Vladimir Dzhanibekov

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov (Владимир Александрович Джанибеков; born May 13, 1942) is a former cosmonaut who made five flights.

Biography
Dzhanibekov was born in the remote area of Iskandar in Tashkent Province, Uzbekistanon May 13, 1942. His family moved to Tashkent soon after his birth.

In 1960 he entered Leningrad University to study physics, where he became involved in flying, something that he had always been interested in. In 1961 he decided to enroll in the V. M. Komarov Higher Military Flying School at Yeisk and simultaneously studied at the Taganrog State University of Radioengineering. Four years later he graduated and became a flying instructor in the Soviet Air force serving at military training unit number 99735 in Taganrog in 1968-1970. In 1970 during the visit of Gherman Titov to the Taganrog-based training unit, he was selected into the team of cosmonauts. This was the same year that he joined the Communist Party.

Dzhanibekov made five flights: Soyuz 27, Soyuz 39, Soyuz T-6, Soyuz T-12 and Soyuz T-13. In all he had spent 145 days, 15 hours and 56 minutes in space over these five missions. He had also performed two EVAs with a total time of 8 hours and 35 minutes.

After leaving the cosmonaut program in 1986, he became involved in politics. He was the Deputy to the Supreme Soviet of Uzbek SSR from 1985 until 1990. He is also interested in photography and painting and his works, predominantly about space, are owned by museums and private collectors.

He also became interested in ballooning, and flying around the world. He made only one flight though, which lasted only 30 minutes. He, Larry Newman and Don Moses lifted off in Earthwinds on January 13, 1993 but could not penetrate a strong inversion layer and tore the ballast balloon on a mountain peak.

The minor planet 3170 Dzhanibekov, discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1979, is named after him.

Honours and awards
Foreign awards:
 * Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1978 & 1981);
 * Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR;
 * Order of Friendship (Russian Federation);
 * Five Orders of Lenin;
 * Order of the Red Star;
 * Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR 3rd class;
 * Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (Russian Federation);
 * Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945";
 * Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR";
 * Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR";
 * Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Soviet Militia";
 * Medals "For Impeccable Service" 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes.
 * Kosmonavtlar metro station in Tashkent commemorates Uzbekistan's contribution to the Soviet space programme including that of Dzhanibekov.
 * Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic;
 * Commander of the Legion of Honour (France);
 * Order of the Banner of the Hungarian People's Republic;
 * Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolia).

He is also an honorary citizen of Gagarin, Kaluga (Russia), Arkalyk (Kazakhstan), and Houston (U.S.).