Russian cosmonaut Valery Ryumin, who flew in space four times and set space-endurance records on Soviet missions, has died at the age of 82.
Ryumin flew aboard the space stations Salyut-7 and Mir after becoming a cosmonaut in 1973. He logged a total of 371 days in space in two short missions and two record-setting long-duration flights.
"We have lost a comrade and a friend,” Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roskosmos space agency, said in a statement on June 7.
"This is an irreparable loss for all of us. I express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Valery Viktorovich. The memory of him will forever remain in our hearts."
Ryumin made his last flight on a Soviet capsule in 1980, then returned to space 18 years later on the U.S. space shuttle Discovery when it docked with Mir.
Ryumin will be buried on June 9 at a military cemetery outside Moscow, TASS reported. He is survived by his wife and fellow cosmonaut, Yelena Kondakova.
