Salizhan Sharipov

NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao, left, and Russian cosmonaut Salizhan S. Sharipov will serve as Expedition 10 on the International Space Station.

Salizhan Shakirovich Sharipov (Russian: Салижан Шакирович Шарипов), cosmonaut, was born August 24, 1964 in Uzgen, Osh region, Kyrgyzstan. He is married to Nadezhda Mavlyanovna Sharipova. They have one daughter and one son. He enjoys football, likes to read books. His father, Mr. Shakirzhan Sharipov, resides in Uzgen, Oshsk region, Kirghizia.

Education

Graduated from the Air Force Pilot School in 1987. In 1994, he graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in cartography.

Experience

After graduation from the Air Force Pilot School in 1987, he worked as a pilot-instructor and taught eight cadets. He has logged over 950 hours flying time. He has experience flying on MiG-21, L-39 aircraft.

Selected by the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) Sharipov became a cosmonaut-candidate in 1990. In 1992, he completed general space training and became a cosmonaut. As a member of the group he has completed a full course of training for OC MIR space flights as a crew commander.

Sharipov has flown one mission and has logged over 211 hours in space. He served as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-89 (January 22–31, 1998), the eighth Shuttle-Mir docking mission during which the crew transferred more than 8,000 pounds of scientific equipment, logistical hardware and water from Space Shuttle Endeavour to Mir. In the fifth and last exchange of a U.S. astronaut, STS-89 delivered Andy Thomas to Mir and returned with David Wolf. Mission duration was 8 days, 19 hours and 47 seconds, traveling 3.6 million miles in 138 orbits of the Earth.

As of 2004, Sharipov is Flight Engineer on International Space Station Expedition 10.

Source: [1]

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