Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov has died aged 80. During the Soyuz TM-18 space mission from 1994 to 1995, he spent a total of 437 days, 17 hours and 58 minutes in space. He still holds the world record for a long-term stay. In total, Polyakov spent more than 678 days in space.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced Monday “with regret the death of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Hero of Russia, the Soviet pilot and cosmonaut and world record holder for the longest flight to space (437 days) Valery Polyakov.”
Polyakov was a doctor and had been part of the Soviet Union’s space program since the 1970s. As a cosmonaut, he flew twice to the Mir space station in the 1980s and 1990s.
Unlike most of his colleagues, Polyakov never left the space station for an external mission into the open cosmos. The father of the family wrote more than 50 scientific papers on space medicine.
Source: Krone
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