Col. Yuri Ivanovich Onufrienko (, ; born 6 February 1961) is a retired Russian
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 ...
. He is a veteran of two extended spaceflights, aboard the space station
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 ...
in 1996 and aboard the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
in 2001–2002.
Personal
Onufrienko was born in
Ryasne,
Zolochiv Raion of
Kharkiv Oblast
Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine.
Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...
,
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 ...
(now
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 ...
). Onufrienko and his wife, Valentina Mikhailovna Onufrienko, have two sons, Yuri, born in 1982 and Aleksandr, born in 1990 and one daughter, Elena, born in 1988. He has two older brothers and his parents are deceased. Onufrienko enjoys
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
,
cooking
Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...
,
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
,
chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
, and
aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...
.
Education
Onufrienko graduated from the V.M. Komarov Eisk Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots in 1982 with a pilot-engineer's
diploma
A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...
. In 1994, Onufrienko earned a degree in
cartography
Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...
from
Moscow State University
Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...
.
Awards
Onufrienko was awarded the
Hero of Russia
Hero of the Russian Federation ( rus, Герой Российской Федерации, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲijskəj fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨɪ), also unofficially called Hero of Russia ( rus, Герой России, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲiɪ), is ...
medal, the title of Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, the Gold Star Medal of the Hero of the Russian Federation and NASA Space Flight and Public Service Medals. In 1997 he was named a
Chevalier
Chevalier may refer to:
Honours Belgium
* a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown
* a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold
* a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II
* a title in the Belgian nobility
France
* a rank in the French Legion d'h ...
in the French
Legion of Honor
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. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...
.
Experience
Onufrienko served as a
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
in the
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 ...
(later
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
) Air Force, where he logged over 800 flight hours. He has flown the
L-29,
Sukhoi Su-7
The Sukhoi Su-7 ( NATO designation name: Fitter-A) is a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as a tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role. On the ...
,
Sukhoi Su-17
The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32; NATO reporting name: Fitter) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet military. Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to enter Soviet serv ...
(M1-4), and
L-39.
Cosmonaut career

Onufrienko was selected as a cosmonaut candidate in 1989. From September 1989 to January 1991, he underwent a course of general space training. Starting April 1991, he underwent training as a member of test cosmonauts group. Starting March 1994, he entered flight training to be the commander of the stand-by crew of the
Mir-18 expedition aboard the
Soyuz TM-21
Soyuz TM-21 was a crewed Soyuz (spacecraft), Soyuz spaceflight to ''Mir''. The mission launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket, at 06:11:34 UTC on 14 March 1995. The flight marked the first time thirteen human ...
spacecraft and 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 as part of the
Shuttle-Mir program.
Mir EO-21
From February 21 to September 2, 1996, Onufrienko served as commander of the Mir EO-21 expedition. The
Soyuz TM-23 spacecraft carrying Onufrienko with cosmonaut
Yury Usachov
Yury Vladimirovich Usachov (; born October 9, 1957) is a former cosmonaut who resides in Star City, Moscow. Usachov is a veteran of four spaceflights, including two long-duration missions on board the ''Mir'' Space Station and another on board the ...
lifted off from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...
on February 21, 1996, at 12:34:05 UTC. After two days of autonomous flight, the Soyuz spacecraft docked with the Mir space station's forward-facing port on February 23 at 14:20 UTC. One month later, he and Yuri Usachov were joined by
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
astronaut
Shannon Lucid
Shannon Matilda Wells Lucid (born January 14, 1943) is an American biochemist and retired NASA astronaut. She has flown in space five times, including a prolonged mission aboard the Russian space station ''Mir'' in 1996, and is the only Americ ...
. During Mir-21 Onufrienko performed numerous research experiments including Protein crystal growth experiments experiments in materials science using high temperature melting oven "Optizon". The new module ''
Priroda
The Priroda (; ) (TsM-I, 77KSI, 11F77I) module was the seventh and final module of the Mir Space Station. Its primary purpose was to conduct Earth resource experiments through remote sensing and to develop and verify remote sensing methods. The ...
'', the seventh and final module of the Mir Space Station arrived on April 26, 1996. Its primary purpose was to conduct Earth resource experiments through
remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...
and to develop and verify remote sensing methods. During Mir EO-21 supplies arrived with the
Progress M-31 spacecraft. Onufrienko and Yuri Usachov were joined by French astronaut
Claudie André-Deshays after the departure of Shannon Lucid.
On September 2, 1996, Onufrienko, Usachev and Claudie André-Deshays returned to Earth on board the Soyuz TM-23 capsule. The spacecraft landed at 07:41:40 UTC 108 km south west of
Akmola (Tselinograd). Altogether, on board Soyuz TM-23 and Mir, Onufrienko logged 193 days in space.
Expedition 4

Onufrienko again served as commander on ISS
Expedition 4. Onufrienko returned to space on board
STS-108 mission. Launched on December 5, 2001, at 22:19:28 UTC from the
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...
, ''Endeavour'' docked with the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
(ISS) on December 7, 2001, at 20:03 UTC. The primary objective of STS-108 was to deliver supplies to and help maintain the ISS. During a -month stay aboard the ISS, the 3 member Expedition 4 crew (Onufrienko and NASA astronauts
Daniel W. Bursch and
Carl E. Walz) performed flight tests of the station hardware, conducted internal and external maintenance tasks, and developed the capability of the station to support the addition of science experiments. The
Expedition 4 crew returned to Earth aboard
STS-111
STS-111 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. STS-111 resupplied the station and replaced the Expedition 4 crew with the Expedition 5 crew. It was launched on 5 June 2002, fr ...
, with ''Endeavour'' landing at
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...
, California, on June 19, 2002. In completing this mission, Onufrienko logged an additional 196 days in space, for a total of 389 days of spaceflight.
Spacewalks
Onufrienko has performed eight career spacewalks totaling 42 hours and 33 minutes. As of June 2010, he has secured the
11th position in the list of astronauts who have the most spacewalk time. Onufrienko performed six spacewalks during his stay on board the Mir Space Station and performed another two during his visit to the ISS.
Onufrienko performed his first career spacewalk on 15 March 1996. He and cosmonaut Usachov started the spacewalk at 01:04 UTC. They installed the second Strela boom and prepared for Mir Cooperative Solar Array (MCSA) installation. The spacewalk lasted 5 hours and 51 minutes.
On 20 May 1996 Onufrienko performed his second career spacewalk. The spacewalk started at 22:50 UTC and ended at 04:10 UTC clocking 5 hours and 20 minutes. During the spacewalk, the two cosmonauts removed the Mir cooperative solar array (MCSA) from its stowed position on the exterior of the docking module at the base of the
Kristall
The Kristall () (77KST, TsM-T, 11F77T) module was the fourth module and the third major addition to ''Mir''. As with previous modules, its configuration was based on the 77K (TKS) module, and was originally named "Kvant 3". It was launched on Ma ...
module. They used the Strela boom to reach and move the array to the ''
Kvant-1
Kvant-1 (; English: Quantum-I/1) (37KE) was the first module to be attached in 1987 to the Mir Core Module, which formed the core of the Soviet space station ''Mir''. It remained attached to ''Mir'' until the entire space station was deorbited i ...
'' module. The two spacewalkers also inflated an aluminum and nylon pup-up model of a Pepsi Cola can, which they then filmed against the backdrop of Earth.
The
Pepsi Cola
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long-standing rivalry ...
company paid for the procedure and planned to use the film in a television commercial. However, the commercial never aired—reportedly because Pepsi later changed the design of the can.
Onufrienko performed his third career spacewalk on 24 May 1996. He and cosmonaut Usachov started the spacewalk at 22:50 UTC. They installed the MCSA on the ''Kvant-1'' module. The spacewalk lasted 5 hours and 34 minutes.
On 30 May 1996, Onufrienko ventured outside the Mir Space Station to conduct his fourth career spacewalk. He and cosmonaut Usachov started the spacewalk at 18:20 UTC. They installed the modular optoelectrical multispectral scanner (MOMS) outside ''Priroda'' and handrails on the ''
Kvant-2
Kvant-2 (; English: Quantum-II/2) (77KSD, TsM-D, 11F77D) was the third module and second major addition to the Mir space station. Its primary purpose was to deliver new science experiments, better life support systems, and an airlock to Mir. It w ...
'' module to facilitate moving around outside the station during future extravehicular activities. MOMS was used to study the Earth's atmosphere and environment. The spacewalk lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes.

On 6 June 1996, Onufrienko performed his fifth career spacewalk. He and Usachov installed micrometeoroid detectors and replaced cassettes in the Swiss/Russian Komza experiment and installed the Particle Impact Experiment, the Mir Sample Return Experiment, and the SKK-11 cassette, which exposed construction materials to space conditions.
The spacewalk lasted 3 hours and 34 minutes.
Onufrienko performed his sixth career spacewalk on 13 June 1996. The spacewalk started at 12:45 UTC and ended at 18:27 UTC clocking 5 hours and 42 minutes. During the spacewalk, Onufrienko and Usachov installed the Rapana truss structure (an experiment mounting point) to the Kvant-1 module. Onufrienko and Usachev also manually deployed the saddle-shaped traverse synthetic aperture radar antenna on Priroda. The large antenna had failed to open fully after receiving commands from inside Mir.
Onufrienko performed his seventh career spacewalk on January 14, 2002.
The space walk was based out of the ''Pirs'' Airlock and used Russian Orlan space suits. Onufrienko and NASA astronaut Carl Walz relocated the cargo boom for the Russian Strela crane. They moved the boom from Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA 1) to the exterior of the ''Pirs'' Docking Compartment. The crew also installed an amateur radio antenna onto the end of the Zvezda Service Module. The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 3 minutes.
Onufrienko performed his eighth career spacewalk on January 25, 2002, when he and NASA astronaut Daniel Bursch ventured out into space from the ''Pirs'' airlock.
During the spacewalk, Onufrienko and Bursch installed six deflector shields for the ''Zvezda'' Service Module's jet thrusters. Also, they installed an amateur radio antenna.
The two spacewalkers also removed an experiment called Kromka situated near one of the thruster groups and installed a virtually identical new Kromka experiment in the same place. The experiment captured material that results from thruster firings. Onufrienko and Bursch also attached a physics experiment called Platan to the ''Zvezda'' module. Platan was designed to capture low-energy heavy nuclei from the Sun and from outside the
Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
. In addition, they installed three materials experiments, called SKK for their Russian acronym, on the ''Zvezda'' module. The experiments examine effects of the harsh environment of space on a wide range of materials.
The spacewalk lasted 5 hours and 59 minutes.
See also
*
List of Heroes of the Russian Federation
References
External links
Official NASA Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onufriyenko, Yury
1961 births
Living people
People from Kharkiv Oblast
Commanders of the International Space Station
Heroes of the Russian Federation
Russian cosmonauts
Russian Air Force officers
Russian people of Ukrainian descent
Moscow State University alumni
Russian cosmonauts of Ukrainian descent
Space Shuttle program astronauts
Spacewalkers
Mir crew members