Valeri Ivanovich Tokarev (Russian: Валерий Иванович Токарев; born October 29, 1952) is a Russian Air Force Colonel and test cosmonaut at the Yuri A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Tokarev traveled to space twice, and has performed two career spacewalks, before retiring in June 2008.
STS-96 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery, and the first shuttle flight to dock with the International Space Station. The shuttle carried the Spacehab module in the payload, filled with cargo for station outfitting. STS-96 launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 27 May 1999 at 06:49:42 AM EDT.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TMA-7 begins Expedition 12 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Valery Tokarev alongside Flight Engineers, William McArthur (NASA) & spaceflight participant Gregory Olsen (Space Adventures) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on April 8, 2006, 23:48:00 UTC
Low Earth OrbitThe Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.