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Yuri Valentinovich LONCHAKOV

Lieutenant-Colonel, Russian Air Force
Test Cosmonaut of Yu. A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russia

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: March 4, 1965, Balkhash, Dzhezkazgan Region, Kazakh SSR (Kazakhstan).
Father: Valentin Gavrilovich Lonchakov (1931-1999).
Mother: Galina Vasilievna Lonchakova (Benderskaya), born in 1939, pensioner.

EDUCATION: In 1986 he graduated with gold medal from the Orenburg Air Force Pilot School after I.S. Polbin and in 1998 he graduated from the Zhukovski Air Force Academy, his specialization was the following: Flight vehicles and their systems test.

FAMILY STATUS: married.
Wife: Tatiana Alexeevna Lonchakova (Dolmatova), born in 1963, cabin attendant of air company Continental Air Lines in Sheremetievo-2.
Son: Kirill, born in 1990.

AWARDS AND RANKS: Decorated with three Russian jubilee medals and P. Nesterov medal, as well as NASA medal for Space Flight (2001).

SPORTS ACHIEVEMENTS: Candidate for Master of Sport (radio sport and judo), a 2-nd grade in parachute sport.

HOBBIES: mountain-skiing, underwater swimming, mountaineering, astronomy (built a telescope), guitar (plays, sings, composes songs), sports and games, photography, collecting of mineral specimens and archaeological finds.

WORK EXPERIENCE: From 1986 to 1995 he served in Naval Air units of the Baltic fleet and then in Air Defense units. He is a first-class military pilot.
In 1998 he was enlisted in the cosmonaut detachment.
From January 1998 to November 1999 he passed a course of general space training at Yu.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
Since December 22, 1999 he has been a test cosmonaut.
In January - May 2000 he passed training under the ISS program.
From June 24, 2000 he was a co-ordinator (representative) of Yu.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at NASA.
From April 19 to May 1, 2001 he performed the first space flight as a specialist of the Endeavour shuttle (STS-100) under the ISS assembly program.
The flight duration was 11 days 21 hrs. 30 min.
He is a third-class cosmonaut. Since March 25, 2002 he has been passing training for space flight as the backup crew commander of the Soyuz TM, Soyuz TMA transport spacecraft, 4-th visiting crew under the ISS program, together with flight engineer Aleksandr Lazutkin.
On October 1, 2002 by decision of the Interdepartmental Qualification Committee he was selected for the prime crew as flight engineer-2, 4th visiting crew under the ISS program.