   valeri vladimirovich polyakov (, born valeri ivanovich korshunov on april 27, 1942) is a russian former cosmonaut. he is the holder of the record for the longest single spaceflight in human history, staying aboard the mir space station for more than 14 months (437 days 18 hours) during one trip. his combined space experience is more than 22 months. selected as a cosmonaut in 1972, polyakov made his first flight into space aboard soyuz tm-6 in 1988. he returned to earth 240 days later aboard tm-7. polyakov completed his second flight into space in 1994â1995, spending 437 days in space between launching on soyuz tm-18 and landing on tm-20, setting the record for the longest time continuously spent in space by an individual in human history. == early life and education == polyakov was born in tula, tula oblast, russian sfsr on april 27, 1942. born valeri ivanovich korshunov, polyakov legally changed his name after being adopted by his stepfather in 1957. he was educated at the tula secondary school no. 4, from which he graduated in 1959. he enrolled in the i. m. sechenov 1st moscow medical institute, where he graduated with a doctoral degree. after, he enrolled in the institute of medical and biological problems, ministry of public health, moscow, where he specialized in astronautics medicine. polyakov dedicated himself to the field of space medicine in 1964 after the flight of the first 
1942_births Heroes_of_the_Russian_Federation Heroes_of_the_Soviet_Union Living_people People_from_Tula,_Russia Physician_astronauts Recipients_of_the_Order_of_Lenin Recipients_of_the_Order_of_Parasat_(Kazakhstan) Russian_cosmonauts Soviet_cosmonauts Soviet_physicians