Ryumin, Valery Victorovitch (1939– )

Russian cosmonaut. His three space flights include two long missions aboard the Salyut 6 space station: 175 days in 1979 and 185 days in 1980. In June 1998, he was on the Discovery flight that docked with Mir. He was flight director for the Salyut 7 and Mir space stations 1981–89, and in 1992 became director of the Russian portion of the NASA-Mir programme. Ryumin was employed at the Energiya Rocket and Space Complex when selected as an cosmonaut in 1973. He has remained there through his career, holding several positions, including deputy general designer for testing.