Serial number - 384 (89)
Number of flights – 3
Total duration - 585 days 06 hours 29 minutes 53 seconds
Number of spacewalks - 8
Duration of work in open space - 27 hours 14 minutes
Family status: wife - Irina Anatolyevna, daughters - Yulia, Ekaterina, Sofia.
Education: higher.
In 1979 he graduated from the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School (VVAUL) named after V. M. Komarov with a degree in Command-Tactical Fighter-Bomber Aviation.
In 1994, he graduated from the UNESCO International Center for Learning Systems at the Faculty of Aerospace Ecology of the State Academy of Oil and Gas, and was awarded the qualification “Environmental Engineer” and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management.
In 2009, he graduated from the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation with a degree in State and Municipal Administration, specialization in Public Administration and National Security.
Experience: After graduating from aviation school, from December 1979 to April 1989, he served as a military pilot in units of the Air Force of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
By the time he was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps, he had mastered the L-29, MiG-15UTI, MiG-17, Su-7B, Su-7U, Su-7BM, Su-24 aircraft. The total flight time was about 1200 hours.
On April 22, 1989, by order of the Ministry of Defense, he was enrolled as a candidate test cosmonaut in the cosmonaut corps of the RGNII TsPK.
From June 1989 to January 1991, he underwent general space training at the Cosmetic Training Center. On February 1, 1991, by decision of the Interdepartmental Qualification Commission (IQC), he was awarded the qualification “test cosmonaut”.
From April 1991 to February 1996, he underwent training under the Mir flight program as part of a group.
On February 9, 1996, he was appointed commander of the backup crew under the program of the 24th expedition to the Mir space station (EO-24) and commander of the main crew of the 26th expedition (EO-26).
From September 1996 to July 1997, he was trained as a commander of the backup crew E0-24 together with Sergei Avdeev and Jean-Pierre Haignere (France).
In October 1997, he began training as part of the main crew of E0-26 together with Sergei Avdeev. On March 23, 1998, cosmonaut-researcher Yuri Baturin began training in this crew.
First flight:
from August 13, 1998 to February 28, 1999 as commander of the Soyuz TM-28 spacecraft and commander of the 26th main expedition (EO-26) on the Mir space station. Started with Sergei Avdeev and Yuri Baturin. Landed with Ivan Bella (Slovakia).
Call sign: "Altair-1".
During the flight, he performed one spacewalk and one exit into the depressurized Spektr module.
The flight duration was 198 days 16 hours 31 minutes 20 seconds.
On February 3, 1999, by decision of the RSA board, he was appointed commander of the backup crew of the 29th expedition to the Mir space station (EO-29) together with Sergei Treshchev. On June 1, 1999, the Council of Chief Designers decided to transfer the Mir spacecraft to unmanned flight mode from August 1999. The EO-29 crews were disbanded.
On June 15, 1999, he began training at the Yu.A. Gagarin Training Center as a prime crew commander for the ISS-1R program (“ISS Rescuer”) together with Nikolai Budarin. It was assumed that in the event of failure of the automatic docking of the Zvezda service module with the FGB Zarya/Node-1 combination, a crew would be sent into orbit to perform the docking manually. He completed training until July 6, 2000. On July 26, 2000, automatic docking was completed successfully.
In July 1999, he was appointed commander of the backup crew of Expedition 4 to the International Space Station (ISS-4D). In November 2000, he began preparing for the flight as commander of the ISS-4D backup crew, together with Michael Fink (USA) and Stephen Robinson (USA).
Since December 2001 to April 2002 together with O. D. Kononenko, he was trained as the commander of the backup crew of the Soyuz TM-34 TPK of the third visiting expedition to the ISS.
In March 2002, he was appointed crew commander of the 9th main expedition to the ISS (ISS-9 crew - Gennady Padalka, Michael Fink, Oleg Kononenko). In February 2003, after the Columbia shuttle disaster, the crews were reorganized due to changes in the ISS flight program.
In December 2003, he was appointed commander of the backup crew of the 9th Expedition to the ISS (ISS-9D) and commander of the prime crew of the 10th Expedition to the ISS (ISS-10), together with Michael Fink. However, after the ISS-9 prime crew flight engineer William McArthur was removed from training for medical reasons in January 2004, after several crew changes, on January 28, 2004, it was decided to appoint the backup crew (Gennady Padalka, Michael Fink) as the prime crew Expedition 9 of the ISS. Due to the fact that there were only 2.5 months left before the flight, the ISS-9 crew began preparations on the same day, without waiting for the official decision of the ISS-9. Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers trained together with them as part of the visiting expedition program.
Second flight: from April 19 to October 24, 2004 as commander of the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft and commander of the 9th main expedition of the ISS. During the flight, he performed four spacewalks.
The flight duration was 187 days 21 hours 16 minutes 09 seconds.
In August 2007, he was appointed commander of the prime crew of the 19th expedition to the ISS (ISS-19A, since July 2008 simply designated ISS-19).
In January 2008, he began training for the program of the 19th expedition to the ISS. In May 2008, after the transfer of the commander of the backup crew of ISS-18, Yuri Lonchakov, to the main crew, he was included in his place in the backup crew (ISS-18D) and began training together with Michael Barratt (USA) and a member of the visiting expedition of space tourist Nik Khalik .
After redundancy, he continued training as prime crew commander for Expeditions 19 and 20 to the ISS, together with NASA astronaut Michael Barratt and visiting expedition member, space tourist Charles Simonyi.
Third flight: from March 26 to October 11, 2009 as commander of the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft and commander of the 19th and 20th main expeditions to the ISS.
During the flight he performed two spacewalks.
The flight duration was 198 days 16 hours 42 minutes 22 seconds.
Classiness: military pilot 1st class. Instructor-test cosmonaut, 1st class.
Honorary titles and awards:
Hero of the Russian Federation (04/05/1999).
Pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation (04/05/1999).
Awarded the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Russian Federation (04/05/1999), the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (02/23/2005), the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree (04/02/2010), laureate of the Russian Government Prize in the field science and technology.
NASA medals “Distinguished Public Service Medal” (2004, 2009) and “Space Flight Medal” (2004, 2009).
In Krasnodar.
In 1979, Padalka graduated from the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School (VVAUL) named after V. M. Komarov with a degree in Command-Tactical Fighter-Bomber Aviation.
In 1994, he graduated from the UNESCO International Center for Learning Systems at the Faculty of Aerospace Ecology of the State Academy of Oil and Gas, received a qualification as an environmental engineer and a master's degree in environmental management.
In 2009 he graduated from the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation with a degree in State and Municipal Administration.
Since December 1979, Gennady Padalka served as a pilot of the 559th Aviation Regiment of Fighter-Bombers as part of the 105th Aviation Division of Fighter-Bombers of the 61st Guards Fighter Aviation Corps of the 16th Air Force of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
In July 1980, he was transferred as a pilot and then as a senior pilot to the 116th Guards Aviation Regiment of fighter-bombers of the same division.
From August 1984 to April 1989, he served as senior pilot of the 277th Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 83rd Bomber Aviation Division of the Air Force of the Far Eastern Military District. Mastered the L-29, MiG-15UTI, MiG-17, Su-7B, Su-7U, Su-7BM and Su-24 aircraft. Padalka's total flight time was about 1,300 hours, and he performed more than 300 parachute jumps.
In April 1989, he was enrolled as a candidate test cosmonaut in the cosmonaut corps of the Russian State Scientific Research Testing Center for Cosmonaut Training named after Yu. A. Gagarin (RGNII TsPK). From June 1989 to January 1991, he underwent general space training at the Cosmonaut Training Center. From April 1991 to February 1996, he underwent training under the flight program at the Mir orbital complex (OC).
In February 1996, Gennady Padalka was appointed commander of the second (backup) crew of the expedition to the Mir space station and commander of the main crew.
From August 1996 to July 1997, he underwent training for a space flight on the Soyuz-TM spacecraft and the Mir spacecraft as a backup crew commander under the program of the 24th main expedition.
Mine first flight Gennady Padalka went into space from August 13, 1998 to February 28, 1999 as the commander of the expedition to the Mir space station and the Soyuz TM-28 spacecraft, together with Sergei Avdeev and Yuri Baturin. During the flight, he performed one spacewalk and one “exit” into the depressurized Spektr module with a total duration of 6 hours 26 minutes. The flight duration was 198 days 16 hours 31 minutes.
Second flight Padalka flew into space from April 19 to October 24, 2004, together with astronaut Michael Fink. During the flight, he performed four spacewalks with a total duration of 15 hours and 44 minutes. The flight duration was 187 days 21 hours 16 minutes.
Third flight Gennady Padalka flew into space from March 26 to October 11, 2009 as commander of ISS-19/20 and the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft together with astronaut Michael Reed Barratt. During the flight, he performed two spacewalks with a total duration of 5 hours and 6 minutes. The duration of the entire flight was 198 days 16 hours 42 minutes.
Since February 2012, Gennady Padalka has been a 1st class test cosmonaut instructor of the Roscosmos cosmonaut corps.
Mine fourth flight into space lasting 125 days 0 hours 50 minutes Padalka performed from May 15 to September 17, 2012 as part of the 31/32nd long-term expedition to the ISS as commander of the Soyuz TMA-04 spacecraft, flight engineer of ISS-31 and commander of ISS-32 . During the flight, he performed a spacewalk lasting 5 hours and 50 minutes.
Gennady Padalka - 1st class military pilot, test cosmonaut instructor, parachute training instructor.
Military rank - lieutenant colonel.
Hero of the Russian Federation and pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation (1999).
Gennady Padalka is a member of the Board of Directors of the Russian branch of the Association of Space Explorers.
In January 2013, he became a member of the Board of Trustees of Voronezh State Agrarian University (VSAU).
Gennady Padalka is married and has three daughters: Yulia (born in 1979), Ekaterina (born in 1985), Sofia (born in 2000).
He is interested in theater, team sports, running, swimming, skiing, badminton and parachuting. In April 2005, he took part in the “Holy Rus'” hot air balloon flight over the North Pole.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka holds the record for the amount of time spent in space. Eight hundred seventy-eight - this is the total number of days of his stay in space flights.
Biography of Gennady Padalka
The future cosmonaut was born in Krasnodar in 1958, and spent his childhood in a Cossack village. The love of aviation was instilled in Gennady by his uncle, who himself dreamed of becoming a pilot, but due to life circumstances, was unable to fulfill this dream. My uncle read many books to the future cosmonaut about the space flights of the first cosmonauts and about the structure of the universe. Gennady recalls that since the word “cosmonaut” did not yet exist in those distant years, he and many of his peers dreamed of becoming “Gagarins”.
As a child, Gennady Padalka loved to play with airplane models. There was an airport not far from the house where the family lived. The boy often came there to watch planes take off and land. He had no doubts about the choice of his future profession. And after graduating from ten classes of school, the young man passed the entrance exams to the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School, where he studied as a fighter pilot. After graduating from this educational institution, he entered service in the aviation troops. He served in a group of Soviet troops in the GDR, and then was transferred to the Far East. During his aviation service, he piloted such aircraft models as L-29, MiG-15UTI, MiG-17, Su-7B, Su-7U, Su-7BM and Su-24. During his entire service in aviation, Gennady Ivanovich Padalka flew more than a thousand hours, and he also made more than three hundred parachute jumps.
First flight
At the end of the eighties, Gennady Padalka was accepted into the cosmonaut corps as a candidate test cosmonaut. He underwent general training for two years, and then spent five years preparing for a flight to the Mir orbital station. At the end of the nineties, cosmonaut Gennady Ivanovich Padalka was appointed first as the commander of the backup crew of the space expedition to the Mir station, and then as the commander of the main crew.
During his first space flight with two partners, the astronaut went into outer space twice, where he connected solar panels. The total number of hours spent in outer space during this flight is more than six. Gennady Ivanovich readily talks about spacewalks. He says that since he had more than ten exits, over time he learned to perceive them as an exciting event, including a lot of interesting work. However, with regard to emotional experiences and physical efforts, the astronaut compares spacewalks with the ascent of Elbrus, which he had to do. Gennady returned to earth together with the Slovak cosmonaut Ivan Bella. Padalka admits that after the first flight he began to appreciate and love the nature of the Earth more. He said that there are certain places on Earth that look amazing from space, for example, the Kuril Islands.
Back in space
Gennady Ivanovich Padalka once spoke about an unspoken rule: before the next flight, an astronaut must spend no less time on earth than he spent in space. The next space expedition with Padalka’s participation took place five years later. This time he was appointed commander of an international crew, which consisted of himself, as well as an American astronaut and a Dutch doctor. A day after the spacecraft took off, the crew was successfully delivered to the space station. Gennady Ivanovich spent one hundred and eighty-five days in orbit, performing three spacewalks.
The fifth exit was undertaken jointly with American astronaut Edward Fink. After spending about fifteen minutes in outer space, the partners had to return early to the space station due to a malfunction of the American’s oxygen tank. At the end of the flight, in addition to training in the cosmonaut corps, Padalka participated in an expedition to the North Pole in a hot air balloon.
Also during this break between space flights, Gennady Padalka graduated from the Academy of Public Service. The astronaut has several higher education diplomas. In one of his interviews, he said that for an astronaut one specialty is not enough, since during a flight situations periodically arise when it is necessary to independently repair failed computers and communications equipment, carry out mathematical calculations and perform many other actions that require special knowledge.
Teamed up with a space tourist
In 2009, Gennady Ivanovich was again included in the space expedition.
The peculiarity of this flight was that the crew of the ship this time consisted not only of professional cosmonauts. Together with the Russian and American cosmonauts, a space tourist, an American with Hungarian roots, was sent into space. He spoke positively about the space tourists with whom Gennady had to fly, saying that none of them interfered with their activities at all. Each of the tourists was busy with their own research. These people benefit the astronautics by helping to resolve some financial issues. The training of space tourists takes place according to a simplified system, the main task of which is to teach amateur cosmonauts to independently solve problems related to everyday life in a spaceship and orbital station, and also not to interfere with the work of the main crew.
Rest on the ceiling
The astronaut's next flight took place in 2012. During his one hundred and twenty-five day stay in space, Gennady Ivanovich performed spacewalks that lasted more than five hours each. During these exits, Padalka and his partner Yuri Malenchenko installed equipment outside the space station. But this flight was notable not only for its spacewalks.
One day, Gennady Padalka, during his free time from work, went to sleep right on the ceiling of the International Space Station. Returning to Earth, Gennady Ivanovich, despite his venerable age (by that time he was fifty-three years old), continued his service in the space detachment: he completed survival exercises in low temperature conditions, successfully passed the exam in controlling the Soyuz TMA-M apparatus ", completed pre-flight training.
Ageless Cosmonaut
During his next arrival at the International Space Station, Gennady Ivanovich spent one hundred and sixty-seven days on it, made another spacewalk, performing a series of installation and research work. At the end of his mission, Padalka handed over command of the station to American astronaut Scott Kelly and successfully landed in Kazakhstan. The cosmonaut's further activity consisted of participating in various experiments related to simulating situations that could occur in a spacecraft and during a possible landing on other planets of the solar system.
Family of Gennady Padalka
Gennady Ivanovich is married and has three daughters. Today, during space flights, astronauts have the opportunity to communicate with their relatives via cellular communications. So Gennady Padalka always remained an exemplary father and husband, often calling his family. In his free time, the astronaut often visits theaters, is interested in football and hockey, jumps with a parachute, plays badminton, runs and swims.
On television he watches only the Culture channel and news programs.
Farewell to space
At the beginning of 2017, Gennady left the cosmonaut corps of his own free will. His record for the total duration of stay in space remains unsurpassed. As the cosmonaut himself says, the distance he flew during all his space expeditions could be enough for two and a half flights to Mars in both directions. Gennady Padalka once said that he could write a whole book about the Mir orbital station. We can only hope that this dream of the famous cosmonaut will one day come true...
Gennady Padalka was born on June 21, 1958 in the city of Krasnodar. In 1975 he graduated from 10 classes of Krasnodar secondary school No. 57.
Since 1975 in the Armed Forces of the USSR. In October 1979 he graduated from the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School named after Komarov. Since December 1979, he served as a pilot of the 559th Aviation Regiment of Fighter-Bombers as part of the 105th Aviation Division of Fighter-Bombers of the 61st Guards Fighter Aviation Corps of the 16th Air Force of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
In July 1980, he was transferred as a pilot and then as a senior pilot to the 116th Guards Aviation Fighter Bomber Regiment of the same division. From August 1984 to April 1989, he served as senior pilot of the 277th Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 83rd Bomber Aviation Division of the Air Force of the Far Eastern Military District. Mastered the L-29, MiG-15UTI, Mi-G17, Su-7B, Su-7U, Su-7BM and Su-24 aircraft. The total flight time was about 1,300 hours, and he performed more than 300 parachute jumps.
In April 1989, he was enrolled as a candidate test cosmonaut in the cosmonaut corps of the RGNII TsPK. From June 1989 to January 1991, he underwent general space training at the Cosmetic Training Center. From April 1991 to February 1996, he underwent training under the Mir flight program. In February 1996, he was appointed commander of the second crew of the expedition to the Mir space station and commander of the main crew. From September 1996 to July 1997, he was trained as a backup crew commander together with S.V. Avdeev and Eniere. In October 1997, he began training as part of the main crew together with S.V. Avdeev. In March 1998, cosmonaut-researcher Baturin began training in this crew.
From August 13, 1998 to February 28, 1999, he made his first space flight as commander of the expedition to the Mir space station and the Soyuz TM-28 spacecraft. Started together with S.V. Avdeev and Yu.M. Baturin. The landing was made together by I. Belloy. During the flight he made one spacewalk, duration 5 hours 54 minutes. Once he worked in a depressurized Spektr module. The flight duration was 198 days 16 hours 31 minutes 20 seconds.
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated April 5, 1999, Gennady Ivanovich Padalka was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for the courage and heroism shown during the long-term space flight of the twenty-sixth main expedition on the Mir orbital scientific research complex.
From April 19 to October 24, 2004, he made his second space flight as the commander of the crew of the main expedition of the ISS and the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft. At the station from April 21 to October 23, 2004. During the flight, he performed four spacewalks. The flight duration was 187 days 21 hours 16 minutes 9 seconds.
In January 2008, he began training for the program of the 19th expedition to the ISS. In May 2008, after the transfer of the commander of the ISS-18 backup crew, Yu.V. Lonchakov, to the main crew, he was included in his place in the ISS-18d backup crew and began training together with Barratt. On September 18 - 19, 2008, at the Cosmonaut Training Center, together with NASA astronaut Barratt, he passed the pre-flight exams with an excellent grade. On October 12, 2008, during the launch of the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft, he was the backup commander of the spacecraft.
At the Cosmonaut Training Center on March 3 - 4, 2009, together with NASA astronaut Barratt and a member of the visiting expedition, space tourist Simoni, he passed the pre-flight exams with an “excellent” rating. Since March 2009, Colonel Padalka has been in reserve.
From March 26 to October 11, 2009, he made his third space flight as commander of the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft and commander of the 19th and 20th main expeditions of the ISS. During the flight, he performed two spacewalks. The flight duration was 198 days 16 hours 42 minutes 22 seconds.
By orders of the Minister of Defense and the head of the FSBI TsPK, from August 1, 2009, he was transferred from the liquidated detachment of the RGNII TsPK to the detachment of the FSBI TsPK.
From March 27 to September 12, 2015, he performed his fifth space flight: commander of the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft and a member of the ISS crew under the ISS-43rd and ISS-44th main expedition programs. Since June 10, 2015, commander of the 44th ISS Expedition. The expedition lasted 168 days.
The total duration of the five flights is 878 days. He became the absolute world record holder for the total stay in outer space. The total number of spacewalks is 10. The total duration of work in open space is 38 hours.
Lives in Star City, Shchelkovsky district, Moscow region.
He was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class, medals, including the Order of Merit in Space Exploration, and a foreign award, the Order of the Crown, Commander degree.
Laureate of the Government of the Russian Federation Prize in the field of science and technology.
Born on June 21, 1958 in Krasnodar. Father - Ivan Vasilyevich - worked as a tractor driver, mother - Valentina Mefodievna (nee Melenchenko) - as a cashier.
In 1979 he graduated from the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School named after. V. M. Komarov, specializing in command-tactical fighter-bomber aviation with the qualification of pilot engineer. In 1992-1994. studied at the Faculty of Aerospace Ecology of the UNESCO International Center for Learning Systems, specializing in “associated processing of aerospace-ecological materials” (qualification “environmental engineer”). In 2007, he graduated from the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (now part of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation) with a degree in state and municipal administration (specialization - public administration and national security).
Air Force service
From December 1979 to April 1989 he served in units of the USSR Air Force. In 1979-1984. - pilot, senior pilot in the guards fighter-bomber regiments of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (in 1989-1994 - Western Group of Forces). In 1984-1989 served in the Far Eastern Military District, Khabarovsk Territory.
Mastered eight types of aircraft, including MiG-15UTI, MiG-17, Su-7B, Su-7U, Su-7BM, Su-24, etc. Flight time was about 1.3 thousand. In addition, he performed more than 300 parachute jumps and received the qualification of a parachute training instructor.
In the cosmonaut corps
On April 22, 1989, he was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps of the Cosmonaut Training Center (CPC) named after. Yu. A. Gagarin. Having completed a general space training course, he received the qualification of “test cosmonaut” in April 1991. Since 1999, he has been a test cosmonaut instructor, and since February 2012, a 1st class test cosmonaut instructor of the cosmonaut corps. At the same time, in 2012-2015. served as head of the 3rd Directorate of the CPC.
He went on his first space flight on August 13, 1998 as the commander of the Soyuz TM-28 spacecraft and the 26th main expedition to the Mir orbital station. He made one spacewalk and one into the depressurized Spektr module (the so-called “closed” spacewalk). Returned to Earth on February 28, 1999.
From April 19 to October 24, 2004, he was the commander of the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft and the 9th main expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), and performed four spacewalks.
During the third flight, from March 26 to October 11, 2009, he led the first extended ISS crew of six people (previously, three cosmonauts/astronauts worked on the station as part of the main expeditions). He was the commander of the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft and the ISS-19/20 expedition, and performed two spacewalks.
The fourth flight took place from May 15, 2012 to September 17, 2012. Gennady Padalka was the commander of Soyuz TMA-04, the flight engineer of the ISS-31 expedition and the commander of ISS-32. I went into outer space once.
He flew into space for the fifth time on March 27, 2015 as commander of the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft. He worked on the ISS as a flight engineer for Expedition 43 and as commander of Expedition 44, and made one spacewalk from the station. Five and a half months later, on September 12, he returned to Earth as the absolute world record holder for the total duration of space flights - 878 days 11 hours 29 minutes 24 seconds (the record was approved by the International Aeronautical Federation on April 15, 2016 under number 17803). Gennady Padalka beat the previous achievement (803 days 9 hours 39 minutes 9 seconds, over six flights), also set in 2005 by Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev.
Over the course of five flights, he completed a total of 10 spacewalks (including work in the depressurized Spektr module) with a total duration of 38 hours and 39 minutes.
On April 22, 2017, Gennady Padalka announced his retirement from the cosmonaut corps. On April 28 of the same year, he was relieved of his post as a 1st class test cosmonaut instructor and dismissed from the Cosmonaut Training Center.
Member of the Association of Space Explorers.
Titles, awards
Gennady Padalka - colonel of the Russian Air Force in reserve (since March 2009), military pilot 1st class (1982), cosmonaut 1st class.
Hero of the Russian Federation (1999). Laureate of the 2001 Russian Government Prize in the field of science and technology. Awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II, III and IV degrees (2014, 2010, 2005), the medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (2011). Commander of the Order of the Crown (Belgium; 2011). He has the Order of Dostyk, II degree (Kazakhstan; 2015).
Recognized with departmental awards of Roscosmos ("Korolev Badge", "Gagarin Badge", Badge "For International Cooperation in the Field of Cosmonautics"), and NASA medals (USA).
Pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation (1999). Honorary citizen of Krasnodar (1998).
Family, hobbies
Married. Wife - Irina Anatolyevna Padalka (Ponomareva; born 1959). Has three daughters: Yulia (born 1979), Ekaterina (born 1985) and Sophia (born 2000).
He is interested in team sports, running, swimming, skiing, badminton, parachuting, and mountaineering. In April 2005, he took part in the “Holy Rus'” hot air balloon flight over the North Pole.
