Valery Bykovsky

Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky (cyrillic Валерий Федорович Быковский), born August 2 1934 in Moscow, was a cosmonaut who flew three space flights - Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, and Soyuz 31. He was also backup for Vostok 3 and Soyuz 37.

Bykovsky set a new space endurance record when he spent five days in orbit aboard Vostok 5 in 1963, and although this record has been long surpassed, to this day, it remains the space endurance record for a solo flight.

Many of his later years in the space programme were involved with promoting the intercosmos programme amongst the world's Socialist nations. He retired in 1988 and then spent three years as the Director of the House of Soviet Science and Culture in Berlin.