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{{Short description|Soviet-Russian engineer and cosmonaut}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox astronaut
| name = Gennady Mikhailovich Strekalov
| image = Gennady Strekalov.jpg
| image_caption =
| image_size = 290px

| type = [[Roscosmos]] cosmonaut

| nationality = [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]
| birth_date = 26 October 1940
| birth_place = [[Mytishchi]], [[Soviet Union]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|12|25|1940|10|26}}
| death_place = [[Moscow]], [[Russia]]

| occupation = [[Flight Engineer]]
| selection = [[List of astronauts by selection#1973|Civilian Specialist Group 5]]
| time = 268 days 22 hours 22 minutes
| mission = [[Soyuz T-3]], [[Soyuz T-8]], [[Soyuz 7K-ST No.16L]], [[Soyuz T-11]]/[[Soyuz T-10]], [[Soyuz TM-10]], [[Soyuz TM-21]]/[[STS-71]]
}}

'''Gennady Mikhailovich Strekalov''' ({{lang-ru|Генна́дий Миха́йлович Стрека́лов}}; 26 October 1940 – 25 December 2004)<ref name="independent_obit"/> was an engineer, [[cosmonaut]], and administrator at Russian aerospace firm [[Energia (corporation)|RSC Energia]]. He flew into space five times and lived aboard the [[Salyut 6]], [[Salyut 7]], and [[Mir]] space stations, spending over 268 days in space. The catastrophic explosion of a Soyuz rocket in 1983 led to him being one of only four people to use a [[launch escape system]]. He was decorated twice as [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] and received the [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|Ashoka Chakra]] from India.

== Personal life ==
Strekalov was born on 26 October 1940 in [[Mytishchi]] near [[Moscow]],<ref name="nasabio"/> the son of Mikhail Strekalov and his wife Praskoyva. Mikhail Strekalov was killed in 1945 while fighting for the Red Army in [[Poland]].<ref name="telegraph"/> Gennadi Strekalov graduated from [[Bauman Moscow State Technical University|N. E. Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School]] in 1965 with an [[engineer]]'s [[diploma]].<ref name="nasabio"/> He married Lydia Anatolievna Telezhina; the couple had two daughters, Tatiana and Natalia.<ref name="telegraph"/><ref name="nasabio"/> He died in Moscow on 25 December 2004, from cancer, aged 64.<ref name="independent_obit"/>

== Career ==
After leaving school, Strekalov began work as an apprentice coppersmith at [[Energia (corporation)|OKB-1]], [[Sergei Korolev]]'s [[OKB|experimental design bureau]], where he help assemble [[Sputnik 1]].<ref name="independent_obit"/> He left to attend university at [[Bauman Moscow State Technical University|N. E. Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School]], obtaining a degree in technical science. He then returned to OKB-1 (which was later renamed RSC Energia) and worked there for the rest of his life.<ref name="nasabio"/>

As part of an operations group, he participated in mission control for flights of scientific research vehicles belonging to the [[Russian Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences]].

In January 1974, he began training as a crew member for a [[Soyuz program|mission]] aboard the [[Soyuz spacecraft]] as a [[flight engineer]] and, in 1976, was part of the backup crew for the [[Soyuz 22]] mission. Starting October 1978, he trained as a flight engineer for Soyuz expeditions to [[Salyut]]-series space stations.<ref name="nasabio"/>

His first spaceflight was 27 November to 10 December 1980, as research engineer on [[Soyuz T-3]]'s mission to the [[Salyut 6]] station.<ref name="nasabio"/>

His next flight was to be new [[Salyut 7]] space station. He and [[Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov|Vladimir Titov]] were the backup crew for the [[Soyuz T-5]] mission, the first flight to the new station. The pair, together with [[Aleksandr Serebrov]], launched in April 1983 on [[Soyuz T-8]]. As the spacecraft separated from the aerodynamic fairing that shielded it during launch, part of its [[Igla (spacecraft docking system)|Igla rendezvous radar system]] was damaged.<ref name="chertok4"/> The crew attempted a manual docking, using only optical instruments aboard their spacecraft and guided by ground radar, but the approach was unsuccessful and Titov had to brake and dive to avoid a collision.<ref name="independent_obit"/><ref name="chertok4"/> Having used up too much of their propellant to attempt another approach, the crew were forced to return to Earth on 22 April 1983.<ref name="independent_obit"/>

Strekalov and Titov were again scheduled to fly to Salyut 7 on 26 September 1983. The mission's [[Soyuz-U]] launcher developed a serious fuel leak in the minutes before launch, forcing launch control to attempt to fire the [[launch escape system]] to pull the spacecraft away from the rocket to safety.<ref name="JANE"/> This initially failed, but finally operated only 20 seconds before the rocket exploded, devastating [[Gagarin's Start|Baikonur's Site 1 pad]]. Strekalov and Titov's capsule was dragged (at accelerations of more than 10 G) to safety and landed {{cvt|4|km}} from the pad, its occupants bruised but otherwise uninjured. Strekalov and Titov's narrow escape is the only live use of a launch escape system in the history of human spaceflight.<ref name="JANE"/> Titov and Strekalov would subsequently celebrate the anniversary of their dramatic escape, calling it their "second birthday".<ref name="independent_obit"/> As it did not launch, the mission is known by its technical article designation [[Soyuz 7K-ST No.16L]]; it would have been [[Soyuz T-10]], a codename that was instead used the following year.<ref name="independent_obit"/><ref name="nasabio"/>

Strekalov's next spaceflight was aboard [[Soyuz T-11]], with [[Yuri Malyshev (cosmonaut)|Yuri Malyshev]] and Indian cosmonaut [[Rakesh Sharma]]. The flight launched from [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31|Baikonur's Site 31]] on 3 April 1984 and, unlike Strekalov's previous two attempts, successfully docked with Salyut-7.<ref name="independent_obit"/><ref name="nasabio"/> The crew stayed on Salyut-7 until 11 April 1984, and returned to Earth not in the spacecraft in which they had come, but in the reentry module of Soyuz T-10, which was already docked at the space station.

From 1 August to 10 December 1990, he was the flight engineer on [[Soyuz TM-10]]'s flight to [[Mir]], with [[Gennady Manakov]] and Japanese reporter-cosmonaut [[Toyohiro Akiyama]]. At 130 days, this was his longest spaceflight.<ref name="nasabio"/>

After this, Strekalov formally retired and became head of the civilian section of the cosmonaut department.<ref name="independent_obit"/> But he returned to flight status for the [[Shuttle–Mir Program]] and on 14 March 1995 he flew on [[Soyuz TM-21]] to the ''[[Mir]]'' space station, accompanied by [[Vladimir Dezhurov]] and American astronaut [[Norman Thagard]]. The mission, designated EO-18, was the first non-US launch to carry an American into space. Although successful, Strekalov's time on ''Mir'' was fraught - the crew undertook a number of taxing spacewalks to repair the station, culminating in a dispute when mission controllers ordered an unplanned spacewalk to repair a stuck solar array. Strekalov, believing the proposal to be too dangerous, refused to perform it, and argued with his colleagues on the ground for several days until they acquiesced. On 7 July 1995, the Soyuz TM-21 crew returned to Earth, not on the Soyuz that had brought them, but aboard US [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'']] ([[STS-71]]) which had brought their relief.<ref name="independent_obit"/> Overall the mission lasted 115 days. Due to Strekalov's refusal, he was fined approximately US$10,000 in pension and benefit entitlements, but he took RSC Energia to arbitration and had the fine overturned.<ref name="independent_obit"/><ref name="telegraph"/><ref name="moscowtimes"/>

Strekalov continued to work for RSC Energia until his death.<ref name="independent_obit"/>

== Awards and honors ==
* [[Hero of the Soviet Union]], twice (10 December 1980, 11 April 1984)<ref name="moscowtimes"/>
* [[Order of Merit for the Fatherland]], 3rd class (7 September 1995) - for active participation in the preparation and successful implementation of long-term US-Russian space flight on the orbital scientific research complex ''Mir'', displaying courage and heroism
* Three [[Orders of Lenin]] (10 December 1980, 1983, 11 April 1984)<ref name="nasabio"/>
* [[Order of the October Revolution]] (10 December 1990) - for the successful implementation of spaceflight on the orbital scientific research complex ''Mir'' and displaying courage and heroism
* [[Medal "Veteran of Labour"]]
* [[Ashok Chakra Award|Ashoka Chakra, Class I]] (India, 1984)<ref name="evans"/>
* [[NASA Space Flight Medal]] (1995)
* Honoured Master of Sports (1981)
* Honorary Citizen of [[Queens]] (United States) and [[Mytischi]] (Russia)
* [[Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="chertok4">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite book|title=Rockets and People, Volume 4: The Moon Race|year=2011|publisher=NASA|author=Boris Chertok|isbn=978-0-16-089559-3}} }}</ref>

<ref name="nasabio">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite web|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/strekalo.html|title=Gennadi Strekalov - biographical data|date=11 February 2015|publisher=NASA Johnson Space Center}} }}</ref>

<ref name="independent_obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gennady-strekalov-16219.html|title=Obituary: Gennady Strekalov - Cosmonaut on near-fatal missions|newspaper=The Independent|date=3 January 2005|access-date=14 December 2013|author=Peter Bond}}</ref>

<ref name="JANE">{{cite web|url=http://www.janes.com/aerospace/civil/news/jsd/jsd030203_3_n.shtml|title=A brief history of space accidents|publisher=Jane's Information Group |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030204073904/http://www.janes.com/aerospace/civil/news/jsd/jsd030203_3_n.shtml|date=February 3, 2003|archive-date=2003-02-04|access-date=2007-10-20}}</ref>

<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1479865/Gennady-Strekalov.html|title=Obituaries : Gennady Strekalov|date=28 December 2004|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref>

<ref name="moscowtimes">{{cite news|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/cosmonaut-strekalov-dead-at-64/226091.html|title=Cosmonaut Strekalov Dead at 64|date=28 December 2004|agency=Associated Press |publisher=The Moscow Times}}</ref>

<ref name="evans">{{cite book|isbn=978-1461434290|author=Ben Evans|title=Tragedy and Triumph in Orbit: The Eighties and Early Nineties|date=2012|publisher=Springer Verlag}}</ref>
}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Ashoka Chakra award recipients}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strekalov, Gennady}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Mytishchi]]
[[Category:Soviet cosmonauts]]
[[Category:Soviet engineers]]
[[Category:Bauman Moscow State Technical University alumni]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Russia]]
[[Category:Heroes of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)]]
[[Category:Employees of RSC Energia]]
[[Category:Space Shuttle program astronauts]]
[[Category:Ashoka Chakra]]
[[Category:Salyut program cosmonauts]]
[[Category:Spacewalkers]]
[[Category:Mir crew members]]

Gennady Strekalov - Revision history

Bot at 17:33, 20 September 2022