OVCHININ Alexey Nikolaevich - test cosmonaut. Hero of the Russian Federation (2017). Honorary citizen of the city of Rybinsk (2017).
Alexey Ovchinin was born on September 28, 1971 in the city of Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region. He graduated from Rybinsk secondary school No. 2 and a music school (piano class). He studied at the Rybinsk flying club.
Since August 1988 - cadet at the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots; Since September 1990, he has been a cadet at the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots, upon completion of which he received the qualification of “pilot engineer.”
Since August 1992, he served as an instructor pilot of the aviation training regiment of the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots in Bataysk.
Since February 1998 - pilot instructor, then commander of the aviation flight of the training aviation regiment of the Krasnodar Military Aviation Institute in Kotelnikovo (Volgograd region).
From September 2003 until enlistment in the cosmonaut corps, he served as an aviation flight commander of the 70th Separate Test Training Aviation Regiment for Special Purposes named after V. S. Seregin RGNII TsPK (Chkalovsky village, Moscow Military District).
Mastered the Yak-52 and L-39 aircraft. Total flight time is more than 1300 hours.
On October 11, 2006, at a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Selection of Cosmonauts, he was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps to undergo general space training.
On June 9, 2009, he was awarded the qualification “test cosmonaut” and was awarded cosmonaut certificate No. 205. On August 1, 2009, he was appointed to the position of test cosmonaut of the Cosmonaut Cosmonaut detachment.
On April 26, 2010, he was certified as a cosmonaut in the detachment of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Research Institute Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu. A. Gagarin."
He has advanced qualifications as a 2nd class instructor pilot, parachutist instructor, and diver officer.
By order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation in 2012, he was transferred from the Armed Forces to the reserve. Reserve Air Force Lieutenant Colonel.
In 2012, he entered the Faculty of State and Municipal Administration of the Vladimir Branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
In September 2013, he took part in the Caves mission in the caves on the island of Sardinia (Italy), during which five astronauts and cosmonauts from various space agencies worked in a multicultural and multinational team in extreme conditions underground.
He was trained as part of the backup crew of the Soyuz TMA-16M TPK, which launched on March 27, 2015, and was trained as the commander of the main crew of the Soyuz MS-01 TPK.
On March 19, 2016, he launched on the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft as a crew commander together with flight engineers Oleg Skripochka and Jeffrey Williams. The spacecraft successfully docked with the ISS on the same day.
On September 7, 2016, the Soyuz TMA-20M TPK lander landed 147 km southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. The flight duration was 172 days 03 hours 47 minutes 15 seconds.
Alexey Ovchinin is the 120th cosmonaut of the USSR/Russia and the 547th cosmonaut of the world.
For the courage and heroism shown during a long-term space flight on the International Space Station, A. N. Ovchinin was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation on September 10, 2017.
On October 11, 2018, Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Tyler Nicholas Haig (USA) were supposed to go to the ISS on the manned Soyuz spacecraft. It was planned that they would spend 187 days at the station, perform spacewalks, and carry out 56 experiments. However, during the launch of the spacecraft from Baikonur, at the 119th second of the flight, the second stage engines were switched off when the side blocks of the first stage were separated. Then the emergency beacon went off, the ship divided into sections and released a parachute. The crew made an emergency landing and landed in Kazakhstan.
On March 14, 2019, Alexey Ovchinin went into space again. The Soyuz-FG rocket with the spacecraft took off from Baikonur at 22:14 Moscow time. Nine minutes later, the ship separated from the third stage of the rocket and headed for the station. The flight followed a short pattern - the ship made four orbits around the Earth (with the standard 34 orbits). On board the ship along with Alexey Ovchinin were Americans Nick Hague and Christina Cook. Soyuz MS-12 successfully docked to the International Space Station. The duration of the cosmonauts' stay at the station will be 204 days.
Alexey Ovchinin is married, has a daughter, Yana (b. 2007).
Awards and honorary titles
Hero of the Russian Federation (2017)
Pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation (2017)
Medal "For Military Valor" II degree;
medals “For Distinction in Military Service” I, II, III degrees;
Medal "For Service in the Air Force"
- Well, since in Rybinsk they say that I will fly to Mars, then I will fly! So far, however, there is not even a ship that could take the crew there and back,” laughs our fellow countryman, test cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin. For the fifth year he has been living in Star City and stubbornly goes through numerous thorns to his stars
HIGH IN THE CLOUDS
Cosmonaut No. 205 was born in Rybinsk in 1971. He studied at Lyceum No. 2 and, like many boys, dreamed of heaven. It must be said that Alexey Ovchinin’s craving for heights was inherited. Both father and grandfather looked fascinated into the blue expanses. Alexey made the family dream come true. Starting with classes at the Rybinsk flying club, as a 15-year-old teenager he sat at the controls of the Yak-52. The impressions he received from the flight determined his future profession. After graduating from school, Alexey Ovchinin entered the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots named after. V.P. Chkalova. Already in his second year, he flew the Albatross jet into the sky; in total, his flight experience is more than 1,300 hours. Having received a diploma as a pilot engineer, the future cosmonaut almost put it on the shelf to gather dust. In the 90s, the country's Air Force underwent significant reductions. Many of Alexey's classmates were transferred to the reserve. He himself, who dreamed of modern aircraft and service in a combat regiment, was offered a training regiment, where he was supposed to prepare cadets to conquer the skies. For 11 years, Alexey Ovchinin worked as an instructor pilot in the Rostov and Volgograd regions, was the commander of an aviation unit at the Krasnodar Military Aviation Institute, taught more than 50 cadets to fly, but never gave up the idea of new technology.
LETTER OF HAPPINESS
In 2000, the pilot went to Moscow, where he demonstrated his theoretical and practical level of training to the commander of the aviation regiment in which cosmonauts are trained, left a resume, contact numbers and returned back to Kotelnikovo, a small town in the Volgograd region. The offer to move to Star City came only in 2003.
Alexey was appointed commander of the aviation unit of the 70th Separate Special Purpose Test Training Aviation Regiment named after V.S. Seregina. But this position was not the last or, as all the “celestials” say, the last one in his track record.
“In 2006, recruitment for the Cosmonaut Corps was announced, and I decided to try to join it. As a rule, cosmonaut candidates are directly related to either the flight personnel of the Air Force or manned astronautics. This has been the case since the time of Yuri Gagarin. I had flying experience, but the conclusion of the medical commission and the results of psychological testing were decisive,” the Air Force lieutenant colonel said about the selection criteria. Need I say that he passed it? Out of 35 candidates, the Rybinsk resident was included in the lucky “seven”, which began further step-by-step preparation.
SURVIVAL GAMES
In June 2009, Alexey Ovchinin passed the state exams and received cosmonaut certificate No. 205. In April 2010, he was certified as a cosmonaut of the FSBI “Research Institute Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin." True, it’s only simple in writing: passed, received, passed, certified, but in reality he had to visit both unearthly and not entirely comfortable conditions for humans. Along with a huge amount of theoretical knowledge, training on simulators, in special installations simulating weightlessness, astronaut candidates are also given survival tests in different climatic and geographical zones. A spaceship is not a minibus; it will not stop at your house on request. In the event of an emergency landing, the capsule can land anywhere in the world, so astronauts must be psychologically prepared and know how to act at different times of the year on water, in the forest and in the desert.
Alexey went through sea “survival” with Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk and American space tourist Richard Garriott in Sevastopol. The air temperature is 40 degrees, in the capsule it’s even higher. Three physically developed men not only needed to fit into a module with a volume of
3 cubic meters, but also take off your flight suit, put on other uniforms, including a rubberized suit, and wait for the search group.
TIME AGO
Last summer, Alexey Ovchinin was supposed to “survive” in the desert, but he couldn’t. From June to the end of October 2010, he stayed in the United States at the Lyndon Johnson Space Center. This is one of the most important divisions of NASA, playing a key role in the preparation and implementation of astronaut flights.
Alexey Ovchinin does not go into detail about his mission to the holy of holies of American cosmonautics, explaining only that he served there as a representative of the Yu.A. Cosmonaut Training Center. Gagarin. “I studied the material and technical base on which American, European and Japanese astronauts are trained. I got to know the astronauts themselves better. They are people just like us, and they are also stubbornly pursuing their goal—flight into space. They do a lot of theoretical and physical training, and work on simulators,” says Alexey.
During his stay in America, he drew attention to how seriously they take astronautics there: “I saw how competently and well they are popularizing space and everything connected with it. We, of course, also try, we constantly go to meetings with the public, work with the media, talk with students and schoolchildren, but, in my opinion, there should also be a state program aimed at developing interest in space. This is still an industry where Russia can outdo many people,” Alexey Ovchinin assesses the country’s capabilities without undue modesty. — I am very pleased that this year has been declared the Year of Russian Cosmonautics. Nowadays the media talk much more about space and our profession. I would like to hope that after April 12 all this will continue.”
EARTH LIFE
With all his aspiration to heaven, Alexey Ovchinin stands firmly on the ground. He has a wonderful smiling wife Svetlana, by the way, also from Rybinsk, and a small bright comet Yana. The girl, according to her father, does not yet realize how rare her father’s job is, and Alexey would like his profession in the future to become a reason for his daughter’s pride, but not boasting. The wife and her husband walked through the “wilderness of a forgotten village”, where the main entertainment for the young woman was hunting and fishing, and years of waiting, and the “Star” crossing. Now she is patiently waiting for Alexei from long business trips and clearly understands manned space exploration better than many other representatives of the fair sex. In his free time from universal concerns, Alexey enjoys hunting and fishing and loves music very much. He admits that he can listen to both hard rock and classics, depending on his mood. The cosmonaut comes to Rybinsk almost every month, but always for a short time, although he managed to notice the fact that his hometown is becoming cleaner and brighter.
FINEST HOUR
On April 5, the anniversary launch of the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft took place. True, it is more likely that he will go down in the history of flights under his second name - “Gagarin”. The ship launched from the same Baikonur site where 50 years ago the world's first cosmonaut said his famous: “Let's go!” The crew includes two Russians: Alexander Samokutyaev and Andrey Borisenko. Alexey Ovchinin knows both of them very well.
“I was very worried about the guys and I hope that everything will go as normal for them and they will successfully complete their flight program. It’s very pleasant that the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight was marked by another successful launch,” the test cosmonaut does not hide his joy. He himself has not yet flown beyond the atmosphere, but hopes that he will be able to “look at his native land from the outside.” About 5-7 years ago, such a prospect was more nebulous than the Andromeda Nebula: almost no flights were carried out. But now our spaceships are once again navigating the expanses of the universe, the crew on the ISS has increased from three to six people, and the number of launches has increased. The same Alexander Samokutyaev waited for his finest hour for 8 years, Alexey Ovchinin only started preparing five years ago.
However, the residents of Rybinsk take it even higher and prophesy a flight to Mars for their fellow countryman. “Currently the Mars-500 experiment is being conducted at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems. In a confined space - like a ship - a crew of 6 people simulates flight. 250 days one way, descent, performing experiments - another 20 days, and flight back. Total: 520 days. They should “fly” to Earth this fall. But since in Rybinsk they say that I will fly to Mars, then I will fly,” Alexey Ovchinin intends to meet the expectations of his fellow countrymen. In general, we won’t guess, but maybe “Rybinsk” will become his call sign.
A special commission is already investigating the reasons. She is currently holding a meeting at Baikonur. As already mentioned, the participants of the short-lived expedition, Alexey Ovchinin and Nick Haig, will also spend this night there, while doctors are watching them.
All specialists at the Mission Control Center and at Baikonur are investigating the causes of the failure during the launch of the launch vehicle. Just at these minutes a meeting of a special commission is taking place at Baikonur. In addition, experts continue to study the telemetry data of this launch, which was recorded second by second at the Mission Control Center. This is key information that will help uncover the cause of the incident.
Ovchinin and Haig had to stay in space for 187 days with a rather intense program - they had to conduct more than 50 experiments. To deliver materials for experiments, a container with additional cargo was even secured in place of the third crew member on board the Soyuz. They also carried food to the ISS.
However, due to the accident, crew members in orbit will not experience food shortages. They have everything they need to work and live at the station. Only the scientific program will have to be adjusted. Spacewalks planned for the fall have been postponed indefinitely.
This is simply due to a lack of hands - instead of five astronauts, three will work on board. Currently on the ISS are Russian Sergei Prokopyev, German Alexander Gerst and American Serena Aunien. As a last resort, they have a lander that can take them to Earth.
Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan, experts are looking for the crash site of the first and second stages of the launch vehicle. More precisely, what was left of them. The surviving fragments of the ship may help in the investigation.
Until the reasons are clarified, flights of all manned Soyuz spacecraft have been suspended. In addition, Roscosmos will check all the Soyuz-FG rockets remaining in storage, similar to the one that participated in the launch. They are no longer produced, and, according to some sources, only five of them remain. The Samara enterprise “Progress”, where they were produced, will also be checked.
“First we need to establish the reasons. If specific culprits are identified in this emergency situation, then, of course, appropriate personnel decisions will be made. This is a standard situation. Launches are stopped until the entire situation is analyzed. All this is being taken under special control, and I, as the person in charge of this industry, will certainly report to the country’s leadership on all the details and on the progress of the commission’s consideration of the causes of the accident,” said Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov.
As for the next flight, as news agencies report, according to the schedule, the backups of this emergency Soyuz, Oleg Kononenko and David Saint-Jacques, are scheduled to go to the ISS in December. However, due to the heavy workload on the current crew, the next flight may be carried out ahead of schedule. True, it will be possible to talk about this only after the investigation is completed.
The crew of the emergency Soyuz will remain in the medical unit until the morning of October 12 under the supervision of doctors. To eliminate possible complications. After which the astronauts will be sent to Moscow. Tomorrow they are expected in Star City.
Alexey Nikolaevich Ovchinin(born September 28) - Russian test cosmonaut of the Roscosmos cosmonaut corps. 120th cosmonaut of the USSR/Russia and 547th cosmonaut of the world. Before joining the cosmonaut corps, he served as an aviation flight commander of the 70th Separate Test Training Aviation Regiment for Special Purposes (OITAPON) named after V. S. Seregin RGNII TsPK (Chkalovsky village), Moscow Military District.
He made a space flight on the transport manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-20M in March-September 2016 to the International Space Station. Participant of the main space expeditions ISS-47/ISS-48. The flight duration was 172 days 03 hours 47 minutes 15 seconds.
Education
He graduated from secondary school No. 2 and a music school (piano class) in the city of Rybinsk. He studied at the Rybinsk flying club.
From August 1988 to September 1990 - a cadet at the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots, from September 1990 to August 1992 - a cadet, upon completion of which he received the qualification of “pilot engineer”.
In 2012, he entered the Faculty of State and Municipal Administration of the Vladimir Branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
experience
From August 1992 to February 1998, he served as an instructor pilot of the training aviation regiment (UAP) of the Yeisk VVAUL in Bataysk.
From February 1998 to September 2003 - instructor pilot, then commander of the aviation unit of the UAP of the Krasnodar Military Aviation Institute (VAI) in Kotelnikovo (Volgograd region).
From September 2003 until enlistment in the cosmonaut corps, he served as an aviation flight commander of the 70th Separate Test Training Aviation Regiment for Special Purposes (OITAPON) named after V. S. Seregin RGNII TsPK (Chkalovsky village), Moscow Military District.
Instructor pilot 2nd class. Mastered the Yak-52 and L-39 aircraft. Total flight time is more than 1300 hours.
By order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation in 2012, he was transferred from the Armed Forces to the reserve. Reserve Air Force Lieutenant Colonel.
Preparing for space flights
October 11, 2006 - at a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Selection of Cosmonauts, he was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps to undergo general space training (GCT).
On June 9, 2009, he was awarded the qualification “test cosmonaut” and was awarded cosmonaut certificate No. 205.
On August 1, 2009, he was appointed to the position of test cosmonaut of the TsPK detachment.
In October 2009, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, he took part in training in the small research module (MRM).
On April 26, 2010, he was certified as a cosmonaut of the detachment of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Research Institute Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu. A. Gagarin."
He has the class qualifications of a 2nd class instructor pilot, parachutist instructor, and diver officer.
In September 2013, he took part in the Caves mission in the caves of Sardinia (Italy), during which five astronauts and cosmonauts from various space agencies worked in a multicultural and multinational team in extreme underground conditions.
He was trained as part of the backup crew of the Soyuz TMA-16M TPK, which launched on March 27, 2015, and is currently undergoing training as the commander of the main crew of the Soyuz MS-01 TPK, which is scheduled to launch on March 30, 2016.
In the fall of 2015, at the Cosmonaut Training Center, Alexey Ovchinin took part in a tasting of various dishes intended for astronauts on board the ISS. Together with cosmonaut Skripochka, they tasted 160 dishes over eight days. During one meal, the astronauts tried about 20 types of dishes at once. Food was rated on a 9-point scale. At the same time, the calorie content of the main part of the daily diet for astronauts is 2 thousand kilocalories.
First flight
Launched on March 19, 2016 on the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft as a crew commander along with flight engineers Oleg Skripochka and Jeffrey Williams. The spacecraft successfully docked with the ISS on the same day.
On September 7, 2016, the Soyuz TMA-20M lander landed 147 km southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. The flight duration was 172 days 03 hours 47 minutes 15 seconds.
MOSCOW, September 11. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the title of Hero of Russia to test cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin for his courage and heroism shown on the International Space Station. The decree was published on Monday on the official legal information portal.
“For the courage and heroism shown during a long-term space flight on the International Space Station, the title of Hero of the Russian Federation should be awarded to Alexey Nikolaevich Ovchinin,” the document says.
By the same decree, Ovchinin was awarded the honorary title of Russian pilot-cosmonaut.
Alexey Ovchinin
Ovchinin was born on September 28, 1971 in the city of Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region. In 1992, he graduated from the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School named after V. M. Komarov with a degree in Command Tactical Aviation with the qualification of Pilot Engineer. From August 1992 to February 1998, he served as an instructor pilot at the Yeisk School of Aviation Training Regiment. From February 1998 to September 2003, he served as an instructor pilot, then as an aviation flight commander at the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. Since October 2003, he served as an aviation flight commander of the 70th separate test special purpose aviation training regiment named after Seryogin.
Mastered the Yak-52 and L-39 aircraft. The total flight time is more than 1 thousand 300 hours.
In 2006, Ovchinin was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps of the Cosmonaut Cosmonaut named after Yu. A. Gagarin. From March 19 to September 7, 2016, he flew to the ISS as commander of the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft and flight engineer of Expedition 47/48. He stayed at the station for more than 170 days.
Awarded medals of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation "For Distinction in Military Service" I, II and III degrees, "For Service in the Air Force", "For Military Valor" II degree.
