Background
His father is Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Skvortsov, born in 1942 and his mother is Nina Ivanovna Skvortsova (Zabelina), born in 1938.
Astronaut aviator ISS Expedition Commander
His father is Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Skvortsov, born in 1942 and his mother is Nina Ivanovna Skvortsova (Zabelina), born in 1938.
Skvortsov graduated from the Stavropol Air Force Pilot and Navigator School (located at Stavropol Shpakovskoye Airport) as pilot-engineer in 1987, and in 1997 from the Military Red Banner Air Defense Academy. Currently he is working towards a law degree at the Russian Academy of Civil Service.
He has had one spaceflight, which was a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station. His spaceflight took place from April to September 2010, and was launched with the spacecraft Soyuz Turnaround Management Association-18. He arrived at the station part way through Expedition 23, of which Oleg Kotov was the Commander.
When Expedition 24 began in June, Skvortsov became Commander.
Skvortsov flew L-39, MiG-23 and Su-27 aircraft as a pilot, senior pilot and chief of aircraft formation. Skvortsov has logged around 1000 hours of flight time.
He is a Class 1 Air Force pilot, a qualified diver and paraborne instructor. Skvortsov completed basic space training from January 1998 to November 1999.
He was qualified as a test-cosmonaut in November, 1999.
Starting January 2000 he was in International Space Station advanced training. In March 2008, Skvortsov was assigned to the Expedition 21/22 backup crew as a flight engineer and Soyuz Turnaround Management Association commander. Expedition 23/24 Skvortsov served as a Flight Engineer for the International Space Station (ISS) on Expedition 23.
He traveled to the ISS aboard Soyuz Turnaround Management Association-18 along with fellow Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko and National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, on April 2, 2010 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
He celebrated his 44 birthday in space aboard the ISS on May 6, 2010. Skvortsov was the commander of the ISS Expedition 24.
At the traditional "Change of Command" ceremony held on May 31, 2010, aboard the ISS Expedition 23 commander Oleg Kotov handed over his duties to Skvortsov. Ending Expedition 24, the Soyuz Turnaround Management Association-18 spacecraft carrying Commander Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson undocked from the space station at 10:02 p.m.
EDT on September 24, 2010.
Following a normal descent, the Soyuz crew landed at 5:23 a.m. GMT near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on September 25. After returning to Earth and sharing his experiences to an audience, Skvorsov said "I love spicy food, I make really hot chili sauce myself.
I missed it badly.
I finished off all the spicy ketchup stock on the ISS and shocked everyone by making and eating wasabi sandwiches. That"s my fuel, as good as a rocket"s". Expedition 39/40 Skvortsov returned to space aboard Soyuz Turnaround Management Association-12M, along with Oleg Artemyev and Steven Swanson, as a flight engineer on the Expedition 39 crew.
The mission launched on March 25, 2014, and landed on September 11, 2014.