Alexandr Kaleri
Encyclopedia
Aleksandr Yuriyevich "Sasha" Kaleri ' onMouseout='HidePop("52673")' href="/topics/Jurmala">Jūrmala
, Latvia
, 13 May 1956) is a Russia
n cosmonaut and veteran of extended stays on the Mir
Space Station and the International Space Station
(ISS). Kaleri has recently been in space aboard the ISS serving as a flight engineer for the long duration Expedition 25
/26
missions.
, Moscow region, as a specialist in Aircraft Flight Dynamics and Control. In 1983, he completed post-graduate studies at the same institute as a specialist in the field of Mechanics of Fluids and Plasma.
Corporation and worked on the Mir
space station. He participated in development of design and engineering documentation, full-scale tests of the Mir. Kaleri is a skilled programmer.
Kaleri took a training course for a spaceflight aboard the Mir orbital station as a backup crew flight engineer of the Mir-3
mission from 1 April to 9 December 1987. He took a training course for a spaceflight aboard the Mir as a backup crew flight engineer of the Mir-9 mission from January to April 1991. From 8 October 1991 to 25 February 1992, Kaleri was training as a primary crew flight engineer for the Mir-11 mission.
Kaleri has participated in three extended missions aboard the Mir Space Station. In 1992, he participated in a 145-day flight aboard the Soyuz-TM-14 spacecraft and the Mir. Between 17 August 1996 to 2 March 1997, Kaleri spent 197-days in space aboard the Soyuz-TM-24 spacecraft and the Mir as the Mir-22 mission flight engineer. In 2000, Kaleri performed his third spaceflight aboard the Soyuz-TM-30 spacecraft and the Mir as the Mir-28 mission flight engineer.
(ISS) with NASA astronaut Michael Foale
on his fourth spaceflight. Kaleri served as a Flight Engineer on Expedition 8
and spent 194 days in space from 18 October 2003 to 30 April 2004. The Soyuz TMA-3
spacecraft carrying Kaleri, Foale and ESA astronaut André Kuipers
successfully landed in Kazakhstan at 00:11 GMT on 30 April 2004. The landing site was located some 60 kilometers northeast of the town of Arkalyk
.
spacecraft, together with cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka
and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. He served as the Soyuz commander. The mission marked Kaleri's fifth flight into space. He arrived at the ISS after the Soyuz spacecraft linked up with the space station at 00:01 UTC on 10 October 2010. He remained in the ISS till March 2011. During their mission, Kaleri and the rest of the Expedition 25/26 crew participated in a wide array of research, including fundamental physics, biometric experiments and investigations of crystal growth in space, as well as education outreach.
On 8 July 1992, at 12:38 UTC Kaleri started his first career spacewalk. During the spacewalk, he and cosmonaut Aleksandr Viktorenko inspected some of Mir's gyrodynes. The spacewalk lasted 2 hours and 3 minutes.
On 2 December 1996, Kaleri and fellow cosmonaut Valery Korzun
completed a 5 hours 57 minutes long spacewalk. The main purpose was to complete connections of the cooperative solar array to provide more electrical power to the Mir station. The spacewalk was Kaleri's second career spacewalk.
On 9 December 1996, Kaleri and fellow cosmonaut Valery Korzun completed a 6 hours 36 minutes long spacewalk. The spacewalk began at 13:50 UTC and ended at 20:28 UTC. During the spacewalk, the two cosmonauts completed connecting the solar array and attached a new Kurs docking antenna subsequently used to guide Progress vehicles docking with Mir. They also repaired the transceiver system that the Mir crew used to talk to amateur operators all around the world.
On 12 May 2000, Kaleri and fellow cosmonaut Sergei Zalyotin
completed a five-hour spacewalk to inspect the exterior of Mir. The two spacewalkers also tested a glue which would have been useful to seal tiny cracks, and applied the new airtight sealant to a special panel imitating a damaged section in Mir's skin. The two cosmonauts also examined the exterior of the Progress M1-2
cargo spacecraft.
On 26 February 2004, Kaleri and NASA astronaut Michael Foale
floated outside of the ISS from the Pirs Docking Compartment airlock. The spacewalk began at 4:17 EST, and Foale and Kaleri were able to complete all but two of their planned tasks, swapping out experiment packages and mounting an instrumented dummy torso on the station's hull to measure the radiation environment faced by spacewalking astronauts. Although the spacewalk was originally planned for 5 hours and 30 minutes, it was cut short due to a cooling system malfunction in Kaleri's spacesuit. Kaleri reported seeing drops of water on the inside of his spacesuit's visor. The spacewalk lasted 3 hours and 55 minutes. The excursion was the fifth career spacewalk for Kaleri.
Jurmala
Jūrmala is a city in Latvia, about 25 kilometers west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, 13 May 1956) is a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n cosmonaut and veteran of extended stays on the Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
Space Station and the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS). Kaleri has recently been in space aboard the ISS serving as a flight engineer for the long duration Expedition 25
Expedition 25
Expedition 25 was the twenty-fifth long-duration mission to the International Space Station . Expedition 25 began with the Soyuz TMA-18 undocking on 25 September 2010...
/26
Expedition 26
The Expedition 26 was the twenty-sixth long-duration mission to the International Space Station. The expedition's first three crew members – one US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts – arrived at the station on board Soyuz TMA-01M on 10 October 2010...
missions.
Personal
Kaleri is married to the former Svetlana L. Nosova. They have a son, Oleg Aleksandrovich Kaleri, born in 1996. His mother, Antonina Petrovna Kaleri, resides in Sevastopol, Ukraine, and his father, Yuri Borisovich Kaleri, is deceased. Kaleri enjoys running, reading and gardening.Education
In 1979, Kaleri graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, DolgoprudnyDolgoprudny
Dolgoprudny is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located about north of Moscow city center. The town's name is derived from Russian "" —a long and narrow pond situated in the northeastern part of the town. The town's name is sometimes colloquially shortened as Dolgopa. Population:...
, Moscow region, as a specialist in Aircraft Flight Dynamics and Control. In 1983, he completed post-graduate studies at the same institute as a specialist in the field of Mechanics of Fluids and Plasma.
Experience
In 1979, he was hired by the EnergiaEnergia
Energia was a Soviet rocket that was designed by NPO Energia to serve as a heavy-lift expendable launch system as well as a booster for the Buran spacecraft. Control system main developer enterprise was the NPO "Electropribor"...
Corporation and worked on the Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
space station. He participated in development of design and engineering documentation, full-scale tests of the Mir. Kaleri is a skilled programmer.
Cosmonaut career
Kaleri was selected as the Energia RSC cosmonaut candidate in April 1984. Between 1985 and 1986, he completed basic training and evaluation at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. In 1987 he was qualified for flight assignment as a test cosmonaut.Kaleri took a training course for a spaceflight aboard the Mir orbital station as a backup crew flight engineer of the Mir-3
Mir EO-3
Mir EO-3 was an expedition to the space station Mir. The crew consisted of 3 people, Musa Manarov , Vladimir Titov and Valeri Polyakov . Manarov and Titov arrived at the station in December 1987 on Soyuz TM-4, while Polyakov arrived much later, in August 1988 on Soyuz TM-6...
mission from 1 April to 9 December 1987. He took a training course for a spaceflight aboard the Mir as a backup crew flight engineer of the Mir-9 mission from January to April 1991. From 8 October 1991 to 25 February 1992, Kaleri was training as a primary crew flight engineer for the Mir-11 mission.
Kaleri has participated in three extended missions aboard the Mir Space Station. In 1992, he participated in a 145-day flight aboard the Soyuz-TM-14 spacecraft and the Mir. Between 17 August 1996 to 2 March 1997, Kaleri spent 197-days in space aboard the Soyuz-TM-24 spacecraft and the Mir as the Mir-22 mission flight engineer. In 2000, Kaleri performed his third spaceflight aboard the Soyuz-TM-30 spacecraft and the Mir as the Mir-28 mission flight engineer.
Expedition 8
In 2003, he first flew to the International Space StationInternational Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS) with NASA astronaut Michael Foale
Michael Foale
Colin Michael Foale, CBE, PhD is a British-American astrophysicist with dual citizenship and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six space shuttle missions and extended stays on both Mir and the International Space Station...
on his fourth spaceflight. Kaleri served as a Flight Engineer on Expedition 8
Expedition 8
Expedition 8 was the eighth expedition to the International Space Station.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Perigee: 384 km*Apogee: 396 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 92 min*Docked: 20 October 2003 - 07:15:58 UTC...
and spent 194 days in space from 18 October 2003 to 30 April 2004. The Soyuz TMA-3
Soyuz TMA-3
-Mission parameters:*Mass: ? kg*Perigee: 193 km*Apogee: 227 km*Inclination: 51.7°*Period: 88.6 min-Docking with ISS:*Docked to ISS: October 20, 2003, 07:16 UTC...
spacecraft carrying Kaleri, Foale and ESA astronaut André Kuipers
André Kuipers
André Kuipers is a Dutch physician and ESA astronaut. He officially became the second Dutch and the third Dutch-born astronaut upon launch of Soyuz TMA-4 on April 19, 2004. Kuipers returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-3 11 days later.Kuipers is scheduled to become the first Dutch astronaut to...
successfully landed in Kazakhstan at 00:11 GMT on 30 April 2004. The landing site was located some 60 kilometers northeast of the town of Arkalyk
Arkalyk
Arkalyk is a city in Kostanay Province, northern Kazakhstan. Earlier, it was the centre of Torgay province, which was abolished in 1997. Today, it is the administrative centre of Torgay region, Kostanay province....
.
Expedition 25/26
Kaleri was a member (Flight Engineer) of the ISS Expedition 25/26, that was launched on 7 October 2010 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, aboard Soyuz TMA-01MSoyuz TMA-01M
- Backup crew :- Spacecraft :Soyuz TMA-01M is the first spacecraft of the new modernized Soyuz TMA-M series, developed and built by RKK Energia as an upgrade of the baseline Soyuz-TMA, which has been in use since 2002. 36 obsolete pieces of equipment have been replaced with 19 new-generation...
spacecraft, together with cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka
Oleg Skripochka
Oleg Ivanovich Skripochka is a Russian cosmonaut. In 2011 he was in space serving as an Expedition 25/26 crewmember.-Education:...
and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. He served as the Soyuz commander. The mission marked Kaleri's fifth flight into space. He arrived at the ISS after the Soyuz spacecraft linked up with the space station at 00:01 UTC on 10 October 2010. He remained in the ISS till March 2011. During their mission, Kaleri and the rest of the Expedition 25/26 crew participated in a wide array of research, including fundamental physics, biometric experiments and investigations of crystal growth in space, as well as education outreach.
Spacewalks
Kaleri has participated in five spacewalks and has accumulated 23 EVA hours.On 8 July 1992, at 12:38 UTC Kaleri started his first career spacewalk. During the spacewalk, he and cosmonaut Aleksandr Viktorenko inspected some of Mir's gyrodynes. The spacewalk lasted 2 hours and 3 minutes.
On 2 December 1996, Kaleri and fellow cosmonaut Valery Korzun
Valery Korzun
Valery Grigoryevich Korzun is a Russian cosmonaut of Ukrainian descent. He has been in space twice totalling 381 days. He has also conducted four career spacewalks.- Personal :...
completed a 5 hours 57 minutes long spacewalk. The main purpose was to complete connections of the cooperative solar array to provide more electrical power to the Mir station. The spacewalk was Kaleri's second career spacewalk.
On 9 December 1996, Kaleri and fellow cosmonaut Valery Korzun completed a 6 hours 36 minutes long spacewalk. The spacewalk began at 13:50 UTC and ended at 20:28 UTC. During the spacewalk, the two cosmonauts completed connecting the solar array and attached a new Kurs docking antenna subsequently used to guide Progress vehicles docking with Mir. They also repaired the transceiver system that the Mir crew used to talk to amateur operators all around the world.
On 12 May 2000, Kaleri and fellow cosmonaut Sergei Zalyotin
Sergei Zalyotin
Sergei Viktorovich Zalyotin is a Russian cosmonaut and a veteran of a two space missions.Zalyotin was born in Tula and attended the Borisoglebsk Higher Military School before becoming a fighter pilot in the Russian Air Force. He also holds a degree in ecological management. Zalyotin was selected...
completed a five-hour spacewalk to inspect the exterior of Mir. The two spacewalkers also tested a glue which would have been useful to seal tiny cracks, and applied the new airtight sealant to a special panel imitating a damaged section in Mir's skin. The two cosmonauts also examined the exterior of the Progress M1-2
Progress M1-2
Progress M1-2 was a Progress spacecraft which was launched by Russia in 2000 to resupply the Mir space station. It was a Progress-M1 11F615A55 spacecraft, with the serial number 252....
cargo spacecraft.
On 26 February 2004, Kaleri and NASA astronaut Michael Foale
Michael Foale
Colin Michael Foale, CBE, PhD is a British-American astrophysicist with dual citizenship and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six space shuttle missions and extended stays on both Mir and the International Space Station...
floated outside of the ISS from the Pirs Docking Compartment airlock. The spacewalk began at 4:17 EST, and Foale and Kaleri were able to complete all but two of their planned tasks, swapping out experiment packages and mounting an instrumented dummy torso on the station's hull to measure the radiation environment faced by spacewalking astronauts. Although the spacewalk was originally planned for 5 hours and 30 minutes, it was cut short due to a cooling system malfunction in Kaleri's spacesuit. Kaleri reported seeing drops of water on the inside of his spacesuit's visor. The spacewalk lasted 3 hours and 55 minutes. The excursion was the fifth career spacewalk for Kaleri.
Honours and awards
- Hero of the Russian FederationHero of the Russian FederationHero of the Russian Federation is a Russian decoration and the highest honorary title that can be bestowed on a citizen by the Russian Federation. The President of the Russian Federation is the main conferring authority of the medal, which is bestowed on those committing actions or deeds that...
(11 August 1992) - for the successful implementation of long-duration space flight on the orbital station Mir and displaying courage and heroism - Order of Merit for the FatherlandOrder of Merit for the FatherlandThe Order of Merit for the Fatherland was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree. The statutes describe it as a decoration for merit, not an order of knights....
;- 2nd class (9 November 2000) - for courage and heroism displayed during spaceflight on the orbital scientific research complex Mir
- 3rd class (11 April 1997) - for courage and heroism displayed during prolonged space flight 22nd major expedition to the orbital scientific research complex Mir
- 4th class (12 April 2011) - for courage and professionalism shown during the implementation of long-duration space flight on the International Space Station
- Order of FriendshipOrder of FriendshipThe Order of Friendship is a state decoration of Russia established by decree # 442 of March 2, 1994 of the President of the Russian Federation....
(31 October 2005) - for dedication and professionalism shown during the implementation of the 195-day space flight, and the strengthening of friendship between peoples - NASA Space Flight MedalNASA Space Flight MedalThe NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronaut, pilot, mission specialist, payload specialist, or...
, twice; "for Space Flight" and "For the public merits" - Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (France, 1997)
- Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian FederationPilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian FederationPilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation is a title that is presented to all cosmonauts who fly for the Russian Federal Space Agency. Usually accompanying the distinction is the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest title that can be awarded to a Russian for performing heroic deeds...
(11 August 1992) - for the successful implementation of spaceflight on the space station Mir and expressed at high level of professionalism