Salizhan Sharipov

Infobox Astronaut
name =Salizhan Shakirovich Sharipov

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|thumb|right|150px|Salizhan S. Sharipov
type =Cosmonaut
status =Active
nationality =Kyrgyz / Russian
date_birth =birthdateandage|1964|08|24
place_birth =Uzgen, Osh oblast, Kyrgyz SSR, Soviet Union
occupation =Air Force Pilot
rank =Lieutenant
selection =1990 Cosmonaut Group
time =201d 14h 50m
mission =STS-89, Soyuz TMA-5, Expedition 10
insignia = |

Salizhan Shakirovich Sharipov (Russian: Салижан Шакирович Шарипов) (born August 24 1964 in Uzgen, Osh oblast, Kirghiz SSR, now in Kyrgyzstan) is a Russian cosmonaut. Although he lives in Kyrgyzstan, he is from a minority Uzbek group. He is married to Nadezhda Mavlyanovna Sharipova. They have one daughter and one son. He is known to enjoy football (soccer) and reading. His father, Mr. Shakirzhan Sharipov, resides in Uzgen.

Education

Graduated from the Soviet Air Force Pilot School in 1987. In 1994, he graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in cartography.

Experience

After graduation from the Air Force Pilot School in 1987, he worked as a pilot-instructor and taught eight cadets. He has logged over 950 hours flying time. He has experience flying on MiG-21 and L-39 aircraft.

Selected by the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) Sharipov became a cosmonaut-candidate in 1990. In 1992, he completed general space training and became a cosmonaut. As a member of the group he has completed a full course of training for OC MIR space flights as a crew commander.

Sharipov has logged over 211 hours in space.

He served as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-89 (January 22–31, 1998), the eighth Shuttle-Mir docking mission during which the crew transferred more than 8,000 pounds of scientific equipment, logistical hardware and water from Space Shuttle Endeavour to Mir. In the fifth and last exchange of a U.S. astronaut, STS-89 delivered Andy Thomas to Mir and returned with David Wolf. Mission duration was 8 days, 19 hours and 47 seconds, traveling 3.6 million miles in 138 orbits of the Earth.

Sharipov was also Flight Engineer on Expedition 10 to the International Space Station .