Reading. Read the article about T

Read the article about T. Musabayev and answer the questions.

1. How many space missions did he fly?

2. What Institute did he graduate from?

3. How long did his first spaceflight last?

4. When was he appointed head of KazCosmos?

Talgat Amangeldyuly Musabayev was born on January 7, 1951, inKargaly city, Kazakhstan. He is a Kazakh test pilot and an astronaut who flew on three spaceflights.

Musabayev graduated from Engineering Institute of Civil Aviation in Riga in 1974. Then in 1983 he graduated from Higher Military Aviation School in Akhtubinsk, with an engineering diploma. Musabayev received several awards as an aerobatic flyer and was selected as a cosmonaut on May 11, 1990. In 1991, he was appointed to Major and transferred to the astronaut group of Air Force (TsPK-11). On 11 May, 1990 Musabayev was selected to be an astronaut.

His first spaceflight was as a crew member of the long-duration mission Mir EO-16, which was launched and landed by the spacecraft Soyuz TM-19. Musabayev was designated Flight Engineer; the mission lasted from July 1, 1994 to November 4, 1994, for a total duration of 125 days 22 hours 53 minutes.His second spaceflight was as Commander of another long-duration expedition called Mir EO-25, which was launched by the spacecraft Soyuz TM-27. The mission lasted from January 29, 1998 to 25 August 25, 1998, for a total duration of 207 days 12 hours 49 minutes.

His third mission was as Commander of ISS EP-1, which was a visiting mission to the International Space Station. It was launched by Soyuz TM-32, and was landed by Soyuz TM-31 on May 6, 2001, for a total duration of 7 days 22 hours 4 minutes. This visiting mission was notable for carrying the first ever paying space touristDennis Tito.

In 2007 he was among the top 30 cosmonauts by time in space.

He became a deputy head of the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy and was appointed Major- General in September 2003. In the same year he retired as a cosmonaut. From 2005 to 2007 he was General Director of "Bayterek" Corp. which was a Kazakhstani-Russian Joint Venture.

On 11 April 2007 Musabayev was appointed Head of the National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, also known as KazCosmos. He is married and has two children.