BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) — A Soyuz space capsule delivered an American astronaut making his first space flight and a veteran Greek-Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station on Thursday.
NASA’s Jack Fischer and Greek-Russian Fyodor (Theodoros) Yurchikhin lifted off from the Russia-leased launch facility in Kazakhstan at 1:13 p.m. Thursday (0713GMT, 3:13 a.m. EDT). They reached orbit about nine minutes later, a moment illustrated when a small white stuffed dog hanging from a string in the capsule began to float.
About six hours later, they docked at the orbiting outpost.
Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin (Russian: ????? ?????????? ???????, Greek: Θεόδωρος Γιουρτσίχιν του Νικόλαου; born 3 January 1959), is a Russian cosmonaut of Greek descent, engineer and RSC Energia test-pilot who has flown on four spaceflights.
Yurchikhin was born in Batumi, Adjar ASSR, Georgian SSR (now Adjara the autonomous republic of Georgia) on 3 January 1959 to Pontic Greek parents Nikolai Fyodorovich Yurchikhin and Mikrula Sofoklevna Yurchikhina (born Ελένη Γραμματικοπούλου του Σοφοκλή) (both now reside in Sindos, Greece). Yurchikhin is married to Larisa Anatolievna Yurchikhina (born in Shchyolkovo) and has two daughters.
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