Cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyaev, 56, was the first member of the ISS crew to die.

Aleksandr Samokutyaev, flight engineer for Expedition 28, in the International Space Station’s Zvezda service section and sees the space shuttle Atlantis through the window during the STS-135 mission on July 12, 2011.

Credit: NASA

On July 10, 2011, the United States space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the space station, and for 9 days, the four planes. Astronauts of STS-135 contacted Samokutyaev and his Expedition 28 companions aboard the orbiting laboratory. It wasn’t the last time a human would visit the ISS, but it was the last mission of a 30-year program.

On August 3, 2011, Samokutyaev performed his first walk, walking outside the ISS with Volkov to transfer equipment, set up a material science experiment, and deploy a small satellite.

After 164 days of space travel, Samokutyaev returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA-21 with Borisenko and Garan, landing safely on the territory of Kazakhstan.

Cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyaev on his first space flight outside the International Space Station on Oga. 3, 2011.

Credit: Roscosmos

Samokutyaev returned to the ISS three years later, this time with Elena Serova-one of the only two female cosmonauts in the body of Roscosmos at the time and the fourth to fly in space-and NASA astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore on board the Soyuz TMA-14M. Samokutyaev spent nearly two months as the flight engineer for Expedition 41, sharing space with cosmonaut Max Surayev, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman (later of Artemis II fame), and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst of Germany.

On Oct. 22, 2014, Samokutyaev stepped outside for his second space mission, working with Surayev to dispose of unnecessary equipment and conduct a detailed inspection of the outer part of the Russian space station. In total, Samokutyaev logged 10 hours and 1 minute on his two trips.

Samokutyaev was then replaced by Serova and Wilmore on the Expedition 42 team, working with fellow 2003 cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, as well as NASA astronaut Terry Virts and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from Italy. The three returned to Earth on March 11, 2015, adding 167 days to Samokutyaev’s time in space for 331 days, 11 hours, and 23 minutes.