Valery Polyakov, who made the longest solo mission to space, has died

Valery V. Polyakov, the cosmonaut who set a world record for spending time in space on the MIR space station from Jan. 8, 1994, to March 22, 1995, enjoys a visit to the Philopappos Hill in Athens, with the ancient Parthenon in the background, on Oct. 16, 1995. Polyakov has died at age 80, Russia's space agency announced Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Aris Saris, File

Polyakov's 437-day space record began on January 8, 1994, when he and two others took off on a two-day voyage to the Soviet space station Mir. He orbited the Earth more than 7,000 times onboard Mir before landing on March 22, 1995.

Polyakov refused to be brought out of the Soyuz spacecraft after landing, as is customary practice to allow for gravity adjustments. He was assisted in climbing out and walking to a nearby transfer vehicle. Polyakov had studied medicine and intended to show that the human body could survive long durations in space.

Polyakov previously spent 288 days in space in 1988-89 on a mission. Roscosmos did not specify the cause of death in its notification.