Yuri Viktorovich Romanenko (; born 1 August 1944) 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 ...

, 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 ...

(March 16, 1978 and September 26, 1980). Over his career, Yuri Romanenko spent a total of 430 days 20 hours 21 minutes 30 seconds in space and 18 hours in space walks. In 1987 he was a resident of 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, launching on Soyuz TM-2 and landing aboard Soyuz TM-3. He remained on Mir for 326 days; that was the longest stay in space at that time. His son,

Roman Romanenko Roman Yurievich Romanenko (; born 9 August 1971) is a Russian retired cosmonaut at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He is also a politician, sitting in the State Duma since 2021 Russian legislative election, 2021 representing the Cher ...

is also a cosmonaut, and has become the third second-generation space traveler on Soyuz TMA-15 in May 2009.

Early life

Yuri Romanenko was born on August 1, 1944, in Koltubanovskiy village in

Orenburg Oblast Orenburg Oblast (also Orenburzhye) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), mainly located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name Chkalov Oblast in honor of Valery Chkal ...

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 ...

. His father was a senior commander on military ships, and mother was a

combat medic A combat medic is responsible for providing emergency medicine, emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury or illnes ...

. His family later moved to

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

, where he graduated from a secondary school in 1961. His hobbies in school included building model aircraft and

ships A ship is a large vessel that travels the world's oceans and other navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

and underwater fishing. After school, he briefly worked as a

locksmith Locksmithing is the work of creating and bypassing locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies by country, ranging from no formal ...

and builder. In 1962 he enrolled at the

Chernigov Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukrain ...

High Air Force School,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and graduated with honors in 1966. After graduation, he remained with the School, training the students and practicing as a candidate cosmonaut. He was cleared for space flights in 1970, among only 16 other cosmonauts.

Space missions

His first flight was on December 10, 1977, on Soyuz 26 to the space station

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 ...

. A two-men crew consisted of Romanenko as the flight commander and

Georgi Grechko Georgy Mikhaylovich Grechko (; 25 May 1931 – 8 April 2017) was a Soviet cosmonaut. He flew to space on three missions, each bound for rendezvous with a different Salyut space station.

as engineer. They spent 96 days and 10 hours on the orbit, meeting

Soyuz 27 Soyuz 27 (, ''Union 27'') was a 1978 Soviet crewed spacecraft which flew to the orbiting Salyut 6 space station, during the mission EP-1. It was the third crewed flight to the station, the second successful docking and the first visitation ...

Soyuz 28 Soyuz 28 (, ''Union 28'') was a March 1978 Soviet crewed mission to the orbiting Salyut 6 space station. It was the fourth mission to the station, the third successful docking, and the second visit to the resident crew launched in Soyuz 26. Co ...

and Progress 1. During the mission, Romanenko performed a one and a half hour long space walk. In his second mission on September 18, 1980, together with the first Cuban cosmonaut

Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (born 29 January 1942) is a Cuban military officer, legislator, and former cosmonaut and the first person of African heritage in space. In 1980, as a member of the crew of Soyuz 38, he became the first Cuban citizen, t ...

, Romanenko flew Soyuz 38 to

and returned 7 days later. With this flight, Méndez was the first

hispanophone Hispanophone refers to anything related to the Spanish language. In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is the legacy of the vast and prolonge ...

and first person of African descent in space. The third and last flight of Romanenko was on Soyuz TM-2 with Aleksandr Laveykin on February 6, 1987, to the

station. During that mission, Romanenko spent 326 days aboard Mir, which was the longest stay in space then. He conducted three space walks, on April 11, June 11 and June 16, 1987, with a total duration 8 hr 48 min. He returned to Earth on December 29, 1987, in Soyuz TM-3. Romanenko retired from flights in 1988 and became the director of

Buran program The ''Buran'' programme (, , "Snowstorm", "Blizzard"), also known as the "VKK Space Orbiter programme" (), was a Soviet Union, Soviet and later Russian reusable spacecraft project that began in 1974 at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute in ...

, which was a Soviet alternative to the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

. The program completed one flight in 1988 and was cancelled in 1993.

Accidents

While working in Salyut 6 station in 1977, Grechko and Romanenko had to perform spacewalks at will to inspect the potential damage at the station, which precluded docking of

Soyuz 25 Soyuz 25 (, ''Union 25'') was an October 1977 Soviet crewed space flight, the first to the new Salyut 6 space station, which had been launched 10 days earlier. However, the mission was aborted when cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok and Valery Ryumi ...

. At some point, they were both in their spacewalk suits in the airlock. Romanenko prepared for a spacewalk and pushed against the wall flying outside, but forgot to attach his safety cord. Grechko managed to grab the cord with one hand, stopping Romanenko. This accident was dramatized in press due to the joke of Grechko who implied Romanenko was on the verge of death. However, the electrical cables attaching Romanenko would have certainly stopped him from leaving the space station.

Awards

During his career he was awarded: * Twice

(March 16, 1978 and September 26, 1980); *

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 ...

; * Three

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 ...

(1978, 1980 and 1987)); *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

(1976); *

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); * Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1978); * Hero of the Republic of Cuba (1980); * Order "Madara Horseman" (Bulgarian Socialist Republic); * Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic); * Medal "For Strengthening Military Cooperation" (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic).

Military ranks and skills

Romanenko is a professional pilot. He flew Yak-18, L-29,

Mig-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate s ...

Mig-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 was license-built in China as the Shenyang J-5 an ...

and

Mig-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

, and had 39 parachute jumps. His military progression was: *

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

(October 27, 1966) *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

(February 3, 1971) *

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

(February 21, 1974) * Lieutenant Colonel (December 14, 1976) *

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

(March 17, 1978) * Discharged from military service on October 2, 1995, because of reaching the age limit.

Personal life

Romanenko has a half-brother, Vladimir (born in 1940), and a sister, Olga (born in 1954). He is married and has two sons,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

(born on August 9, 1971) and Artem (born May 17, 1977). Roman is a cosmonaut who flew as the commander of Soyuz TMA-15 mission. Through most of his life, Yuri Romanenko was keen to underwater fishing and other aquatic activities. In space, he started composing and singing his own songs. After the Romanenko-Méndez flight and retirement of Romanenko in 1988, he and his family were invited to Cuba, where he was personally met by Fidel Castro. Knowing that Romanenko was partial to hunting and underwater fishing, Castro had organized a social tour and participated in the fishing, freediving with Romanenko to a 10-meter depth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romanenko, Yury 1944 births Living people People from Orenburg Oblast Russian people of Ukrainian descent Soviet cosmonauts Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" Heroes of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic Soviet Air Force officers Salyut program cosmonauts Spacewalkers Mir crew members