Today, on April 15, 2015, 43 ISS mission flight engineer Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko celebrates his 55th Birthday!
His first flight Mikhail Korniyenko performed as Soyuz TMA-18 flight engineer being a member of ISS-23/24 crew together with Alexander Skvortsov (Roscosmos) and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson (NASA). The spacecraft was launched on April 2, 2010, during this mission Mikhail performed a spacewalk lasting for 6 hours and 43 minutes.
On September 25 2010 Soyuz TMA-18 undocked from the station and successfully landed in Kazakhstan. The flight lasted for 176 days.
For this flight Mikhail Korniyenko was awarded Golden Star of Hero of the Russian Federation on April 12, 2011.
On March 27, 2015 Mikhail Korniyenko went to space for the second time in his career together with Gennady Padalka (Roscosmos) and Scott Kelly (NASA). Mikhail and Scott will spent a year onboard the station in the framework of unique mission.
We congratulate Mikhail Borisovich on his anniversary and wish him space health, successful mission and soft landing!