Yury Onufriyenko facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yuri Ivanovich Onufrienko
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Onufrienko in 2002
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| Born | February 6, 1961 Ryasne, Ukraine, Soviet Union
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| Status | Retired |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Occupation | Pilot |
| Awards | Hero of the Russian Federation |
| Space career | |
| Roscosmos cosmonaut | |
| Rank | Colonel |
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Time in space
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389d 14h 46min |
| Selection | 1989 TsPK Cosmonaut Group |
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Total EVAs
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8 |
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Total EVA time
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42 hours, 33 minutes |
| Missions | Soyuz TM-23, Mir EO-21, STS-108, Expedition 4, STS-111 |
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Mission insignia
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Yuri Ivanovich Onufrienko (born February 6, 1961) is a retired Russian cosmonaut. He is famous for his two long trips to space. He lived aboard the Mir space station in 1996. Later, he stayed on the International Space Station (ISS) from 2001 to 2002.
Contents
About Yuri Onufrienko
Yuri Onufrienko was born in a place called Ryasne, which is in Ukraine today. He is married to Valentina Mikhailovna Onufrienko. They have two sons, Yuri and Aleksandr, and one daughter, Elena. Yuri enjoys many hobbies like playing tennis, cooking, fishing, and chess. He also loves anything to do with aviation (flying planes).
Yuri's Education and Training
Yuri Onufrienko finished the V.M. Komarov Eisk Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots in 1982. He became a pilot-engineer. Later, in 1994, he also earned a degree in cartography (map-making) from Moscow State University.
Awards and Honors
Yuri Onufrienko has received many important awards. He was given the Hero of Russia medal. This is a very high honor in Russia. He also earned the title of Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation. NASA gave him Space Flight and Public Service Medals. In 1997, France honored him by making him a Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor.
Yuri's Flying Experience
Before becoming a cosmonaut, Yuri Onufrienko was a pilot in the Soviet and later Russian Air Force. He flew many different types of airplanes for over 800 hours. Some of the planes he flew include the L-29, Su-7, Su-17, and L-39.
Becoming a Cosmonaut
Yuri Onufrienko was chosen to become a cosmonaut in 1989. He trained for over a year to learn everything about space travel. After that, he continued his training to become a test cosmonaut. In 1994, he began training to be the commander for a mission to the Mir space station.
First Space Mission: Mir EO-21
Yuri Onufrienko's first space mission was called Mir EO-21. He was the commander. On February 21, 1996, he launched into space with cosmonaut Yury Usachov aboard the Soyuz TM-23 spacecraft. Two days later, their spacecraft connected with the Mir space station.
About a month later, NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid joined them. During this mission, Yuri and his crew did many science experiments. They grew protein crystals and worked with materials using a special oven. A new module, called Priroda, arrived at Mir. This module was used to study Earth from space. Supplies also came to the station on the Progress M-31 spacecraft. After Shannon Lucid left, French astronaut Claudie André-Deshays joined the crew.
On September 2, 1996, Yuri Onufrienko, Yury Usachov, and Claudie André-Deshays returned to Earth. They landed safely in Kazakhstan. On this mission, Yuri spent 193 days in space.
Second Space Mission: Expedition 4
Yuri Onufrienko returned to space as the commander of Expedition 4 on the International Space Station (ISS). He launched on December 5, 2001, aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour (mission STS-108). The Shuttle connected with the ISS two days later.
The main goal of this mission was to bring supplies to the ISS and help keep it running. Yuri and his two crewmates, NASA astronauts Daniel W. Bursch and Carl E. Walz, stayed on the ISS for about six and a half months. They tested station equipment, did maintenance inside and outside, and prepared the station for more science experiments.
The Expedition 4 crew returned to Earth on June 19, 2002, aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour (mission STS-111). With this mission, Yuri Onufrienko spent another 196 days in space. This brought his total time in space to 389 days!
Spacewalks in Space
Yuri Onufrienko has performed eight spacewalks in his career. A spacewalk is when an astronaut goes outside their spacecraft in a special suit. In total, he spent 42 hours and 33 minutes outside in space. This puts him among the astronauts with the most spacewalk time. He did six spacewalks on the Mir space station and two on the ISS.
First Spacewalks on Mir
Yuri's first spacewalk was on March 15, 1996. He and Yury Usachov worked outside for almost 6 hours. They installed a special crane arm and got ready to put up a new solar array (which collects sunlight for power).
On May 20, 1996, Yuri did his second spacewalk. They moved the Mir cooperative solar array to a new spot on the station. During this spacewalk, they also inflated a large model of a Pepsi Cola can! They filmed it with Earth in the background for a commercial.
His third spacewalk was on May 24, 1996. Yuri and Usachov finished installing the solar array on the Kvant-1 module. This spacewalk lasted over 5 hours.
On May 30, 1996, Yuri went outside for his fourth spacewalk. They installed a special scanner to study Earth's atmosphere and environment. They also added handrails to help future astronauts move around outside the station.
Yuri's fifth spacewalk was on June 6, 1996. He and Usachov installed detectors to find tiny space dust particles. They also set up experiments to see how different materials react to being in space.
His sixth spacewalk was on June 13, 1996. They installed a structure for experiments and manually opened a large radar antenna that had not fully unfolded.
Spacewalks on the ISS
Yuri Onufrienko performed his seventh spacewalk on January 14, 2002. He and NASA astronaut Carl Walz moved a cargo boom (another crane arm) on the ISS. They also installed an antenna for amateur radio. This spacewalk lasted over 6 hours.
His eighth and final spacewalk was on January 25, 2002. Yuri and NASA astronaut Daniel Bursch installed shields to protect the ISS from its own jet thrusters. They also put up another amateur radio antenna. They replaced an experiment that collects material from thruster firings. Finally, they installed two more experiments to study particles from the sun and how materials change in space. This spacewalk lasted almost 6 hours.
See also
- List of Heroes of the Russian Federation
