Musa Manarov

Musa Khiramanovich Manarov (Муса Хираманович Манаров; born March 22, 1951 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) is a Soviet Laks (Caucasus) former cosmonaut who spent 541 days in space.

He was a colonel in the Soviet Air Force and graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute with an engineering qualification in 1974. Musa was selected as a cosmonaut on December 1, 1978.

From December 21, 1987 to December 21, 1988 he flew as flight engineer on Soyuz TM-4. The flight duration was 365 days 22 hours 38 minutes. From December 2, 1990 to May 26, 1991 he flew again as a flight engineer on Soyuz TM-11. The duration was 175 days 1 hour 50 minutes, the longest continuous time spent in space by anyone at that time. During his 176-day stay, Manarov observed the Earth and worked in space manufacturing. He also performed 20 hours of spacewalks. Manarov currently lives in Russia.

Awards and honors
Foreign awards:
 * Hero of the Soviet Union
 * Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR
 * Order of Lenin
 * Order of the October Revolution
 * Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration"
 * Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
 * Order of Stara Planina (Republic of Bulgaria)
 * Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Republic of Bulgaria)
 * Order "The Sun of Freedom" (Afghanistan)

Personal life
Manarov is married with two children. He is an Ethnic Lak. He lives in Moscow, while his mother still lives in Baku.