\<COLOUR 1> NAME: \<COLOUR 0> Vladimir Georgyevich Titov
\<COLOUR 1> DATE OF BIRTH: \<COLOUR 0> March 6, 1937
\<COLOUR 1> COUNTRY: \<COLOUR 0> USSR
\<COLOUR 1> FIRST FLIGHT: \<COLOUR 0> April 20, 1983; in Soyuz T-8
\<COLOUR 1> ACHIEVEMENTS: \<COLOUR 0> Titov and fellow cosmonaut Gennadi Strekalov become the first people to take part in an on-the- pad abort when fire breaks out during the final countdown for the lift-off of Soyuz T-10-1 on September 27, 1983; they survive when the Soyuz escape system lifts them clear of the ensuing explosion; along with Musa Manarov in Soyuz TM-4/Mir, Titov remains in space for more than a year in 1987/1988, not returning to Earth for 365 days 22 hr 39 min, thus smashing all previous space duration records.
