Leonid K. Kadenyuk
Ukrainian Air Force Major Gen. Leonid K. Kadenyuk became a cosmonaut in 1976, as part of a Soviet Air Force cosmonaut team. But he was dismissed in 1983, until in 1988 Kadenyuk became a candidate for a new group of air force test pilots for Buran, the Soviet space shuttle. With Kadenyuk's previous experience training for a Soyuz mission, he joined two others for a possible Soyuz-Buran mission.
But that never happened, and any hope of spaceflight was dashed until May 1995, when the presidents of the United States and Ukraine issued a joint statement on cooperation in space, directing the National Aeronatics and Space Administration (NASA) and the then-National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU) to cooperate on a joint space shuttle mission.
In 1996, Kadenyuk (on the left) and Yaroslav I. Pustovyi (right) were selected as the candidates for the Ukraine payload specialist slot for an American space shuttle mission, which flew the Collaborative Ukrainian Experiment and the fourth United States Microgravity Payload flight as STS-87 in 1997.
Kadenyuk was the first, and to date, only, astronaut from Ukraine. He signed this picture for me at the Ukraine in Washington event, honoring among other things the 20th anniversary of the State Space Agency of Ukraine. Washington, DC, 1 Dec. 2012
Leonid K. Kadenyuk
Ukrainian Air Force Major Gen. Leonid K. Kadenyuk became a cosmonaut in 1976, as part of a Soviet Air Force cosmonaut team. But he was dismissed in 1983, until in 1988 Kadenyuk became a candidate for a new group of air force test pilots for Buran, the Soviet space shuttle. With Kadenyuk's previous experience training for a Soyuz mission, he joined two others for a possible Soyuz-Buran mission.
But that never happened, and any hope of spaceflight was dashed until May 1995, when the presidents of the United States and Ukraine issued a joint statement on cooperation in space, directing the National Aeronatics and Space Administration (NASA) and the then-National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU) to cooperate on a joint space shuttle mission.
In 1996, Kadenyuk (on the left) and Yaroslav I. Pustovyi (right) were selected as the candidates for the Ukraine payload specialist slot for an American space shuttle mission, which flew the Collaborative Ukrainian Experiment and the fourth United States Microgravity Payload flight as STS-87 in 1997.
Kadenyuk was the first, and to date, only, astronaut from Ukraine. He signed this picture for me at the Ukraine in Washington event, honoring among other things the 20th anniversary of the State Space Agency of Ukraine. Washington, DC, 1 Dec. 2012