maintaining a space station vari ...

as the

Mir-7 Mir EO-7 was the seventh long duration expedition to the space station Mir. The two crew members were Gennadi Manakov (Commander) and Gennadi Strekalov (Flight Engineer). Crew The backup crew for this expedition were Viktor Afanasyev (Comm ...

mission backup crew commander. He has logged 175 flight days during his first space flight (2 December 1990 to 26 May 1991) as the

Mir-8 Mir EO-8 () was the eighth crewed expedition to the space station Mir, lasting from December 1990 to May 1991. The crew, consisting of Russian cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev and Musa Manarov, launched along with space journalist Toyohiro Akiyama ...

mission crew commander. The mission program included a joint flight with a Japanese and British crewmember. He performed 4 EVAs totaling 20 hours and 55 minutes. 8 January to 9 July 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 () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation. It operates from the Toulouse Spac ...

) programs. From March 1998 he underwent training as the

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. The excised region or, ...

mission primary crew commander. 20 February to 28 August 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

(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 Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

, 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 Courage (18 August 1994) – for their courage and bravery shown during prolonged space flight on the orbital scientific research complex ''Mir'' *

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 ...

(26 May 1991) *

Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

, 3rd class (21 February 1985) *

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 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 The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(France) *

(26 May 1991) – for the implementation of space flight on the orbital scientific research complex ''Mir''

References

Viktor M. Afanasyev. Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afanasyev, Viktor Mikhaylovich 1948 births Living people Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order "For Personal Courage" Recipients of the Order of Lenin Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour People from Bryansk Russian Air Force officers Russian aviators Russian cosmonauts Soviet Air Force officers Soviet cosmonauts Spacewalkers Mir crew members Kacha Military Aviation School alumni