When was Valeri Polyakov born and what was his original name?
Valeri Polyakov was born in the city of Tula on the 27th of April 1942. He entered the world under the name Valeri Ivanovich Korshunov before his family situation changed.
Valeri Polyakov was born in the city of Tula on the 27th of April 1942. He entered the world under the name Valeri Ivanovich Korshunov before his family situation changed.
Valeri Polyakov remained in space for 437 days, 17 hours, 58 minutes and 31 seconds during his second mission aboard Soyuz TM-18. This duration broke the previous record held by Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov on the 9th of January 1995 after 366 days in space.
Researchers found that humans maintain healthy mental states during long-duration spaceflight similar to life on Earth with no prolonged performance impairments. His mood stabilized to pre-flight levels between the second and fourteenth month of his mission while cognitive functions remained unimpaired.
Valeri Polyakov received multiple awards including Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Russian Federation, and the Order of Lenin. France honored him with the Officer of the Legion of Honour and Kazakhstan awarded him the Order of Parasat.
Valeri Polyakov died on the 7th of September 2022 at age 80. He had been active as a cosmonaut-investigator until his passing following decades of service to the Ministry of Public Health.