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Svetlana Savitskaya completed two space flights. During the second flight, she performed a spacewalk.

A life dedicated to the sky

In 1979, the second recruitment of women to participate in space flights began. S. Savitskaya underwent a medical examination at the Institute of Biomedical Problems and on May 15, 1979 received a conclusion from the Main Medical Commission (MMC) about her suitability for special training. In December 1979 she was sent to NPO Energia for preliminary technical training, which she underwent until June 1980.

Svetlana Savitskaya had a wealth of flying experience. She was born in the family of a pilot (1948): her father is a Soviet pilot and military leader, Air Marshal Yevgeny Savitsky. After graduating from a Moscow secondary school, she entered the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) and graduated in 1972. While studying at the MAI, she simultaneously studied at the Central Joint Flight Technical School at the Central Committee of DOSAAF in Kaluga, where she received the qualification "pilot-instructor"

In 1969-1977. was a member of the USSR national aerobatic team, won the 1970 World Piston Aerobatic Aerobatic Championship in Great Britain. She set 3 world records in parachuting in group jumping from the stratosphere and 18 aviation records in jet aircraft.

After graduating from the school of test pilots, Svetlana Savitskaya worked as a test pilot at the Vzlyot Scientific and Production Association of the USSR Ministry of the Radioelectronic Industry. She performed flights on MiG-21, E-155 (MiG-25), Su-7, Il-18, Il-28 aircraft.

Member of the cosmonaut corps since 1980.

First flight to space

It took place from August 19 to August 27, 1982. Svetlana Savitskaya went into space as a research cosmonaut on the Soyuz T-5 and Soyuz T-7 spacecraft and the Salyut-7 orbital station.

Soyuz T-5 (spacecraft commander Anatoly Nikolayevich Berezovoy and Valentin Vitalievich Lebedev, spacecraft flight engineer) docked with the Salyut-7 orbital scientific station, which was launched into orbit in April 1982. On board the station, the crew carried out scientific, technical and medical and biological research and experiments. The station accepted two visiting expeditions: on board the Soyuz T-6 spacecraft (commander Vladimir Alexandrovich Dzhanibekov, flight engineer Alexander Sergeevich Ivanchenkov and French cosmonaut-researcher Chretien Jean-Loup Jacques Marie) and Soyuz T-7 (commander Leonid Ivanovich Popov, flight engineer Alexander Alexandrovich Serebrov and cosmonaut-researcher Savitskaya Svetlana Evgenievna).

The station also received four cargo spacecraft: Progress-13, Progress-14, Progress-15 and Progress-16. During their stay at the station, five cosmonauts simultaneously carried out many scientific experiments. Svetlana Savitskaya, nineteen years after Valentina Tereshkova, becomes the world's second female astronaut.

Cosmonauts Leonid Popov, Alexander Serebrov and Svetlana Savitskaya returned to Earth on August 27, 1982 at 15:00 04 min. (UTC) to the Soyuz T-5. The duration of their flight was: 7 days 21 hours 52 minutes.

The main crew of the Salyut-7 station returned to Earth on the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft on December 10, 1982.

Second space flight

From 17 to 29 July 1984, as a flight engineer, Svetlana Savitskaya flew to Soyuz T-12 and the Salyut-7 orbital station. During this flight, she was the first of the women to make a spacewalk.And it was the 57th venture into open space in the history of mankind. The purpose of this exit was to test a universal hand tool at the Salyut-7 station in the modes of cutting, welding and soldering metal plates and coating spraying. Removal of panels with structural materials and installation of a set of tubes with biopolymers "Meduza".

The dangers of manned spacewalk

Spacewalks can be performed in different ways. In one embodiment, the cosmonaut is connected to the spacecraft by a special safety rope, sometimes combined with an oxygen supply hose (in this case, it is called the "umbilical cord"), while the astronaut's muscular efforts are enough to return to the spacecraft. Another option is a fully autonomous flight in outer space. In this case, it is necessary to ensure the possibility of returning to the spacecraft using a special technical system. Recall that the first spacewalk was performed by a Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov March 18, 1965from the Voskhod-2 spacecraft using a flexible airlock. The first American astronaut to go into outer space was Edward White, exited during flight on Gemini IV June 3, 1965Since the ships of the Gemini series did not have an airlock, the crew had to completely depressurize the ship's cabin to get out. The first American woman to be in outer space was Katherine Sullivanspacewalker October 11, 1984... during the flight of STS-41G on the Challenger spacecraft.

Spacewalks are dangerous for many different reasons:

1) the possibility of collision with space debris. The orbital speed at an altitude of 300 km above the Earth (typical flight altitude of manned spacecraft) is about 7.7 km / s. This is 10 times the speed of a bullet, so the kinetic energy of a small particle of paint or a grain of sand is equivalent to the same energy of a bullet that has 100 times the mass. With each space flight, more and more orbital debris appears, which is why this problem continues to be the most dangerous;

2) the environment in outer space is extremely complex for pre-flight simulations. Spacewalks are often planned late in the development of a flight plan, when any pressing problems or malfunctions are discovered, sometimes even during the flight itself. The potential danger of spacewalks inevitably leads to emotional pressure on astronauts;

3) the potential danger is the possibility of the cosmonaut losing the spacecraft or unacceptable distance from it, threatening death due to the exhaustion of the supply of the respiratory mixture;

4) possible damage or puncture of spacesuits is also dangerous, depressurization of which threatens anoxia and quick death if the astronauts do not have time to return to the spacecraft. The suit damage incident occurred during the flight of Atlantis STS-37, when a small rod pierced the glove of one of the astronauts. By a happy coincidence, no depressurization occurred, since the rod got stuck in the glove itself and blocked the hole that had formed. The very first dangerous incident happened already during the first spacewalk of an astronaut. Having completed the program of the first exit, Aleksey Arkhipovich Leonov hardly returned to the ship, since the swollen spacesuit did not pass through the Voskhod air lock. Only the release of the oxygen pressure in the suit allowed him to safely complete the flight.

Now you can appreciate the heroism of a woman who, knowing all these difficulties, went into outer space to complete a task.

Further activities of S.E. Savitskaya

S. Savitskaya prepared for a flight to the Salyut-7 station in 1986. Soyuz T-15C as the commander of the world's first purely female crew (three female cosmonauts), but this flight did not take place.

In 1986 she defended her dissertation and became a candidate of technical sciences.

From the cosmonaut corps S.E. Savitskaya retired with the rank of major in October 1993 in connection with her retirement.

After leaving the cosmonaut corps, she worked as deputy head of the 291st department of NPO Energia, then as an assistant professor at MAI.

Engaged in social activities. In 1989 she was elected People's Deputy of the USSR. In 1990 she was elected People's Deputy of Russia. She worked in the Communist Party faction. In 1995 she was elected to the Duma of the II convocation from the Communist Party. In 1999, 2003 and 2007. elected as a deputy State Duma from the Communist Party. She is twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1982, 1984), Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.

Family

Husband - Khatkovsky Viktor Stanislavovich, pilot, design engineer at the Ilyushin Moscow Machine-Building Plant.

A son - Khatkovsky Konstantin Viktorovich (born 1986).

More often than others, representatives of the United States overcame gravity - the list of astronauts of this country has about 340 names, and 45 of them are women. The Russians firmly hold the second place in the overall table - about 120 cosmonauts, but only three of them were women.

Now you will not surprise anyone with space flights. Of course, they are not yet perceived as an ordinary phenomenon, but still there is no such excitement, which accompanied the first steps of mankind in the foundation of the unknown endless starry sky. More than half a century has passed since the first flight into space in history.

The first in the world

The championship in this area belongs to one of the most famous personalities in the world - Valentina Tereshkova. She was born in 1937 in a small village located near Yaroslavl. When she turned 22, she became seriously interested in skydiving.

In 1962-1997 she was part of the female cosmonaut corps. In addition to her, there were 4 more applicants for the flight. I must say that Tereshkova was not the best in terms of endurance and physical fitness. But the then government made the decision to send it first into space.

There were two reasons that influenced this decision. The first of these is origin. Valentina Tereshkova was, as they said at the time, a native of the people. The second reason is good looks, charm and charisma.

“Valya Tereshkova was not a leader, although she was appointed senior. After all, we in Soviet times did not even know such a word - “leader”. Everyone was equal. And no one knew that it was Valentina who would fly into space. Moreover, she never stood out in terms of her performance from the whole group. But it seems to me that her origin helped her a lot. I was born and raised in Moscow. And Valya is from the province, worked as a weaver. In the USSR, this was appreciated and respected. We, Muscovites, still hoped that there was a chance, but it was not there - the villagers bypassed us. For the flight, they nevertheless chose Tereshkova. When I remember those times, it seems that it was a completely different life, ”says Tatyana Kuznetsova, a colleague of Valentina Tereshkova in the detachment, an Air Force colonel in reserve.

The detachment of future cosmonauts was fully formed in 1962. It includes Valentina Tereshkova, Zhanna Yorkina, Tatyana Kuznetsova, Valentina Ponomareva and Irina Solovyova. And Sergei Korolev himself commanded the "parade".

“We, young girls, did not know the name and patronymic of Korolev. We only read that his initials S.P. So they called him among themselves: S.P. And when S.P. first met with us, he said:

“Girls, one of you will be the first to fly into space, it's obvious. But do not be offended by our choice, because those who do not fly this time will have even more interesting and long flights. Let's agree: either we will sulk at each other for the fact that someone will not fly, or we will prepare for flights. " We chose the latter. And they prepared for the flights, underwent all sorts of tests, each of which turned out to be somewhat difficult in its own way. "

The girls "soared" in a heat chamber at a temperature of + 70 ° C and a humidity of 30%, were kept in zero gravity, where they had to not only adapt to the lack of attraction, but also perform various tasks: have lunch, talk to the command center, draw something or write on a piece of paper. They were taught to splash down on a parachute into water bodies, and they were also kept in isolation for 10 days - so that the habit of being alone in flight was developed.

Despite the fact that the flight was officially recognized as successful, it was not without difficulties. Tereshkova was not feeling well, and the suit was very uncomfortable. Because of this, she was unable to complete all the scheduled tasks in full. In addition, a number of other technical difficulties were revealed. For example, when assembling the manual controls, mistakes were made that almost led to the deviation of the ship from orbit. But since the automatics worked at altitude, the landing went well.

Unfortunately, after the flight, she had to tell not what she actually experienced. She looked into television cameras and assured:

“I felt great. I felt good! " But then the time was like this - at all costs not to lose face. Especially when the whole world is looking at you! Although it is clear that it could not be good. She was asked: "Valentina Vladimirovna, did the spacesuit cause you inconvenience?" - "No. I was just sweating. " In fact, spending three days in a heavy spacesuit was a real torment ...

In 1963, Tereshkova received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In addition, she is so far the only woman in the Russian army holding the military rank of Major General.

In her memoirs, Tatyana Kuznetsova writes: “Valentina devoted a lot of time to her political career. We were all members of the Komsomol when we joined the detachment. Valya was a member of the party, an inveterate communist, she came to us from the Komsomol committee from her factory. But then she apparently changed her views more than once. Now she is a deputy from United Russia. This is not very clear to me. Although recently we all together celebrated the 50th anniversary of our unit. All of us, even those cosmonauts who have long been retired, even those who were expelled at one time, were gathered for a rich feast. Everyone congratulated, remembered, and then Tereshkova got up and said: “That's when they chose us, five girls, young, smart, beautiful. 50 years have passed since then, and we are still together. There were enough men in our life - they came and went. And we continue to be together. We survived everything, no matter what. " I really liked these words of Valentina. They were honest! "

I must say that all women from Russia who have been in space have made an invaluable contribution to the development and study of our Universe. But only Valentina Tereshkova and to this day is the first and only representative of the fair sex who made a solo flight into Earth's orbit.

The first in outer space

The next woman to see space was Svetlana Savitskaya. She was born in 1947 in the family of a marshal and became an astronaut thanks to her strong determination, willpower and high professionalism:

“My goal was to fly. Namely, to participate in space flights. As a matter of fact, that's why I went into aviation sports. I just never told anyone about it, because that was the time when they said that space is not a woman's business. Our first woman flew and there is nothing else to do there, that's enough, everything is clear and so. But initially I was sure that women will still fly into space. "

Savitskaya's career began with NPO Vzlyot, where she worked as a test pilot. In 1982, she joined the crew of the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft, where she spent 8 days. And after 2 years she went into open space, where she stayed for 3 hours 35 minutes.

According to Savitskaya, when they went into space, she and Dzhanibekov then tested a universal hand tool with which it was possible to weld, cut and solder metal. The Kiev Paton Institute made it. A unique instrument, completely new, no one has ever done it.

“This was, of course, the key experiment of this entire flight. We did it normally, without mistakes, without any emergency. In fact, when you go into outer space, the most important thing is to do what you were preparing for. Therefore, there are no special emotions, you know, such as that something happened that day. There was no fear then, this concept is generally useless when it comes to outer space. This is more stressful work. Yes, there are more dangers. You need to be more literate, more careful, more punctual, control yourself clearly. But this is not fear. Fear is when a person freezes and does not know what to do. This does not apply to the profession of a pilot or an astronaut, in my opinion. There are stages where you understand: yes, something can happen here. Somewhere you can do something, but somewhere you can't. So you rely on technology, ”the astronaut shares his memories.

It was Savitskaya who suggested that the USSR should have a priority in the exit of a woman astronaut into space. According to her, this idea came to her after her first flight into orbit in 1982:

“I saw the spacesuit, I saw the compartment, I understood that this could be done. And given that the Americans began to fly on the Shuttles and in a year and a half were going to include a woman in the crew, I, of course, understood that any normal head of the space program in America, of course, would have decided this “cell” that was not occupied , such a milestone achievement, I would include in my program. "

The space walk of the first woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, 30 years ago became historic for astronautics, but for herself it was a stage of difficult work, not marked by special emotions: then Savitskaya dreamed of flying on the Buran spacecraft. Today Svetlana Savitskaya is twice Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, deputy head of the defense committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

Longest flight

Elena Kondakova became the next representative to join the list of "Women-Cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia". She was born in 1957 in the Moscow region, in the town of Mytishchi. In 1989 she became a candidate for the cosmonaut corps and after special training received the qualification of a researcher.

Like her two predecessors, Elena Kondakova also became the first in terms of the duration of her stay in space. Its total duration was almost 179 days. She has two flights: one in 1994 at the Mir station, the second in 1997 on the Atlantis spacecraft (shuttle).

Elena Vladimirovna graduated from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University in 1980 and began working in the "space" NPO Energia as a young specialist. At the same time, her future husband Valery Ryumin made his third space flight.

Twice-wise Hero of the Soviet Union Valery Ryumin passed on his experience to young cosmonauts. When in 1985, 46-year-old Ryumin married a 28-year-old colleague in the space industry, he clearly did not assume that his wife could "escape into orbit." And even more so, he did not imagine this after the couple had a daughter in January 1986, who was named Zhenya. Ryumin himself said in an interview that he was against his wife becoming an astronaut, but he did not have enough strength to keep her.

On October 4, 1994, the Soyuz TM-20 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome with a crew consisting of Alexander Viktorenko, Elena Kondakova and German representative Ulf Merbold.

Like her predecessors, Kondakova also became the first - the first woman to complete a long space flight. The duration of its flight on the Soyuz and the Mir station was 169 days, 5 hours and 35 seconds. On March 22, 1995, when Viktorenko and Kondakova returned to Earth, Valery Polyakov also returned with them, setting the still unbeaten record for the duration of a space flight - 437 days 17 hours and 31 seconds.

The second flight of Kondakova was carried out in May 1997 on the American space shuttle Atlantis under the program of the sixth orbital docking with the Mir station.

Valery Ryumin also did not want to lag behind his wife - in June 1998, an experienced space veteran went to the Mir station on the American spacecraft Discovery.

In 1999, Kondakova became a State Duma deputy from the Fatherland - All Russia party, and from 2003 to 2011 she was a parliamentarian from the United Russia party.

New "star woman"

After 17 years, on September 26, 2014, another spacecraft was launched from Baikonur, the crew of which includes Elena Serova. This was her first flight. According to the plan, it should last 170 days and nights.

The fourth female cosmonaut Elena Serova was born in the seaside village of Vozdvizhenka. After graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute, she was hired at the Mission Control Center. Then she constantly improved her qualifications and in 2009 became a test cosmonaut.

In one of her interviews, Elena told how she applied to the cosmonaut corps: “Everything happened very harmoniously. While still at the institute, I met my future husband, we worked with him at RSC Energia, he joined the squad in 2003, and then I did in 2006. "

Elena Serova, having gone into orbit, became the first Russian woman to fly to the ISS. But there were no indulgences, Elena does everything on a par with men. Even if it concerns physical activity and endurance training.

The flight of Elena Serova is almost a feat. Yes, I know the opinions of ordinary people - well, another woman flew, what's wrong with that? American women went on six-month expeditions to the Mir orbital station, and worked on the ISS more than once. And our Elena Kondakova spent six months in orbit. It's like that. If it were as easy for a woman to get into the cosmonaut corps (and then to be assigned to the crew) as it was for American women.

The Soyuz TMA-14M flight is the fortieth flight of the Russian spacecraft to the International Space Station. The commander of the crew is Alexander Samokutyaev, the flight engineers are Elena Serova and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore. They have to work in orbit for 168 days.

Launched at the end of September 2014 on the ISS, the crew, which included Elena Serova in orbit, performed more than 50 scientific experiments in orbit. Many of them were of great applied importance for science, medicine and humanity as a whole. In particular, Serova successfully carried out the unique Vizir experiment, during which she was able to take a picture of any object on Earth so that the specialists would know its coordinates exactly, and vice versa - using the given data to survey the Earth's surface using a special method of domestic development.

In addition, going to the ISS, the owner of long hair Serova promised to demonstrate how you can wash your hair in 5 minutes in zero gravity in orbit. Later, cosmonaut Serova reported that she had managed to sprout two apple seeds in orbit and promised to grow a "space lemon".

Today, the only reliable means of delivering astronauts to International station - Russian ships "Soyuz". But in Russia, as in the USA, ships of a new generation are being developed. In fact, they will form the basis of large starships that will cruise to the Moon and Mars. So far, the Russian project does not have a proper name, only the name of the project is a promising new generation transport ship. Trials are due to start in 2018.

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Women-cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia are always at their best. Their profession requires a lot of courage, strong willpower, as well as the ability not to get lost and cope with any freelance situation. And even if the list of female cosmonauts from our compatriots is not long, they have everything ahead. After all, there is still a lot of mysterious and unexplored that is fraught with a truly endless Universe.

Svetlana Savitskaya was born on 8 August 1948 in the capital of the USSR, Moscow. Her father was a pilot, air marshal. Svetlana received her secondary education in one of the Moscow schools in 1966. After school, the future cosmonaut studied at the Kaluga Aviation School and the Moscow Aviation Institute, which she graduated in 1971 and 1972, respectively. From 1969 to 1977, Svetlana was part of the national team. Soviet Union on aerobatics.

Since 1972, Svetlana has been an instructor pilot at the Moscow Central Aero Club. At the end of 1974, she was assigned to the Test Pilot School, where Svetlana took a course in piloting the MiG-21 aircraft. After graduating from school in 1976, the future cosmonaut got a job as a test pilot at the Vzlyot research and production enterprise, from 1978 to 1981 she was a test pilot at a machine-building plant in Moscow - Speed. During her work she mastered a number of aircraft, including the MiG-25, Su-7, and Il-28.

In 1979, Svetlana Evgenievna took part in the 2nd set of female cosmonauts. After successfully passing medical examinations, she started technical training at the Energia enterprise.

In the summer of 1980, Svetlana Savitskaya was sent to the cosmonaut corps at NPO Energia. After completing general space training in 1981, Svetlana was appointed to the post of test cosmonaut at the Speed \u200b\u200bplant. As part of this specialty, Svetlana Evgenievna was trained to participate in the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft flight.

First space flight

The second woman-cosmonaut made a space flight on August 19, 1982, nineteen years after the flight of the first woman-cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova. On this day, the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur site. The crew included Commander Leonid Popov, engineer Alexander Serebrov, and Svetlana Savitskaya as a research cosmonaut.

The mission of the first main expedition to the Salyut-7 space station was to carry out scientific and technical, as well as various medical and biological experiments and research. During the work of the crew, two visiting expeditions were received, one of which took place on the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft with Svetlana Savitskaya on board.

During her week at the station, Svetlana Evgenievna took part in several experiments, after which she boarded the Soyuz T-5 spacecraft. On August 27, 1982, the descent vehicle by cosmonauts Serebrov, Popov and Savitskaya landed near Arkalyk, Kzahastan.

Second space flight

In 1983, Svetlana Evgenievna was transferred to the cosmonaut corps of the Energia association. For the next six months, cosmonaut Savitskaya was preparing for a space flight on the Soyuz-12 spacecraft, which took place on July 17, 1984. The mission took place within the framework of the fourth visiting expedition to the Salyut-7 station, which was already familiar to Svetlana.

On the 25th of July, a woman-cosmonaut was launched into outer space for the first time. Outside the station, Svetlana Savitskaya, together with Vladimir Solovyov, conducted a number of tests of various instruments for working with metal in outer space. The extravehicular activities of the cosmonauts lasted 3 hours and 33 minutes.

Future life

For her two space flights, Svetlana Savitskaya, the second female cosmonaut, was twice awarded the title of Hero of the USSR. Svetlana Evgenievna continued her space training for further expeditions to the Salyut orbital complex, but in 1986 she stopped training due to maternity leave.

In 1993, Svetlana officially left the cosmonaut corps in connection with her retirement. In 1994-1995, she was an associate professor at Moscow Aviation Institute, where she worked in the field of economics and investments. Since 1995, she has been elected to the State Duma several times, including in 2016.

Biography

Svetlana Evgenievna Savitskaya was born on August 8, 1948 in Moscow in the family of an Air Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Evgeny Yakovlevich Savitsky... In 1966 she graduated from high school.

After graduating from high school, she entered college and at the same time sat at the controls of the plane. She mastered the following types of aircraft: MiG-15, MiG-17, E-33, E-66B. She was engaged in parachute training.

She set 3 world records in group skydiving from the stratosphere and 15 world records in jet aircraft. The absolute world champion in aerobatics on piston aircraft (1970). For her sporting achievements in 1970 she was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.

In 1971 she graduated from the Central United Flight Technical School at the Central Committee of the DOSAAF of the USSR, received the qualification "pilot-instructor".

In 1972 she graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze and started working at the Central Aero Club. V.P. Chkalova in Moscow as an instructor pilot.

In 1974 she graduated from a special training course in piloting the MiG-21 and was assigned to the Flight Test Pilot School of the LII to perform record work.

In 1976 she graduated from the aircraft department of the Test Pilot School of the Flight Research Institute (LII) of the Ministry of Aviation Industry (MAP) in the city of Zhukovsky and went to work at the NPO Vzlyot of the Ministry of Radio Industry as a test pilot; performed flights on MiG-21, Su-7, Il-18, Il-28.

During her work as a test pilot, she mastered more than 20 types of aircraft, acquired the qualification "test pilot of the 2nd class".

In May 1978 she began working as a test pilot of the Moscow Machine-Building Plant (MMZ) "Speed" of the Design Bureau (KB) A.S. Yakovleva.

July 30, 1980 at a meeting of the State Interdepartmental Commission Svetlana Savitskaya was recommended for enrollment in the cosmonaut candidates of the MMZ "Speed" and in August 1980 was attached to the cosmonaut corps of NPO Energia.

On June 23, 1981, after completing general space training (OKP), she was appointed a test cosmonaut at the Moscow Metallurgical Plant "Speed".

From December 8, 1981 to August 4, 1982 she was trained as a research cosmonaut of the first (prime) crew of the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft under the program of the second visiting crew (VC 2) of the Salyut-7 DOS, together with Leonid Popov and Alexander Serebrov.

19 to 27 August 1982 Savitskaya made her first flight into space as a research cosmonaut of the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft. She worked on board the Salyut-7 orbital station. The flight duration was 7 days 21 hours 52 minutes 24 seconds.

On May 15, 1983 she was transferred to work in the cosmonaut corps of NPO Energia. Appointed as a test cosmonaut and deputy head of the 292nd department of NPO Energia.

From December 26, 1983 to July 4, 1984 she was trained as a flight engineer of the first (prime) crew of the Soyuz T-12 spacecraft under the program of the fourth visiting expedition to the Salyut-7 orbital station, together with Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Igor Volk.

From 17 to 25 July 1984 she made her second flight into space as a flight engineer of the Soyuz T-12 spacecraft and the Salyut-7 station. While working aboard the Salyut-7 orbital station on July 25, 1984, the first woman made a spacewalk. The time spent in open space was 3 hours 35 minutes. The duration of the space flight was 11 days 19 hours 14 minutes 36 seconds. For 2 flights into space flew 19 days 17 hours 7 minutes.

From December 1984 to November 1985, she was trained for a flight under the program of the visiting expedition to the Salyut-7 station as a female crew commander, together with. The flight was originally planned for November 1985, but due to a malfunction of the Salyut-7 orbital station, it was postponed to March 1986. In November 1985, the flight was canceled due to the early return to Earth of the crew of the fourth main expedition of the Salyut-7 orbital station due to the illness of the commander Vladimir Vasyutin.

February 25, 1986 Savitskaya defended her thesis at the Moscow Higher Technical School Bauman and received the degree of candidate of technical sciences. In the same year, Svetlana Evgenievna began training as the commander of the visiting expedition to the Mir orbital ship on the Soyuz TM spacecraft as the commander of the female crew, together with Ekaterina Ivanova and Elena Dobrokvashina... But she soon stopped training in connection with going on maternity leave. November 11, 1986 at Savitskaya son was born Konstantin.

October 27, 1993 Svetlana Savitskayawas expelled from the cosmonaut corps in connection with her retirement with the rank of major in reserve.

After leaving the cosmonaut corps, from October 27, 1993 to April 15, 1994, she worked as deputy head of the 291st department of NPO Energia.

In 1994-1995 she worked as an associate professor at the Moscow Aviation Institute, dealing with issues of economics and investment.

Back in the late 1980s Svetlana Savitskayatook up social and political activities.

From March 1989 to 1990 she was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (according to a quota from the Soviet Peace Fund).

From 1990 to October 1993 she was a People's Deputy of the Russian Federation, a member of the Deputy Group of Communists. She worked on the Committee on International Affairs and was the secretary of the parliamentary group, where she was involved in the development of legislation related to social problems.

In December 1993, she ran in the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the 1st convocation from the "Civil Union", but was not elected.

On December 17, 1995, she was elected a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the II convocation in the Pushkin single-mandate constituency No. 113 (Moscow region) from the "Common Cause" bloc Irina Khakamada, but moved to the Communist Party faction. She worked in the defense committee (she was the chairman of the subcommittee on military-technical policy and promising projects).

In December 1999, she was elected a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the III convocation in the Pushkin single-mandate constituency No. 113 (Moscow region) from the Communist Party.

On December 7, 2003, she was elected a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the IV convocation from the federal list of the electoral association of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

On December 2, 2007, she was elected a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the V convocation on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, regional group No. 81 (St. Petersburg).

Svetlana Savitskaya is the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, a member of the State Duma Commission for consideration of federal budget expenditures aimed at ensuring defense and state security of the Russian Federation. She was a member of the Central Council of the All-Russian Social and Political Movement " Spiritual heritage".

Svetlana Savitskaya awarded with two Gold Star medals of the Hero of the Soviet Union and two Orders Lenin (1982, 1984), the Order of the Badge of Honor (1976), she was awarded a special medal for setting the women's world record for being in outer space, also has a gold medal and 18 FAI diplomas, 16 gold sports medals of the USSR.

Two minor planets (asteroids) are named after her - No. 4118 ( Sveta) and No. 4303 ( Savitskaya).

Since August 1996, he has been a member of the Presidium of the People's Patriotic Union of Russia (NPSR).

Associate Professor, Full Member (Academician) of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Marital status: married, husband - Khatkovsky Victor Stanislavovich (Born in 1944, pilot, design engineer at the Ilyushin Moscow Machine-Building Plant).