Fyodor Yurchikhin

Infobox Astronaut
name =Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin
type =Cosmonaut

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|thumb|220px|Fyodor Yurchikhin]
nationality =Georgian / Russian
status =Active
date_birth =January 3, 1959
place_birth =Batumi, Georgia
occupation =Mechanical Engineer
selection =1997 Cosmonaut Group
time =207d 13h 3m
mission =STS-112, Soyuz TMA-10, Expedition 15
insignia =|

Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin ( _ru. Фёдор Николаевич Юрчихин), Ph.D., RSC Energia Test-Cosmonaut, was born on January 3, 1959, in Batumi, Autonomous Republic of Ajara in Georgia to Pontic Greek parents Nikolai Fyodorovich Yurchikhin and Mikrula Sofoklevna Yurchikhina (they currently reside in Sindos, Greece). He has a brother who is two years younger than him. He is married to Larisa Anatolievna Yurshikina (born in Shyolkovo, Moscow region) and has two daughters. His hobbies include collecting stamps and space logos, sports, history of cosmonautics, and promotion of space. He also enjoys reading history, science fiction and the classics.

Education

After graduation from high school in Batumi in 1976, he entered the Moscow Aviation Institute named after Sergey Ordzhonikidze. He finished studying in 1983, and is qualified as a mechanical engineer, specializing in airspace vehicles. In 2001, he graduated from the Moscow Service State University with a Ph.D. in economics.

Experience

After graduating from the S. Ordzhonikidze Moscow Aviation Institute, Yurchikhin worked at the Russian Space Corporation Energia from September 1983 until August 1997. He began working as a controller in the Russian Mission Control Center, and held the positions of engineer, senior engineer, and lead engineer, eventually becoming a lead engineer for Shuttle-Mir and NASA-Mir Programs.

In August 1997, he was enrolled in the RSC Energia cosmonaut detachment as a cosmonaut-candidate. From January 1998 to November 1999, he completed his basic training course. In November 1999, he was qualified as a test cosmonaut. In January 2000, he started training in the test-cosmonaut group for the ISS program. In October 2002, Fyodor Yurchikhin flew aboard STS-112. In completing his first space flight he has logged a total of 10 days, 19 hours, and 58 minutes in space.

In 2007, he became a member of the Expedition 15 on the ISS. His flight began on April 7, when he launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, aboard Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft, together with Oleg Kotov and space tourist Charles Simonyi. Yurchikhin was aboard when Simonyi gave a live telebridge conversation on Tuesday, April 17, 2007. At 19:05 GMT on 30 May 2007 Yurchikhin and Kotov began a 5 hour and 25 minute spacewalk, during which they installed protective panels to shield ISS from space debris. This spacewalk, which lasted 5 hours and 25 minutes, was his first.

pace flight experience

STS-112 Atlantis (October 7–18, 2002) launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. STS-112 was an International Space Station assembly mission during which the crew conducted joint operations with the Expedition 5 by delivering and installing the S-One Truss (the third piece of the station's 11-piece Integrated Truss Structure). Three spacewalks were required to outfit and activate the new component. The crew also transferred cargo between the two vehicles and used the shuttle's thruster jets during two maneuvers to raise the station's orbit. STS-112 was the first shuttle mission to use a camera on the External Tank, providing a live view of the launch to flight controllers and NASA TV viewers. The STS-112 mission was accomplished in 170 orbits, traveling 4.5 million miles in 10 days, 19 hours, and 58 minutes.

s-start s-bef|before=Michael Lopez-Alegria s-ttl|title=ISS Alpha Commander
years=21 April 2007 to 21 October 2007 s-aft|after=Peggy Whitson end

ource

* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/yurchikhin.html NASA - Biographical Data]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/cosmonauts/english/yurchikhin_fyodor.htm Spacefacts Biography of Fyodor Yurchikhin]