| Georgy Mikhaylovich Grechko | |
|---|---|
| Cosmonaut | |
| Nationality | Soviet |
| Status | Retired |
| Born | May 25, 1931 Leningrad, USSR |
| Other occupation | Engineer |
| Time in space | 134d 20h 32m |
| Selection | Civilian Specialist Group 3 |
| Missions | Soyuz 17, Salyut 4 Soyuz 26, Salyut 6 EO-1, Soyuz 27, Soyuz T-14, Salyut 7 EP-5, Soyuz T-13 |
| Awards | |
Georgy Mikhaylovich Grechko (Russian: Георгий Михайлович Гречко; born May 25, 1931 in Leningrad) is a retired Soviet cosmonaut who flew on several space flights among which Soyuz 17, Soyuz 26, and Soyuz T-14.
Grechko graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Mechanics with a doctorate in mathematics. He was a member of Communist Party of Soviet Union. He went on to work at Sergei Korolev's design bureau and from there was selected for cosmonaut training for the Soviet moon programme. When that program was cancelled, he went on to work on the Salyut space stations.
Georgy Mikhaylovich Grechko made the first spacewalk in an Orlan space suit. This spacewalk was made on December 20, 1977 during the Salyut 6 EO-1 mission.
He was awarded twice the medal of Hero of the Soviet Union.
He resigned from the space programme in 1992 to lecture in atmospheric physics at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
A minor planet 3148 Grechko discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1979 is named after him.[1]
Grechko, along with Alexey Leonov, Vitaly Sevastyanov and Rusty Schweickart established the Association of Space Explorers in 1984. Membership is open to all people who have flown in outer space.