Yelena Kondakova

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Yelena Kondakova

Russian cosmonaut

Also known as: Yelena Vladimirovna Kondakova

Written by Erik Gregersen

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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In full:: Yelena Vladimirovna Kondakova

Born:: March 30, 1957, Mytishchi, Russia, U.S.S.R. (age 67)

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Yelena Kondakova (born March 30, 1957, Mytishchi, Russia, U.S.S.R.) is a Russian cosmonaut who was the first woman to make a long-duration spaceflight. Kondakova graduated from the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School in 1980 and then worked for the aerospace manufacturer Energia as an engineer. In 1985 she married cosmonaut Valery Ryumin. She was selected for the cosmonaut program in 1989. On Oct. 4, 1994, Kondakova made her first spaceflight, as flight engineer on board Soyuz TM-20, which flew to the Russian space station Mir. She spent about 169 days in space, during which she and her crewmates had to ...(100 of 205 words)

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