Flight Engineer of Soyuz TM transportation vehicle
Civilian Cosmonaut-Researcher,
3rd Class,
Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center,
Russia

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:
June 12, 1949, Moscow. 

EDUCATION:
graduated from Moscow Physical and Technical Institute (MFTI) in 1973. Initially, he was a student at the faculty of Radio Engineering and Cybernetics, but in his third year he transferred to the faculty of Astrophysics and Space Research, from which he graduated as a specialist in Flight Dynamics and Spacecraft Control qualified as engineer-physicist. In 1980 he graduated from the part-time education department of the All-Union Institute of Law as a specialist in jurisprudence, and in 1981 he graduated from the home-study department of the School of Journalism of the M.V.Lomonisov Moscow State University as a specialist in journalism. In 2000 he graduated from the Higher Learning Courses of the Military Academy of the Russian Federation Armed Forces General Staff. 

FAMILY STATUS:
Wife - Polubinskaya, Svetlana Veniaminovna, b. 1954, research assistant at the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Daughter - Baturina, Alexandra Yurievna, b. 1982, a student at the Moscow State Academy of Law. 

AWARDS AND TITLES:
Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation (1998), 
he was decorated with the Order of Courage (1998), and Order of Friendship (Kazakhstan, 1998).
The laureate of the USSR Union of Journalists Prize for a significant contribution to the drafting of the USSR law on the Press and Other Mass Media (1991), 
Prize For Distinguished Contribution to the Development of the Media Law (1997), 
international legal prize Themis (1998).
Full Councilor of State of the Russian Federation, 1st Class.
Doctor of Law (1992), Dissertation on Computer law.

HOBBIES: 
mountaineering, math models of socio-political processes, analysis of song lyrics of V.Vysotsky (there is an unfinished manuscript of a book), translations of works by Lewis Carroll that have never been published in Russian before, photography, video filming - documentaries about space: "We barely made it with one nozzle left" (1997), "Stairway to the sky" (2000). 

PUBLIC WORK:
A member of USSR/RF Union of Journalists since 1990.
A member of Academic Council of the Information Security Faculty of Moscow Physical and Technical Institute (MFTI) since 1996.
A member of Scientific Council of the INDEM Foundation since 1997.
A member of the Union of Photography Artists of Russia since 1998 (he was handed the member card at the opening of his personal photo-exhibition "Brief Rendezvous with Earth" at the Polytechnical Museum on April 21, 1999; the same year he became the prize-winner of an international photo competition held by Izvestia newspaper).
A member of the Bar of the Moscow Region since 2000.

EXPERIENCE:
During the period of 1973-1980 he held various engineering positions at the Central Design Bureau for Machine Building (now S.P.Korolev RSC Energia).
During the period of 1980-1991 he was a research assistant at the Institute of State and Law of the USSR Academy of Sciences. After that, till 1994, he worked there part-time.
In 1988, he co-authored with M.Fedotov and V.Entin a draft Law of USSR on the Press and Other Mass Media (the law was passed by the USSR Supreme Soviet on June 12, 1990), and in 1991 the same team drew up and published a draft Law of Russian Federation on Mass Media passed by the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation on December 27, 1991.
During the period of May 17, 1991 through January 2, 1992 he worked as a consultant to G.H.Shakhnazarov, the aide to USSR President M.S.Gorbachev.
During the period of 1991 through 1997 he was teaching at the faculty of Journalism of the Moscow State University. In 1999 he organized there a political journalism workshop where he gives two courses.
In 1992 he organized the Mass Media Law School under the auspices of the Foundation for Protection of Glasnost, the first such school in our country. He is the head of the school.
During the period of January 3, 1992 through June 1, 1993, he was a permanent consultant for the "Itogi" ("Summary") news program of the All-Russia State TV Company Ostankino, and at the same time, during the period of June 1, 1992 through June 1, 1993, he was a legal adviser for the Chairman of the company.
During the period of March 17 through June 2, 1993 he was a member of Presidential Council. Since June 2, 1993 he was a legal aide to President of Russian Federation B.N.Yeltsin. During the period of January 6, 1964 through June 18, 1996 he was a national security aide to President of the Russian Federation.
During the period of 1995 through 1997 he was the Chairman of the Higher Military Ranks and Titles Committee.
During the period of 1995 through 1998 he was the Chairman of the Inter-departmental Committee for Chemical Disarmament.
During the period of 1996 through 1997 he was a member of Military Counsil of the Space Force. On July 25, 1996 he became a secretary of the Defense Council of the Russian Federation and an aide to the President of the Russian Federation. During the period of August 28, 1997 through February 12, 1998 he was a member of the Defense Council of the Russian Federation and an aide to the President of the Russian Federation.
Since September 1997 he is a correspondent, and since 1999 he is a commentator of the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper.
Till 1998 he taught at the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Affairs. As of December 2000 he is professor at MFTI (Political analysis with elements of mathematical modeling of political processes), and holds the chair of Computer Law at Moscow Engineering and Physical Institute.
Since January 1996 he has been taking some of the training courses under the general cosmonaut training program. In September 1997 the State Medical Board cleared him for special training.
On March 26, 1998, upon completion of the general cosmonaut training, he started training specifically for a mission under the program of Mir Expedition-26 as a cosmonaut-researcher of the primary crew.
On April 30, 1998 he was appointed a cosmonaut-researcher of the cosmonaut corps of the Cosmonaut Training Center.
His flew his first mission on August 13 through 25, 1998, as a cosmonaut-researcher on-board Soyuz TM-28 and Mir space station under the program of Expedition-26 together with G.Padalka and S.Avdeev. He returned to Earth on-board Soyuz TM-27 together with T.Musabaev and N.Budarin. The mission duration was 12 days.
In 1999 he was appointed an instructor cosmonaut researcher, and on June 1, 2000, he was appointed a deputy commander of the cosmonaut corps for research and testing.
Since June 12, 2000, he was training for a mission as flight engineer under program of Mir Expedition-29 together with T.Musabaev.