Linenger, Jerry Michael (1955- )

US astronaut and physician. In January 1997, he flew on the space shuttle Atlantis to reach the Russian space station Mir. With two Russian cosmonauts, he spent more than 132 days on the station, the longest duration time in space for a male NASA astronaut. After a series of problems on the mission, including a serious fire, he returned to Earth on Atlantis in May 1997. Linenger was selected as an astronaut in 1992. He retired from NASA and the US Navy in 1998.