The death of the famous Russian cosmonaut with the record for the longest stay in space
Valery Polyakov, the Soviet-era cosmonaut who once held the record for the longest stay in space, has died at the age of 80.
After returning from his 438-day journey from the Mir space station, Polyakov said: We can fly to Mars.
Polyakov’s death was reported on Monday (September 19/28) by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Roscosmos officials wrote about this: Roscosmos regretfully announces the death of Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Russia, pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, holder of the world record for the longest stay in space, Valery Polyakov. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the relatives and friends of Valery Vladimirovich Polyakov.
He was born on April 27, 1942. Polyakov, who was selected in 1972 with the third group of Russian doctors for astronaut training, traveled to the Mir space station on two long-duration missions. In total, he has been away from Earth for 678 days, 16 hours and 32 minutes. Today, he ranks eighth in the world in terms of total time spent in space.
The Mir space station was a Soviet and later Russian orbital station. Mir was the first human research station in space where humans lived for a long time. The construction of this orbital station began in 1986 and after gradual completion over a period of 10 years, it became the largest man-made space structure and kept this record until 2001. Mir station was a place to conduct scientific studies in various fields, among which biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology can be mentioned. The technologies that were developed with the help of the Mir station made it possible for humans to live permanently in space.
Polyakov’s first mission began with the Soyuz TM-6 spacecraft on August 29, 1988. In this journey, Vladimir Lyakhov as commander and astronaut Abdul Ahad Momand accompanied him as the first Afghan. Liakhov and Momand returned to earth after 9 days.
Polyakov spent the remaining 241 days of his stay with Alexander Volkov and Sergei Krikalev and returned to earth with Volkov on April 27, 1989.
Polyakov’s second and last trip to space was made to investigate the ability of the human body to travel to Mars. On January 8, 1994, Polyakov went into space with the crew of Soyuz TM-18 and began his unprecedented 438-day stay in space.
He returned to earth on March 22, 1995. “We can fly to Mars,” Polyakov told his crew as they landed on Earth.
During the second trip, Polyakov’s medical and psychological condition was closely monitored. He then underwent two tests over a six-month period after returning to Earth. The researchers found that his stay of 437 days, 17 hours and 58 minutes in space did not cause any permanent physical problems, nor did he have any long-term cognitive problems. Although he had a slight drop in mood during the first and last months of his stay.
Roscosmos has announced in a statement: His research has helped to prove that the human body is ready not only for Earth orbit but also for deep space.
Polyakov retired in 1995 and was appointed as the deputy of the Ministry of Public Health in Moscow. Polyakov also participated in the recruitment and selection of new cosmonauts as a member of the Russian High Medical Commission.