Vladimir Dezhurov

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Vladimir Nikolayevich Dezhurov

Cosmonaut
Nationality	Russian
Born	July 30, 1962 Yavas, Mordovia
Other occupation	Mechanical Engineer
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel, Russian Air Force
Space time	244d 05h 28m
Selection	1987 Cosmonaut Group
Missions	Soyuz TM-21, Mir, STS-71, STS-105, Expedition 3, STS-108
Mission insignia

Vladimir Nikolayevich Dezhurov (Russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич Дежу́ров) was born on July 30, 1962 in the settlement of Yavas, Zubovo-Polyansky District, Mordovia, Russia. He attended and graduated from the S.I. Gritsevits Kharkov Higher Military Aviation School in 1983 with a pilot engineer’s diploma. After graduating, he served as a pilot and senior pilot in the Air Force.

In 1987, he was assigned to the Cosmonaut Training Center. From December 1987 to June 1989, he underwent a course of general space training. Since September 1989, he has continued training as a member of a group of test cosmonauts. Since 1991, he has been a correspondence student at the Yuri A. Gagarin Air Force Academy.

In March 1994, Dezhurov began flight training as commander of the prime crew of the Mir-18 mission. The crew launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 14, 1995 aboard a Soyuz TM-21 transport vehicle. Following a 115 day flight, the mission concluded with landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on July 7, 1995. Dezhurov lived aboard the International Space Station where he served as a member of the Expedition 3 crew. The crew was scheduled to spend approximately four months aboard the station. They returned to Earth on the Shuttle flight delivering the fourth Expedition crew.