Alexander Samokutyaev performed his first flight into space in 2011, an anniversary year for world cosmonautics. The launch of the Soyuz TMA-21 manned transport vehicle, which was named after the first cosmonaut of the planet Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, took place on 5 April. The Soyuz crew under the command of Alexander Samokutyaev returned to Earth on September 16. The flight duration was 164 days. During the expedition, Alexander Samokutyaev performed a spacewalk lasting 6 hours 22 minutes.
The main space holiday – the 50th anniversary of the conquest of space by man – Alexander Samokutyaev met during his orbital watch on board the International Space Station. During these spring days, the crew was constantly in touch with the Earth: astronauts told people in different countries, on different continents about the great feat of mankind – the first step to the stars.
During the expedition of Alexander Samokutyaev, another significant historical event took place for astronautics: the American shuttle Atlantis performed its last Earth-ISS-Earth flight, and the Space Shuttle program ended. Upon his return from space flight, Alexander Samokutyaev was awarded the high title of Hero of the Russian Federation with the title of “Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation”.
The second “space trip” of Alexander Samokutyaev began on September 26, 2014. The crew under his command included a colleague in the Russian cosmonaut corps Elena Serova and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore. During the expedition, dozens of scientific experiments were carried out, the station was maintained and the ISS was re-equipped with equipment delivered by cargo ships. During the flight, Alexander Samokutyaev performed the second spacewalk in his career.
Currently, Alexander Samokutyaev is a deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
The management of the Roscosmos State Corporation, the staff of the CTC and colleagues in the cosmonaut corps congratulate Alexander Mikhailovich on his birthday and wish him happiness, good health, prosperity and professional success!