Leonid Denisovich Kizim (Кизим Леонид Денисович) (August 5, 1941 – June 14, 2010) was a Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 cosmonaut who was twice named a Hero of the Soviet Union

Hero of the Soviet Union

The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...

 (December 10, 1980 and October 2, 1984).

Kizim was born in Krasnyi Lyman

Krasnyi Lyman

Krasnyi Lyman is a city in Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine. Population is 28,172 . It was founded in the 17th century by cossacks as Lyman. The city became Krasnyi in 1925 ....

, Donetsk Oblast

Donetsk Oblast

Donetsk Oblast is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Donetsk. Historically, the province is an important part of the Donbas region...

, Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 (now Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

). He graduated from Higher Air Force School in 1975; and served as a test pilot in the Soviet Air Force. He was selected as a cosmonaut on October 23, 1965. Kizim flew as Commander on Soyuz T-3

Soyuz T-3

-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: 200 km*Apogee: 251 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 88.7 minutes-Mission highlights:...

, Soyuz T-10

Soyuz T-10

-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: 199 km*Apogee: 219 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 88.7 minutes-Mission highlights:Fifth expedition to Salyut 7. Visited by 6th and 7th expeditions....

 and Soyuz T-15

Soyuz T-15

- Backup crew :- Mission parameters :* Mass: 6850 kg* Perigee: 331 km* Apogee: 366 km* Inclination: 51.6°* Period: 91.5 minutes- Mission highlights :Soyuz T-15 was the first expedition to Mir....

, and also served as backup commander for Soyuz T-2

Soyuz T-2

Soyuz T-2 was a 1980 Soviet manned space flight to the Salyut 6 space station. It was the 12th mission to and 10th successful docking at the orbiting facility. The Soyuz T-2 crew were the second to visit the long-duration Soyuz 35 resident crew....

. All together he spent 374 days 17 hours 56 minutes in space. On Soyuz T-15, he was part of the only crew to visit two space stations on one spaceflight (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...

 and Salyut 7

Salyut 7

Salyut 7 was a space station in low Earth orbit from April 1982 to February 1991. It was first manned in May 1982 with two crew via Soyuz T-5, and last visited in June 1986, by Soyuz T-15. Various crew and modules were used over its lifetime, including a total of 12 manned and 15 unmanned launches...

). He later served as Deputy Director Satellite Control-Center of the Russian Ministry of Defense; after May 1995 he was Director of the Military Engineering Academy of Aeronautics and Astronautics in St. Petersburg.

He retired on June 13, 1987, and died on June 14, 2010. Leonid Kizim was married with two children.

External links

• KIZIM, Col.-Gen. Leonid Denisovich International Who's Who. accessed September 4, 2006.
• Leonid Denissovich Kizim, astronautix.com