NAME: Fyodor
Nikolayevich Yurchikhin (Ph.D)
RSC Energia Test-Cosmonaut
PERSONAL DATA: Born January 3, 1959, in Batumi,
Autonomous Republic of Ajara in Georgia. Married to Larisa Anatolievna
Yurshikina, born in Shyolkovo, Moscow region. They have two daughters.
His father, Nikolai Fyodorovich Yurchikhin, and
mother, Mikrula Sofoklevna Yurchikhina, reside in Sindos, Greece. He also has a
brother, 2 years younger. Hobbies include collecting stamps and space logos,
sports, history of cosmonautics, and promotion of space. He also enjoys reading
history, science fiction and the classics.
EDUCATION: After graduation from high school
in Batumi in 1976, he entered the Moscow Aviation Institute named after Sergey
Ordzhonikidze. He finished studying in 1983, and is qualified as a mechanical
engineer, specializing in airspace vehicles. In 2001, he graduated from the
Moscow Service State University with a Ph.D. in economics.
EXPERIENCE: Since graduating from the S.
Ordzhonikidze Moscow Aviation Institute in 1983, Yurchikhin has worked at the
Russian Space Corporation Energia. He began working as a controller in the
Russian Mission Control Center, and held the positions of engineer, senior
engineer, and lead engineer, eventually becoming a lead engineer for Shuttle-Mir
and NASA-Mir Programs.
In August 1997, he was enrolled in the RSC Energia
cosmonaut detachment as a cosmonaut-candidate.
From January 1998 to November 1999, he completed his
basic training course. In November 1999, he was qualified as a test cosmonaut.
In January 2000, he started training in the test-cosmonaut group for the ISS
program.
In October 2002, Fyodor
Yurchikhin flew aboard STS-112. In completing his first space flight he has
logged a total of 10 days, 19 hours, and 58 minutes in space.
Fyodor Yurchikhin is assigned to command the Expedition-15
mission to the International
Space Station, arriving at the complex aboard a Soyuz spacecraft scheduled
to launch in April 2007, for a six month tour of duty aboard the Station.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-112
Atlantis (October 7-18, 2002) launched from and returned to land at the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida. STS-112 was an International Space
Station assembly mission during which the crew conducted
joint operations with the Expedition-5
by delivering and installing the S-One Truss
(the third piece of the station's 11-piece Integrated Truss Structure).
Three spacewalks were required to outfit and activate
the new component. The crew also transferred cargo between the two vehicles and
used the shuttle's thruster jets during two maneuvers to raise the station's
orbit. STS-112 was the first shuttle mission to use a camera on the External
Tank, providing a live view of the launch to flight controllers and NASA TV
viewers. The STS-112 mission was accomplished in 170 orbits, traveling 4.5
million miles in 10 days, 19 hours, and 58 minutes.
Last updated: November 2006
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