Musa Manarov
Musa Khiramanovich Manarov (born 22 March 1951) is a retired Soviet cosmonaut of Lak ethnicity, born in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, who accumulated 541 days in space across two missions to the Mir space station.[1][2] A colonel in the Soviet Air Force and graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute with an engineering degree in 1974, he was selected for cosmonaut training in 1978 after initial examinations.[3][1] Manarov's first flight launched aboard Soyuz TM-4 on 21 December 1987, pairing him with Vladimir Titov for a principal expedition to Mir that lasted 365 days, 22 hours, and 39 minutes—establishing a record for the longest single human spaceflight at the time.[4][5] During this extended stay, he conducted Earth observation experiments, material processing, and medical studies on long-duration spaceflight effects, contributing data on human physiology under microgravity.[1] His second mission in 1990 added further time in orbit, bringing his cumulative exposure to over 541 days and earning him the title Hero of the Soviet Union for advancing knowledge of prolonged space habitation.[2][3] Post-retirement in 1992, Manarov's endurance feats informed subsequent preparations for extended missions, underscoring the Soviet program's emphasis on testing human limits for future interplanetary travel.[1]