Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov ( ) , Colonel , Russian Air Force , Ret . , and former Russia n cosmonaut was born January 1 , 1947 , in Sretensk , in the Zabaykalsky Krai region of Russia . He is married to the former Alexandra Kozlova of Ivanovo Region , Russia . They have two children . Education . Graduated from secondary school in 1965 , from the Higher Air Force College in Chernihiv in Ukraine in 1970 , and the Gagarin Air Force Academy in 1987 . Career . In 1966 , Titov enrolled at the Higher Air Force College in Chernihiv in Ukraine , graduating in 1970 . Until 1974 , he served at the College as a pilot - instructor and was responsible for the graduation of twelve student pilots . He later served as a flight commander with the air regiment where the cosmonauts carry out flying practice . He has flown 10 different types of aircraft , has logged more than 1 , 400 hours flying time , and holds the qualifications of Military Pilot , 1st Class , and Test Pilot , 3rd Class . Titov was selected as a cosmonaut in 1976 , and in September 1981 was paired with Gennady Strekalov . The two men served as the back - up crew for Soyuz T - 5 in 1982 and Soyuz T - 9 in 1983 . A veteran of five missions , Titov served as commander on Soyuz T - 8 and Soyuz T - 10 - 1 in 1983 and Soyuz TM - 4 in 1987 , and flew on the crew of STS - 63 in 1995 and STS - 86 in 1997 . He has logged a total of 18 hours , 48 minutes of EVA , and has spent a total of 387 days , 52 minutes , 18 seconds in space ( including the Soyuz T - 10 - 1 launch abort ) . Titov made his first space flight on April 20 , 1983 , as commander of Soyuz T - 8 . He and Strekalov had been specifically trained to repair the faulty Salyut 7 solar array . He was supposed to dock with Salyut 7 , but once in orbit the Soyuz rendezvous radar antenna failed to deploy properly . Several attitude control maneuvers at high rates were made but failed to swing the boom out . ( The postflight inquiry later discovered that the antenna had been torn off when the Soyuz payload shroud separated . ) With FCC permission , the crew attempted a rendezvous using only an optical sight and ground radar inputs for guidance . During the final approach , which was made in darkness , Titov believed that the closing speed was too great . He therefore attempted a braking maneuver , but felt that the two spacecraft were still closing too fast . He aborted the rendezvous to avoid a crash , and no further attempts were made before the three men returned to Earth after a flight lasting just 2 days , 17 minutes , 48 seconds Titov and Strekalov were then scheduled for launch on board what should have been Soyuz T - 10 on September 27 , 1983 . However , a valve in the propellant line failed to close at T−90 seconds , causing a large fire to start at the base of the launch vehicle only one minute before launch . The fire quickly engulfed the rocket , and the automatic abort sequence failed as the wires involved burned through . Two launch controllers manually aborted the mission by sending radio commands from the launch blockhouse . This was accomplished 12 seconds after the fire began . The Soyuz descent module was pulled clear by the launch escape system , and after being subjected to 15 – 17 G ' s , the crew landed safely some 2 . 5 miles ( 4 km ) from the launch vehicle , which apparently exploded seconds after the Soyuz separated . The two men were given a medical check - up , but had sustained no injuries during their brief flight which lasted 5 minutes , 30 seconds . Titov was next assigned to command Soyuz TM - 2 . He and his flight engineer , Alexander Serebrov , were scheduled for a long - duration flight on board Mir 1 . Six days prior to launch , due to doubts about Serebrov ' s health , they were replaced by the back - up crew . Titov continued training for a long - duration mission , and in April 1987 was paired with Musa Manarov . Later that year , he graduated from the Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy while continuing his work at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center . His next assignment came as the commander of Soyuz TM - 4 , which launched on December 21 , 1987 . Together with Musa Manarov and Anatoli Levchenko , he linked up with the orbiting Mir 1 space station and her crew . After a short period of joint work , Romanenko , Alexandrov , and Levchenko returned to Earth handing over the space station to Titov and Manarov . The two men settled down to a long program of scientific experiments and observations , and played host to the visiting Soyuz TM - 5 and TM - 6 missions . At the end of the Soyuz TM - 6 visit , one of its crew , Dr . Valeri Polyakov , remained on board with Titov and Manarov . On February 26 , 1988 , the two cosmonauts carried out an EVA lasting 4 hours and 25 minutes , during which they removed one of the sections of the solar panel and installed a new one . They also installed some new scientific experiments and removed samples of material that had been left exposed to open space , and inspected the Progress 34 spacecraft . On June 30 , 1988 , they attempted a repair on the Roentgen X - ray telescope . The telescope had not been designed for repair or replacement so the EVA was a difficult one . As they sliced through the 20 - layer thick thermal blanket to expose the telescope ' s faulty X - ray detector unit , the two men had to stop and rest several times , as they had nowhere to anchor themselves , and had to take turns holding each other steady . Their bulky gloves made removing the small bolts very difficult , and it took 90 minutes instead of the 20 allocated . When a special wrench they were using suddenly snapped , the EVA had to be aborted , and the two men returned inside the Mir , having spent 5 hours , 10 minutes in open space . On October 20 , 1988 , repairs were successfully completed , and the X - ray telescope recommenced operations . The cosmonauts also installed some anchor points for the EVA scheduled for the joint Soviet - French mission , installed a new shortwave aerial , and took samples of a film which had formed over one of the portholes , before returning inside the Mir after 4 hours and 12 minutes . They then settled down to their program of experiments and observations . In November 1988 , they played host to the joint Soviet - French mission . After three weeks of joint work , Titov and Manarov returned to Earth together , along with the French cosmonaut Jean - Loup Chrétien aboard Soyuz TM - 6 . Titov and Manarov returned to Earth after a mission lasting 365 days , 22 hours , 39 minutes , setting a new record , and exceeding one year in space for the first time . On October 28 , 1992 , NASA announced that an experienced cosmonaut would fly aboard the STS - 60 Space Shuttle mission . Titov was one of two candidates named by the Russian Space Agency for mission specialist training at the Johnson Space Center . In April 1993 , he was assigned as back - up mission specialist for Sergei Krikalev , who flew on STS - 60 , the first joint U . S . / Russian Space Shuttle Mission ( February 3 to 11 , 1994 ) . In September 1993 , Titov was selected to fly on STS - 63 with Krikalev training as his back - up . From February 2 to 11 , 1995 , Titov was a mission specialist aboard the Orbiter Discovery , on STS - 63 , the first flight of the new joint Russian - American Space Program . Mission highlights included the rendezvous with the Russian Space Station Mir , operation of Spacehab , and the deployment and retrieval of Spartan 204 . In completing this mission , he logged an additional 8 days , 6 hours , 29 minutes in space . Titov served on the crew of STS - 86 Atlantis ( September 25 to October 6 , 1997 ) NASA ' s seventh mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir . Highlights included the exchange of U . S . crew members Mike Foale and David Wolf , the transfer to Mir of 10 , 400 pounds of science and logistics , and the return of experiment hardware and results to Earth . Vladimir Titov and Scott Parazynski performed a 5 - hour , 1 - minute spacewalk during which they retrieved four experiments first deployed on Mir during the STS - 76 docking mission , tethered the Solar Array Cap for use in a future Mir spacewalk to seal any hole found in the hull of the damaged Spektr module , and evaluated common EVA tools which may be used by astronauts wearing either Russian or American - made spacesuits . Mission accomplished in 169 orbits in 10 days , 19 hours , 21 minutes . Titov retired from the Air Force and the Russian Space Agency in 1998 . In 1998 he became Director of Space and Communications for the Boeing Company in Moscow , Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States . He is currently serving as General Director , Russian Operations of Excalibur Almaz . Foreign awards : Awards and honors . In 1990 , Titov and Musa Manarov were awarded the U . S . Harmon Prize — the first Soviet citizens to win the award — in recognition of their world endurance record .