Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev

He is one of most experienced active Russian cosmonaut. I am a big fan of the blue eyed cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev. I love to see his sweets smiles and admire his work, patience specially when he stayed 10 month straight in Mir while his country the soviet union changed into Russia. I wanted to do a special post about Sergei Krikalev, so I searched through google. I gather all the interesting information about all his 5 flights to the space. I also included a contacting address for Krikalev. You can mail him to ask for free autograph but most likely you will get autopenned. Anyway, check out the sexy pictures of Sergei Krikalev!




He was born in August 27, 1958, in Leningrad, Russia, which has been renamed St. Petersburg. Krikalev first met Elena Terekhina in 1980, while they both worked as engineers at NPO Energia. Now called RKK Energia, the company is Russia's leading developer of spacecraft and space stations. The couple has a daughter, Olga. Krikalev enjoys swimming, skiing, bicycle riding, aerobatic flying, and amateur radio operations, particularly from space. Krikalev’s family lives in a three-story townhouse in Moscow, Russia. Sergei Krikalev’s monthly salary is around $250. In completing his fifth space flight, Krikalev logged more than 1 year, 5 months and 10 days in space, including seven EVA's.

1. 
   (November 1988- April 1989) Krikalev flew aboard the Mir space station which was the second joint Soviet-French science mission. He made a spacewalk during his 6-month stay. The French cosmonaut Jean-Loup Chretien treated USSR cosmonauts among them Krikalev. They dined on 23 gourmet foods from a French chef, including compote of pigeon with dates and dried raisins, duck with artichokes, oxtail fondue with tomatoes and pickles, beef bourguignon, saute de veau Marengo, ham and fruit pates, bread, rolls, cheeses, nuts, coffee and chocolate bars. Probably it is the best meal ever in space was served at the USSR's Mir space station.
2. 
   (May 1991- March 1992) -- Krikalev flew a second time on Mir. This stay was unexpectedly long, with Krikalev spending 10 straight months in the cramped quarters, while political turmoil wiped his Soviet homeland off the map. During this stay, Krikalev made an unprecedented 6 spacewalks where he did space construction. The lost-in-time Soviet cosmonaut hurtled back to Earth after circling the planet more than 5,000 times and spending 7,512 hours in space for his country that no longer exists. The cosmonaut was gently lifted out of his space capsule -- a Soyuz TM-13 -- placed on a chair and carried to a group of reporters and photographers. He was joined by Alexander Volkov, who boarded the Mir space station in October, after the demise of the Soviet Union was a foregone conclusion. Later, the 34-year-old Krikalev, who has existed in weightlessness for the last 10 months -- had to learn to walk again. He spent three months in quarantine, while he readjusted to Earth and his health was monitored. Krikalev said that he was feeling fine, though he appeared a little dizzy and was given smelling salts.
3. 
   (February 3- 11 1994) In October 1992, NASA announced that an experienced cosmonaut would fly aboard a future Space Shuttle mission. Krikalev was one of two candidates named by the Russian Space Agency for mission specialist training with the crew of STS-60. Krikalev flew the first joint U.S./Russian Space Shuttle Mission. Krikalev conducted significant portions of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) operations during the flight. Following 130 orbits of the Earth in 3,439,705 miles.
4. 
   (December 4-15, 1998) Krikalev later became the first Russian to fly on the space shuttle and one of the first three residents of the international space station Alpha.
5. 
   (October 2000- March 2001) They launched on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan, successfully docking with the station. The crew also performed IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC) operations, and deployed two satellites. Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev of the Expedition-1 crew, who had previously spent a year in space prior to his Space Station stay, proves a master at moving around in zero-G. (Myers says watching Sergei is like "watching a ballet dancer - he's absolute perfection in that medium").

He had made appearance in following movies:

• Out of the Present 1995
• Inside the Space Station 2000
• The Cosmonaut 2001
• Space Station 3-D 2001
• End of Gravity 2002

You may write to Russian Cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev at the following address:

Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev

Lyotchik Cosmonavt

Yuri Gagarin Training Centre

141 160 Zvyosdny Gorodok

Moskovskoi Oblasti

Pochta Lyotchikov Cosmonavtov

Russia

It is not necessary to include return postage when writing to this address. Flown cosmonauts are entitled to use the official mail at no charge. However, a self addressed envelope is probably appreciated.