Yelena Kondakova
Astronaut
Russian cosmonaut and the first woman to make a lengthy voyage into space. She flew on the 1994-1995 Soyuz TM-20 mission and later joined the crew of a 1997 NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis mission.
She graduated from Moscow Bauman High Technical College in 1980 with a degree in mechanical engineering.
She flew two spaceflights and stayed five months aboard the Mir Space Station.
She married fellow cosmonaut Valeri Ryumin.
Her second spaceflight on STS-84 was commanded by Charles J. Precourt.