An astronaut who spent over a year in space successfully accomplished the straightforward mission he had set out to complete.
As of February 2024, only 610 individuals have ventured into Earth’s orbit, highlighting the challenges of space travel.
Consider Michael Foale, who narrowly escaped a perilous situation when his spacecraft began to spin uncontrollably during a four-month mission.
However, for one Russian cosmonaut, the chance to reside on the Mir space station for an unprecedented 437 days was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
Valeri Polyakov had previously spent 240 days in space during his initial journey aboard the Soyuz TM-6.
He shared with Robert Zimmerman, author of Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, that there was increased pressure for his second mission in 1994.
This arose mainly because the mission was funded during a period of economic turmoil in Russia, amidst the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Zimmerman noted: “Moments before launch, Polyakov’s thoughts were far different than those on his first flight. Then he had felt eager, excited, and joyous about finally getting into space.
“Now he felt only fear. He wasn’t afraid of dying. Far from it. What he feared now more than anything was failure. ‘What if something goes wrong?’ he asked himself…. ‘I had sacrificed so much time,’ he thought. ‘The government has spent so much, more than they can afford.’”
Polyakov’s mission, in essence, was straightforward. He informed National Geographic in 2001: “My goal was to demonstrate the ability to work on Mars and come back in good health.”
Fortunately, the mission proceeded without incident. Following a successful launch and docking, Polyakov and his fellow astronauts conducted 25 experiments focused on understanding the effects of space on the human body.
In a 1996 interview, Polyakov stated: “I was able to come out of the capsule by myself, to walk around, to undress, to dress, to do pretty much everything. And be conscious of everything. That was pretty much the goal of the flight.
“I had to show that it is possible to preserve your ability to function after being in space for such a long time. But the gravity on Mars is .37. And since I was able to stand up and walk on the Earth wearing a space suit, it shows that [a] human is able, will be able to stand up and walk on Mars.”
Polyakov returned to space, achieving the record for the longest cumulative time in space with 678 days over two missions. This record was later broken in 1999 by cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev, who accumulated a total of 747 days in space across three missions.