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Valeri Polyakov

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Valeri Polyakov was a famous cosmonaut and a doctor.

Cosmonaut Polyakov Watches Discovery's Rendezvous With Mir - GPN-2002-000078
Cosmonaut Polyakov Watches Discovery's Rendezvous With Mir - GPN-2002-000078

He wanted to help humans travel very far into space. He specifically wanted to see if people could reach Mars. To do this, he studied space medicine. This is the study of how the body works in space. He spent a huge amount of time living above the Earth. In total, he spent 678 days in space during his career.

Soyuz TM-6 patch
Soyuz TM-6 patch

Polyakov learned how to help people in space through science. He stayed on the Mir space station for a very long time. During his second trip, he stayed for 437 days.

Soyuz TM-18 patch
Soyuz TM-18 patch

This was a single trip that lasted more than 14 months. He also finished over 7,000 orbits around the Earth. He did many experiments while he was up there. He wanted to see how micro-gravity affects the human body. Micro-gravity is a state where there is very little gravity.

His journey into space medicine began many years ago. He was born in Tula in 1942. He studied at the I. M. Sechenov 1st Moscow Medical Institute. He became a specialist in astronautics medicine in 1964. This happened after the first doctor flew in space. Polyakov was selected to be a cosmonaut in 1972. His first flight was on the Soyuz TM-6 mission in 1988.

Soyuz TM-7 patch
Soyuz TM-7 patch

He returned to Earth after 240 days.

Polyakov set many important records during his life. His second flight began on 8 January 1994. He used the Soyuz TM-18 to go up. He used the Soyuz TM-20 to come back on 22 March 1995.

Soyuz TM-20 patch
Soyuz TM-20 patch

On 9 January 1995, he broke a record for long spaceflights. He beat the record held by Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov. After he landed, he chose to walk to a chair. He did not want to be carried by others. He wanted to prove humans could walk on Mars.

His work helps us understand long trips in space. Scientists looked at his medical exams very closely. They found that his mind worked very well. They also studied how his mood changed. His mood was lower during the first few weeks. However, his mood became stable after the second month. This shows that people can stay healthy in space. This makes long trips to other planets seem possible. He died in 2022 at the age of 80.

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🖼️ Images & Media (5)
File:Soyuz TM-6 patch.svg
Soyuz TM-6 patch.svg
File:Soyuz TM-7 patch.png
Soyuz TM-7 patch.png
File:Soyuz TM-18 patch.png
Soyuz TM-18 patch.png
File:Soyuz TM-20 patch.png
Soyuz TM-20 patch.png
File:Cosmonaut Polyakov Watches Discovery's Rendezvous With Mir - GPN-2002-000078.jpg
Cosmonaut Polyakov Watches Discovery's...
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