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Gennadi Strekalov

Gennadi Mikhailovich Strekalov
Gennady Strekalov.jpg
Cosmonaut
Nationality Soviet
Born (1940-10-26)October 26, 1940
Mytishchi, Soviet Union
Died December 25, 2004(2004-12-25) (aged 64)
Moscow, Russia
Other occupation
Flight Engineer
Time in space
268d 22h 22m
Selection Civilian Specialist Group 5
Missions Soyuz T-3, Soyuz T-8, Soyuz T-10-1, Soyuz T-11, Soyuz TM-10, Soyuz TM-21, STS-71
Awards Hero of the Soviet Union (2)

Gennadi Mikhailovich Strekalov (Russian: Генна́дий Миха́йлович Стрека́лов; October 26, 1940 – December 25, 2004) was an engineer, cosmonaut, and administrator at Russian aerospace firm RSC Energia. He flew into space five times and lived aboard the Salyut-6, Salyut-7, and Mir space stations, spending over 268 days in space. The catastrophic explosion of a Soyuz rocket in 1983 led to him being one of only two people to use a launch escape system. He was decorated twice as Hero of the Soviet Union.

Strekalov was born on October 26, 1940 in Mytishchi near Moscow, the son of Mikhail Strekalov and his wife Praskoyva. Mikhail Strekalov was killed in 1945 while fighting for the Red Army in Poland. Gennadi Strekalov graduated from N. E. Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School in 1965 with an engineer's diploma. He married Lydia Anatolievna Telezhldna; the couple had two daughters, Tatiana and Natalia. He died in Moscow on 25 December 2004, from cancer, aged 64.

After leaving school, Strekalov began work as an apprentice coppersmith at OKB-1, Sergei Korolev's experimental design bureau, where he help assemble Sputnik 1. He left to attend university at N. E. Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School, obtaining a degree in technical science. He then returned to OKB-1 (which was later renamed RSC Energia) and worked there for the rest of his life.

As part of an operations group, he participated in mission control for flights of scientific research vehicles belonging to the Academy of Sciences.

In January 1974, he began training as a crew member for a mission aboard the Soyuz spacecraft as a flight engineer and, in 1976, was part of the backup crew for the Soyuz 22 mission. Starting October 1978, he trained as a flight engineer for Soyuz expeditions to Salyut-series space stations.


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