Quick Facts
Biography
Yelena Vladimirovna Kondakova (Russian: Елена Владимировна Кондакóва; born March 30, 1957) was the third Soviet/Russian female cosmonaut to travel to space and the first woman to make a long-duration spaceflight. Her first trip into space was on Soyuz TM-20 on October 4, 1994. She returned to Earth on March 22, 1995 after a five-month stay at the Mir space station. Kondakova's second flight was as a mission specialist on the United States Space Shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-84 in May 1997. She was the last Russian female in space until her successor cosmonaut Elena Serova flew to the International Space Station (ISS) on 25 September 2014.
Personal
Kondakova was born in Mytishchi in the Moscow Region of Russia and is married to fellow cosmonaut Valeri Ryumin. She was selected as a cosmonaut candidate in 1989.
Since 1999, Kondakova has served as a deputy in the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.
Honors
- Hero of the Russian Federation