Ivan Vagner

Ivan Vagner
Born	(1985-07-10)July 10, 1985 Severoonezhsk,Soviet Union
Status	Active
Nationality	Russian
Space career
Roscosmoscosmonaut
Time in space	228 days, 5 hours, 28 minutes (currently in space)
Selection	2010 RSA Group
Missions	Soyuz MS-16(Expedition 62/63) Soyuz MS-26(Expedition 71/72)
Mission insignia

Ivan Viktorovich Vagner(born 10 July 1985) is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut who was selected in October 2010. He graduated from theBaltic State Technical Universityin 2008, before working as an engineer forRKK Energia.

He began his first spaceflight in April 2020 as a flight engineer onSoyuz MS-16and Expedition 62/63.

Early life and education

Vagner was born on 10 July 1985 in theSeveroonezhskvillage in theArkhangelskregion of Russia. He attended North-Onega secondary school from 1993 to 2003 before going on to study engineering atBaltic State Technical University.In 2009 he graduated from Baltic State with a master's degree inAeronautical Engineering.

Engineering career

From 2007, Vagner worked as a design engineer forKlimov JSC,a Russian company that buildsGas-turbine enginesfor military and civil aircraft. The following year he went on to work atRSC Energiaas an engineer, working as an assistant flight manager for theInternational Space Station programfrom February 2009 until his selection as a cosmonaut in October 2010.

Cosmonaut career

Vagner graduated basic spaceflight training in 2012. In January 2016 he was assigned to the crew of ISSExpedition 53/54but was removed from the flight in September 2016 due to crew cutbacks on theRussian Orbital Segmenton the ISS caused by delays with the launch of theNaukalaboratory module.

Expedition 62/63

Vagner was assigned to back up to Russian Flight EngineerAndrei BabkinonboardSoyuz MS-16,scheduled to launch in April 2020. However, in February 2020 Babkin and spacecraft commanderNikolai Tikhonovwere removed from the flight due to a temporary health condition with Tikhonov, subsequently Vagner andAnatoli Ivanishin(Tikhonov's backup) were moved forward onto the prime crew.

He, alongside Ivanishin and NASA astronautChristopher Cassidy,launched successfully arriving in orbit and docking with the ISS six hours later on 9 April 2020, officially joining the Expedition 62 crew alongside Roscosmos cosmonautOleg Skripochkaand NASA astronautsJessica MeirandAndrew Morgan.Following a very short hand over period, Skripochka, Meir and Morgan departed the station aboardSoyuz MS-15leaving Vagner and his two crew mates on board the station as Expedition 63, with Cassidy taking command.

Expedition 62, following the arrival of Soyuz MS-16.

During Expedition 63, Vagner and his two crewmates were scheduled to be on board the ISS for the arrival of a number of visiting crewed vehicles. The Expedition 63 crew welcomed theCrew Dragon Demo-2mission for a stay on board the station on 31 May 2020.This flight marked the first crewed test flight ofSpaceXCrew Dragonspacecraft and the first crewed orbital spacecraft to launch from US soil sinceSTS-135,the final flight of theSpace Shuttle program,in 2011.The mission was crewed by NASA astronautsDoug HurleyandRobert Behnken,who remained on board the ISS for two months.Expedition 63 was joined by Russian cosmonautsSergey RyzhikovandSergey Kud-Sverchkov,as well as NASA astronautKathleen Rubins,who launched aboardSoyuz MS-17on 14 October 2020.

Vagner trains as the backupSoyuz MS-25commander.

Awards

On 5 April 2022, Vagner was awarded the titleHero of the Russian Federation.