Vladimir Dezhurov

Vladimir Nikolayevich Dezhurov (Russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич Дежу́ров) was born July 30, 1962 in the Yavas settlement, Zubovo-Polyansky District, Mordovia, Russia. He attended and graduated from the S.I. Gritsevits Kharkov Higher Military Aviation School in 1983 with a pilot engineer’s diploma. After graduating, he served as a pilot and senior pilot in the Air Force.

In 1987, he was assigned to the Cosmonaut Training Center. From December 1987 to June 1989, he underwent a course of general space training. Since September 1989, he has continued training as a member of a group of test cosmonauts. Since 1991, he has been a correspondence student at the Yuri A. Gagarin Air Force Academy.

In March 1994, Dezhurov began flight training as commander of the prime crew of the Mir-18 mission. The crew launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan on March 14, 1995 aboard a Soyuz TM-21 transport vehicle. Following a 115 day flight, the mission concluded with landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on July 7, 1995. Dezhurov is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station where he serves as a member of the Expedition 3 crew. The crew is scheduled to spend approximately 4 months aboard the station. They will return to Earth on the Shuttle flight delivering the fourth Expedition crew.

Dezhurov has been awarded three Air Force medals during his career.

Sources

• NASA Information on Vladimir Dezhurov

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.