1995: Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to Earth from the longest-ever stay in space by a human. He spent just over 437 days in the Mir space station.

Thanks to a strenuous workout regimen, he returned to Earth looking "big and strong" and "like he could wrestle a bear," in the words of NASA astronaut Norman Thagard.

Polyakov, a medical doctor, said that he volunteered for the extra-long mission to prove that the human body could survive microgravity long enough to make a trip to Mars. As such, he took pains to show that he was no worse for the zero-g wear when he got back onto terra firma.

"[W]hen his capsule landed in Kazakhstan he walked from it to a nearby chair, a tremendous achievement," Philip Baker wrote in his book The Story of Manned Space Stations. "He also stole a cigarette from a friend nearby, but could hardly be blamed for that. He sipped a small brandy and inwardly celebrated his mission. His record still stands, and it is unlikely to be broken until man ventures to Mars."

Reportedly, his first statement back on Earth was to tell a fellow cosmonaut, "We can fly to Mars."

Polyakov's mission did not get off to an auspicious start. When the cosmonauts who dropped him off did a flyby to take pictures of Mir, they grazed the space station with their craft. Luckily, no major damage was done.

The rest of Polyakov's mission wasn't that eventful. After a rough first three weeks, his mental performance bounced back (.pdf) to his Earth-bound norms.

At the time, Polyakov also held the record for most *cumulative *time in space, but he has since been surpassed by Sergei Krikalyov.

Source: Various

Photo: NASA

See Also: