Profile
A few personal details about Sergei. (Any more information would be appreciated!)
Personal data
Sergei was born on 27 August 1958 in what was then the city of Leningrad, USSR (renamed St. Petersburg on 6 September 1991). His father is Konstantin Sergeevich Krikalyov, Константин Сергеевич Крикалёв, who was born in 1932. Konstantin was an engineer at the Baltic Plant in St. Petersburg; he is now a pensioner. His mother is Nadezhda Ivanova Krikalyova (nee Prokof’eva), Надежда Иванова Крикалёва (Прокофьева), born in 1931. She was principal of Secondary School No. 10 in Leningrad; and is also now a pensioner. She survived the Siege of Leningrad during World War 2. Both his parents still live in St. Petersburg.
As far as I know, Sergei has no siblings.
Physical description
Sergei has blue-grey eyes and short brown hair (which began to turn grey in the early 2000s :-(). He stands 183 cm (6 feet) tall and weighs approximately 69 kg (152 pounds). He is of slim build and very fit. The long-term effects of his extended spaceflights on his health remain to be seen.
Personality
It is somewhat difficult to describe a person’s character when one has never met them, but reading about them can give some impression. Sergei is always described in favorable terms by others. He comes across as quiet and reserved, but one who is very intelligent and a keen observer. He is not vain or egotistical.
Hobbies and interests
Sergei enjoys aerobatic flying (he flew for the Russian and Soviet national aerobatic flying teams), swimming, scuba diving, Alpine (downhill) skiing, tennis, windsurfing and amateur radio operations (X75M1K; space call sign is U5MIR).
Education
In 1975 Sergei graduated from the 77th secondary school of Leningrad city, and obtained a speciality of chemist-analyst/laboratory assistant. In September 1975 he began studies at the Leningrad Mechanical Institute (Voenmekh – now St. Petersburg Technical University). From November 1997 through May 1980 he also worked as a laboratory assistant and senior laboratory assistant in the Institute.
In 1981 he graduated from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute. He was in the machine-building department specializing in Flight Vehicle Design and Manufacturing; he received an honors diploma in Mechanical Engineering. From May to August of that year he worked as an aircraft technician on operation and repair of aircraft and engines in the Leningrad urban aero club DOSAAF (All-Union Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Air Force and Navy – Dobrovolnoye Obshchestvo Sodeistviya Armii, Aviatsii i Flotu, ДОСАФФ, Добровольное Общество Содействия Армии, Авиации и Флоту).
His subsequent career is summarized on the Career page.
Titles
Sergei’s job title/description is Flight Engineer, Test-Cosmonaut, S. P. Korolyov Rocket & Space Corporation Energiya, Russia. His cosmonaut number is 67; international number is 212.
Outside of being a cosmonaut, Sergei is also Senior Vice-President at Energiya. He was assigned Vice-President of Manned Flights on 5 February 2007.
Family
In 1991 Sergei married Elena Yuri’evna Terekhina, Елена Юрьевна Терехина, who was born in 1956. He had met her in 1980 when they both worked at NPO Energiya as engineers. She was in the Moscow Control Center (TsUP, ЦУП). Her parents, Faina and Yurii, reside in Samara, Russia.
Their daughter, Ol’ga Sergeevna Krikalyova, Ольга Сергеевна Крикалёва, was born on 20 February 1990. Elena left her job to care for her daughter.
Sergei and his family reside somewhere in Moscow, in a 3-storey apartment. (Cosmonauts used to have to live in Star City, Звёздний Городок, for security reasons during the Soviet era, but can live anywhere that is convenient, now.)
Some of Sergei’s personal family photos can be accessed from his Expedition 1 biography at the Energiya site.
Miscellaneous
- His favorite foods include ice-cream and jam.
- Sergei has an asteroid named after him! 7469 Krikalev (1990 VU14)