Yelena Kondakova facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yelena Kondakova
Kondakova in 1997
Born	(1957-03-30) 30 March 1957 (age 68) Mytishchi, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Status	Retired
Occupation	Politician
Awards	Hero of the Russian Federation
Space career
Roscosmos cosmonaut
Time in space	178d 10h 41 m
Selection	1989
Missions	Soyuz TM-20, STS-84
Mission insignia

Yelena Vladimirovna Kondakova (Russian: Елена Владимировна Кондакóва) was born on March 30, 1957. She is a famous Russian cosmonaut and was the third Russian woman to travel into space. She was also the first woman to stay in space for a very long time.

Yelena's first space trip was on a spacecraft called Soyuz TM-20. This happened on October 4, 1994. She spent five months living on the Mir space station before returning to Earth on March 22, 1995.

Her second trip to space was in May 1997. She flew as a specialist on the United States Space Shuttle Atlantis during a mission called STS-84. Yelena was the last Russian woman to go to space for many years. Another cosmonaut, Elena Serova, flew to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014.

Yelena's Early Life and Training

Yelena Kondakova was born in Mytishchi, a town in Russia. She grew up near a place called Kaliningrad. In 1973, she finished high school there.

She later went to Bauman Moscow State Technical University. She studied how to build aircraft and graduated in 1980. Both of Yelena's parents worked at a company called Energia. This company builds rockets and spacecraft.

After college, Yelena worked as an engineer at NPO Energia. She helped plan long space flights and trained people for emergencies. She also worked on science projects and research. From 1982 to 1985, she was part of the team that controlled the Salyut 7 space station.

Becoming a Cosmonaut

In 1985, Yelena married another cosmonaut named Valeri Ryumin. They have one daughter together. In the same year, she started training to fly the Soyuz-TM spacecraft. She officially joined the USSR cosmonaut team in 1989.

Yelena's Space Missions

Yelena Kondakova made history with her first space flight.

First Space Flight: Soyuz TM-20

Her first trip to space began on October 4, 1994. She was a flight engineer on the Soyuz TM-20 mission. She spent about five months living and working on the Mir orbital station. This made her the first woman to complete such a long space flight. She came back to Earth on March 22, 1995.

While Yelena was in space, her husband, Valeri, took care of their daughter. He worked from home during this time.

Second Space Flight: Space Shuttle Atlantis

In August 1996, Yelena trained in the United States at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Her second space flight was from May 15 to May 24, 1997. She was a specialist on the American Space Shuttle Atlantis. This mission, called STS-84, involved docking with the Mir orbital station.

Life After Space

Yelena Kondakova stopped being a cosmonaut on December 30, 1999. This was because she was chosen to be a deputy in the State Duma. The State Duma is like a parliament or a law-making body in Russia.

From 1999 to 2003, she was a deputy for the Fatherland - All Russia party. Then, from 2003 to 2011, she was a deputy for the United Russia party. In 2006, she also graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

On August 16, 2011, Yelena announced that she was leaving the United Russia party. She disagreed with how some elections within the party were handled. She said that people were told who to vote for, and there were more votes than people present. She felt that these elections were not fair.

From 2012 to 2018, Yelena Kondakova worked as a Trade Representative for Russia in Switzerland.

Space Statistics

Yelena Kondakova spent a lot of time in space. Here's a quick look at her missions:

Honors and Awards

• Hero of the Russian Federation: This is a very high honor given in Russia for great service to the state.

See also

In Spanish: Elena Kondakova para niños

• List of female Heroes of the Russian Federation
• List of female astronauts
• Women in space