Each of us, in childhood, probably dreamed about space, dreamed of exploring the Universe, feeling it, but not everybody could carry these aspirations through the years and realize them.
77th in the country and 305th cosmonaut in the world - this seems to us the pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation - Usachev Yuri. This man was not only lucky enough to fulfill his childhood dreams of heaven, but also to become one of the most deserved and respected astronauts, both in the country and abroad.
In addition, Usachev managed to popularize the space program, bring it to the masses. Yuri got the idea to try himself in the writing field. And he, of course, succeeded. Everyone can get acquainted with his works today. Just go to the nearest library and find the right shelf.
This is the well-known to every one of us talented space lover Yuri Usachev. Photos of his flights adorn the pages of each of his works.
Childhood, school and student time
Yuri was born in the Rostov region on October 9, 1957. For information, he was not the only child growing up in the family - he still had an older brother and sister, who was several minutes older. The boy’s mother worked all his life at the factory as a technician, and his father was a miner and an underground electrician.
Usachev Yuri grew up a very quick-witted child and at the age of six, his parents sent him to the first grade of secondary school No. 5 in the city of Donetsk. In addition to studying, the boy devoted himself entirely to sports. He was especially interested in such types of wrestling as sambo and judo.
After school, he got a job as a turner at a cotton-spinning factory, where he worked for a relatively short time - the young man was sent by the military registration and enlistment office to courses of the Voluntary Society for Assisting the Army, Aviation and Navy, on the occasion of which he was granted a third-class driver's license. After some time, Yuri was called up for military service in the army. There, after completing the compulsory training unit, he was appointed the unit commander.
Upon returning from military service in 1978, he enters Moscow for preparatory courses at the Orzhonikidze Aviation Institute. In September, he was enrolled in the Faculty of Cosmonautics, which subsequently successfully graduated in 1985 with a diploma in mechanical engineering.
At the beginning of the journey
Due to the difficult financial situation in the family, Yuri had to combine study with work. And as a student at the Aviation Institute, he was lucky to take the place of a senior laboratory assistant at the faculty, which helped to work without detriment to the educational process. And during the period of industrial practice, which lasted from February to April 1985, he tried on the role of a sailor of a training vessel called Saimaa.
A little later, he comes as an engineer to the Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, where, having worked with dignity for the first three years, he decides to file an application for admission to the cosmonaut corps. The administration approved the statement of a young but very promising young man and immediately sent him to undergo a medical commission.
As a result, in October 1988, doctors recognize him as fit for service and, already on October 21, he is admitted to further special training at the Gagarin CPC. And a day later, his only and beloved daughter, Eugene, was born. According to the astronaut himself, this was the best gift that life could ever bring him.
Usachev space activity
At the end of January 1989, Usachev Yuri Vladimirovich, an astronaut, was recommended for inclusion in the main structure of the Energia rocket and space corporation. There, he begins work on a launch vehicle and, together with the others, takes an active part in considering the further construction of aircraft, and takes on the development of a plan for spacewalk.
Exactly a month later, he is given the position of test cosmonaut. There he meets an experienced pilot and future crew commander - Yuri Onufrienko. And already in 1991 he was enlisted in the team of the space corporation "Energy". Subsequently, he undergoes general cosmic training at the orbital haven called Mir.
From mid-October 1992 to January 1993, he carries out the necessary preparations for a flight into outer space, trying on the role of an onboard mechanical engineer.
On January 24 of the same year, Yuriy Usachev acted as a backup person for the captain Poleshchuk, the onboard engineer of the leading expedition to the Mir and Soyuz TM-15 orbital stations. From February 8 to June 24, Yuri carried out the next special training for astronauts, only in accordance with the EO-14 program. These changes occurred due to the fact that both Yuri and his former commander-in-chief Tsibliyev had no experience of flying in outer space and the higher authorities did not dare to leave them alone in the same crew, but perhaps in different ways.
On July 1, 1993, he again acted as an understudy of the onboard engineer of the fourteenth main expedition. And on August 16, the astronaut was already forced to begin the next preparation for the expedition.
First flight
The first and long-awaited flight into the open airless space, Yuri Usachev (astronaut), carried out from January to July 1994 on the Soyuz-18 launch vehicle and the Mir orbital complex together with Polyakov and Afanasyev, who later became his best friends. Upon returning to Earth, he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia, the Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation and also a purposeful and promising researcher who was awarded the qualification of a third-class test cosmonaut.
After spending some time on a well-deserved vacation, Yuri Usachev decides to return to work. True, very soon he was again called up for the second crew of the EO-19 instead of the well-known Poleschuk. The astronaut quickly gained momentum and improved his space skills during the last flight.
June 27, 1995 he acted as an understudy onboard engineer leading crew Budarin. Then he set about his next training, however, now he was already playing in the first crew of the ship.
Second flight
The next journey into the airless space began on February 21 and lasted until September 2, 1996 as part of the Soyuz-23 team and the twenty-first expedition into orbit. The second flight turned out to be a debut for Usachev - during which he was lucky to make six successful exits into outer space, on which he spent a total of thirty hours and the same number of minutes of his time.
From May 19 to 29, 2000, Yuri Usachev carried out the third flight in his life on a new-generation spaceship Atlantis. This expedition lasted for nine days and twenty hours and was supposed to carry out work to restore the ISS.
Fourth flight
For the fourth time, Yuri Vladimirovich flew on March 8, 2001 as part of the second ISS crew on a spaceship called Discovery.
Other cosmonaut activities
He managed to combine courageous space travel and writing books. The Russian astronaut Yuri Usachev is so versatile. “One Day in Space” is one of his most famous creations, which was especially liked by both critics and sophisticated readers.
Yuri also shared his impressions with the public through writing, where he described in detail his every flight. His first debut was called "Cosmonaut's Diary", 2004 release. The book immediately appealed to readers and brought the author fame in the field of writing.
As far as we know, writing has completely captured the scientist. He does not intend to rest on his laurels. Yuri Vladimirovich is obsessed with many ideas and undertakings. So, we wish this wonderful and incredibly talented person further creative success!
Conclusion
With such a great, purposeful and strong-willed man we had the opportunity to get acquainted in this article. Indeed, it is precisely these qualities that Yuri Usachev possesses. The biography of this astronaut is able to surprise, delight and even motivate every desperate space lover to great achievements.