Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov dies at 80

Category : Obituaries Published on: September 23 2022

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Cosmonaut Valery Vladimirovich Polyakov, who holds the record for the longest spaceflight, has died at the age of 80.
According to Roscosmos, Polyakov has participated in two space missions during his career with a total duration of 678 days and 16 hours.
Polyakov took part in his first mission to space in 1988, and returned eight months later in 1989. That year, he was appointed deputy director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems.
Valery Polyakov spent a full 437 days orbiting the Earth on the Mir space station between 1994 and 1995.
Polyakov had previously spent 288 days in space on a mission in 1988-89.
He worked on experiments to see if people could maintain their mental health to make the long journey to Mars.
The Mir space station was put into orbit in 1986, first under the control of the Soviet Union and later by Russia.