From December 1987 to June 1989, Gidzenko attended basic space training as a test cosmonaut candidate. Since September 1989 he attended advanced training as a test cosmonaut candidate. From March to October 1994 he trained for a space flight as a back-up crew commander (17th Primary Expedition/Euro-
Mir-94 Program). From November 1994 to August 1995 he attended training for a space flight aboard the
Soyuz TM transport vehicle/Mir orbital complex as the Expedition 20 Primary Crew Commander (Euro-Mir-95 Program).
Mir EO-20 (Euromir 95) Yuri Gidzenko served aboard Mir as the commander of the long duration Mir EO-20 (
Euromir 95) expedition from September 3, 1995, to February 29, 1996, and logged 179 days in space. One of the crewmembers on this mission was the ESA astronaut,
Thomas Reiter. The
Soyuz TM-22 carrying Gidzenko, cosmonaut
Sergei Avdeyev and Reiter lifted off from the Baikonour cosmodrome on September 3, 1995, at 9:00 UTC. After a two-day autonomous flight the Soyuz spacecraft docked automatically with the Mir space station's -X docking port on September 5. The three member crew became the 20th Mir resident crew. During the first week after docking, Euromir 95 crew and the resident Mir EO-19 crew of cosmonauts
Anatoly Solovyev and
Nikolai Budarin conducted joint work. Gidzenko and his crewmembers used this time to get familiarize with the status of the onboard systems and experiments. The scientific objectives of Euromir 95 were to study effects of microgravity on the human body, to experiment with the development on new materials in a space environment, to capture samples of cosmic dust and man-made particles in low Earth orbit, and to test new space equipment. During the next months joint Russian-German research work were performed on board the Mir in the fields of life sciences (18 experiments), astrophysics (5 experiments), materials science (8 experiments) and technology (10 experiments). The crew also performed common work with the crew of
STS-74. They cooperated in medical experiments and environmental investigations designed as part of
International Space Station (ISS) Phase I research. During Euromir 95, an uncrewed cargo spacecraft, Progress M-29 visited the Mir on October 10. Progress M-29 brought about 2.5 tons of fresh supplies and equipment for the Mir EO-20 crew. On October 17, 1995, Russian and ESA officials decided to add another 44 days to the originally planned 135 days of the mission duration. On December 20, Progress M-30 docked at the Kvant port of Mir. It delivered 2300 kg of fuel, crew supplies, and research and medical equipment for use on the extended Euromir 95 mission On February 29, 1996, Gidzenko returned to Earth on board the Soyuz TM-22 capsule which landed at 10:42 UTC, 105 km northeast of
Arkalyk.
Expedition 1 From November 2000 to March 2001, Gidzenko was part of the first permanent ISS resident crew, the
Expedition 1. He along with cosmonaut
Sergei Krikalev and NASA astronaut
William Shepherd was launched into space on board the
Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft which lifted off from the Baikonour cosmodrome on October 31, 2000, at 07:52:47 UTC. Gidzenko served as the Soyuz commander. After two days of solo flight, on November 2, the Soyuz spacecraft docked with the aft port the Zvezda Service Module at 09:21 UTC. Gidzenko joined the Expedition 1 crew as a flight engineer. The crew were on board the ISS for over four months. They helped with assembly tasks as new elements, including the U.S. Destiny Laboratory, were added to the orbiting outpost. In their first weeks on board, Gidzenko, Shepherd and Krikalev activated critical life support systems and unpacked Station components, clothing, laptop computers, office equipment, cables and electrical gear left behind for them by previous Shuttle crews which conducted logistic supply flights to the new complex over the past two years. Expedition 1 crew hosted three visiting Shuttle crews,
STS-97,
STS-98 and
STS-102. Gidzenko helped to unload two uncrewed Russian Progress resupply vehicles. In March 2001, Expedition 1 crewmembers returned to Earth aboard the at the completion of the STS-102. Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15, on March 21 at 02:33:06 EST. On board Soyuz/shuttle and ISS, Gidzenko logged 140 days in space.
Soyuz TM-34/Soyuz TM-33 He was Launched on April 25, 2002, on the
Soyuz TM-34 (Soyuz 4 Taxi Crew) mission along with
ESA astronaut
Roberto Vittori and South African Space Tourist
Mark Shuttleworth. The Soyuz TM-34 lifted off from the Baikonour cosmodrome at 06:26:35 UTC. Gidzenko served as the Soyuz commander for the flight. After two days of solo flight, the Soyuz docked with the nadir port of the Zarya module at 07:55 UTC. Once there at the ISS, Gidzenko, Vittori and Shuttleworth conducted joint operations with the ISS resident
Expedition 4 crew, performed educational and science activities and exchanged seat liners from the Soyuz TM-34 to the old
Soyuz TM-33. On May 5, Gidzenko returned to Earth on board the Soyuz TM-33 spacecraft. Soyuz TM-33 undocked from the
Pirs Docking Compartment and landed 26 km south east of Arkalyk at 03:51:53 UTC. On board Soyuz TM-33/TM-34 and the ISS, Gidzenko logged 9 days in space.
Spacewalks Gidzenko has performed two career spacewalks during his stay on board the Mir space station. On December 8, 1995, Gizenko performed his first career spacewalk. He and cosmonaut Avedeyev began the spacewalk at 19:23 UTC. The two spacewalkers reconfigured the docking unit at the front of the Mir base block to prepare it for arrival of the
Priroda module. From inside the depressurized docking unit, the two cosmonauts moved the Konus docking unit from the +Z to the -Z docking port, where the Priroda module was docked. The spacewalk lasted 37 minutes. On February 8, 1996, Gidzenko performed his second career spacewalk. He and ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter began the spacewalk at 14:03 UTC. At the beginning, they moved a maneuvering unit stored inside the Kvant 2 airlock and attached it to the exterior of the module. The spacewalkers then climbed out the Kvant 2 hatch and again used the Strela boom to maneuver to the forward end of Spektr, where they retrieved the two cassettes they had deployed in October 1995. They installed a new cassette in the facility and, with Adeyev's assistance from inside the station, verified that it would operate. Although originally scheduled to last about 5 hours and 30 minutes, the spacewalking activity was shortened to 3 hours and 6 minutes by an aborted task on a Kristall antenna. The Russian officials canceled the antenna work when the cosmonauts were unable to loosen the bolts on a joint of the antenna. == Filmography ==