Biography:Vladimir Kovalyonok

Short description: Soviet cosmonaut

Vladimir Vasilyevich Kovalyonok
Cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok in Vologda
Born	(1942-03-03) 3 March 1942 Bielaye, Byelorussian SSR Soviet Union (now Belarus)
Status	Retired
Nationality	Belarus ian
Occupation	Pilot-cosmonaut
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union (twice)
Space career
Cosmonaut
Rank	Colonel General, Soviet Air Force
Time in space	216d 09h 08m
Selection	Air Force Group 4
Missions	Soyuz 25, Soyuz 29/Soyuz 31, Soyuz T-4

Vladimir Vasiliyevich Kovalyonok (Belarusian: Уладзі́мір Васі́льевіч Кавалёнак; Russian: Влади́мир Васи́льевич Ковалёнок; born 3 March 1942) is a retired Soviet cosmonaut.

He entered the Soviet space programme on July 5, 1967, and was commander of three missions. Together with Aleksandr Ivanchenkov he flew the long-endurance mission EO-2 which set a new record of 139 days in space. He retired from the cosmonaut team on June 23, 1984.

From 1990 to 1992 he was a Director of the 30th Central Scientific Research Institute, Ministry of Defence (Russia).

Missions

• Soyuz 25
• Soyuz 29/Soyuz 31
• Soyuz T-4
• Salyut 6

Honours and awards

• Hero of the Soviet Union, twice (2 November 1978 and 26 May 1981)
• Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class (16 May 1996)
• Order of Military Merit (2000)
• Three Orders of Lenin (15 November 1977, 2 November 1978 and 26 May 1981)
• Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 3rd class (12 August 1991)
• Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (12 April 2011) - for great achievements in the field of research, development and use of outer space, many years of diligent work, public activities
• Hero of the German Democratic Republic (1978)
• Order of Karl Marx (East Germany, 1978)
• Hero of the MPR (Mongolia, 1981)
• Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolia, 1981)
• Cross of Grunwald, 3rd class (Poland, 1978)
• Order for Service to the Homeland, 2nd class (Belarus, 2002)

External links

• Cosmonaut Biography: Vladimir Kovalyonok
• The official website of the city administration Baikonur - Honorary citizens of Baikonur

Cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok (left) and Viktor Savinykh (right) on a 1981 stamp of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics