The astronaut, who "forgot" in space

• The astronaut, who "forgot" in space

February 3, 1994 the first flight of Russian cosmonaut on the US space shuttle. It was a flight of Sergei Krikalev on the shuttle "Discovery" in the STS-60 space flight. In orbit in the shuttle broke down the ventilation system. The Americans had a clear instruction: to inform about the damage to the Earth and wait for instructions. While in Houston decided what to do, the accumulated condensate in ducts began to freeze, we had to do something.

Krikalev did not want to interfere. When the astronauts were asked: "And what would you do" - Sergei said, "to repair". And then I took - and repaired.

In December 1990, Krikalev began preparing to participate in the ninth expedition to the station "Mir". "Soyuz TM-12" was launched on May 19, 1991 with the commander Anatoly Pavlovich Artsebarsky, flight engineer Krikalev and British astronaut Helen Sharman. A week later, Sharman returned to Earth with the previous crew, while Krikalev and Artsebarsky remained on the "World". Over the summer, they have carried out six spacewalks, while conducted numerous scientific experiments, as well as maintenance work on the station.

Before his second flight in May 1991, Sergei Krikalev and could not have imagined that the events in the world would make it a "cosmic longevity." May 19, 1991 he was part of the crew "Soyuz TM-12" was launched to the space station "Mir". The crew of space mission has successfully completed all flight tasks and was about to return home. But the events of August 1991 have made adjustments. The collapse of the Soviet Union pulled a chain of destructive changes for our country. Significantly reduced budgets for space programs, and commitments to other countries remained. According to the program of international cooperation in space astronauts were supposed to go from Austria and Kazakhstan. It was planned that they will be a part of different crews. But the creation of two spacecraft at the time there was no money. Flying has been decided to merge, and went into orbit a spacecraft, which has not got room for everyone to return to Earth.

Krikalev had to stay on the orbital station "Mir" before the arrival of the next space shuttle. Instead of the planned 5 months of work in the space he had to work on the space orbit for nearly half a year (about a year). In general, our famous astronaut was in space, because it is rapidly disintegrating country can not provide a new opportunity to return Robinson. Krikalev launched from the Soviet Union and returned in March 1992, already in another country - Russia. For this flight Hero of the Soviet Union SK Krikalev first of the astronauts received the title of Hero of Russia with the award of the medal "Gold Star" №1.

In October 1992, NASA's management announced that the American shuttles will fly a Russian cosmonaut who has experience of space flight. Krikalev was one of two candidates directed the Russian Space Agency to train together with the crew of STS-60. Krikalev was in flight STS-60 - the first joint US-Russian mission on the shuttle (shuttle Discovery). Flight STS-60, which began February 3, 1994, was the second module with Spacehab (Space Habitation Module) and the first flight from the WSF device (Wake Shield Facility).

Making 130 turns and flying 5,486,215 kilometers, February 11, 1994 the ship Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center (Florida). Krikalev became the first Russian astronaut flew on the US space shuttle.

Sergei Krikalev working on the ISS in May 2005

During the flight to the US space shuttle was an emergency - denied sustenance and electronics duct. Despite the objections of the American side and the offer to wait for back-up vessel from Earth, our astronaut was able to recover and restart the shuttle devices. This caused great surprise and delight both the American and Russian sides.

After the flight, STS-60 Krikalev returned to his work in Russia. He periodically directed to travel in the Johnson Space Center in Houston Lyndon to work in the mission control center with search and rescue services in a joint US-Russian missions. In particular, it was ground in STS-63 flight operations, STS-71, STS-74, STS-76.

Krikalev was appointed as the first crew of the International Space Station and the first in December 1998, he was on a short-term mission to the ISS on the shuttle "Endeavor".

Krikalev known and admired all over the world (in some countries there are entire museum stands dedicated to our astronaut). American director Michael Bay directed the film "Armageddon" in 1998, where caricature was shown a Russian cosmonaut Colonel Lev Andropov, alone living on the space station (mad, unshaven, drunk, in a fur cap and a quilted jacket, has an instrument, opens the fuel valve breakage, blowing the space station "Mir"), - however, in the end it was he who saves his actions all the American astronauts, hitting the computer "nezavodyaschegosya" shuttle wrench. It is not necessary that the basis of the character took it Krikalev, of course, but too much of a coincidence. In training suit, June 30, 2004

Today Sergei Krikalev worked as First Deputy General Director of Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Central Research Institute of Machine Building" for manned programs, and is the most famous in the world, after Yuri Gagarin, the cosmonaut.