Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Во́лков, born 27 May 1948) is a retired Russian cosmonaut. He is a veteran of 3 space flights, including twice to the Mir Soviet space station, and is the father of cosmonaut Sergey Volkov.
Soyuz T-14 was the ninth mission to visit the Salyut 7 space station. The mission began on September 17, 1985, 12:38:52 UTC, launching Commander Vladimir Vasyutin, Flight Engineer Georgi Grechko and Research Cosmonaut Alexander Volkov into orbit. They docked with the station next day. During their stay on the station, cosmonauts assisted resident Soyuz T-13 crew with numerous repairs on the station. They also conducted some scientific experiments. Georgi Grechko returned to Earth early with the Soyuz T-13 crew member. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on November 21, 1985, 10:31:00 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TM-7 was the seventh mission to Mir space station. The mission began on November 26, 1988, 15:49:34 UTC, launching Commander Alexander Volkov, Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalyov and Research Cosmonaut Jean-Loup Chrétien. They docked with Mir two days later, meeting with the resident crew. While Jean-Loup Chrétien returned 3 weeks later, two other cosmonauts were a part of the fourth long-duration expedition on Mir. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed an EVA and various experiments in biology, medicine, X-ray astronomy, technology etc. They also carried out sky surveys, spectrographic and topographic Earth observation experiments. Crew were visited by three Progress resupply spacecrafts. Jean-Loup Chrétien returned to Earth on December 21, 1988 in a Soyuz TM-6 spacecraft. The long-duration expedition crew returned on a Soyuz TM-7 spacecraft, landing safely back on Earth on April 27, 1989, 02:57:58 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TM-13 was the 13th mission and the tenth long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on October 2, 1991, 05:59:38 UTC, launching Commander Alexander Volkov, Research Cosmonaut/Flight Engineer Toktar Aubakirov and Research Cosmonaut Franz Viehböck, the first Austrian cosmonaut, into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed EVAs, various station repair and maintenance tasks, and carried out scientific experiments in biology, geophysics, space technology, astronomy etc. They were visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-14 crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on March 25, 1992, 08:51:22 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitThe Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.