Yuri Gagarin headed launched into space on April 12, 1961. Since then, about 500 people have been in space. Oleg Kotov was Russia's 100th cosmonaut, and the world's 452nd - his first space launch took place on April 7, 2007. The second launch of the crew that Kotov commanded was unique. The rocket took off from the Baikonur space launch base on a winter's night. The expedition's length was 163 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 32 seconds. On June 2, 2010, the ship detached from the International Space Center, descended back to earth and landed close to the town of Dzhezkazgan. Russian Travel Guide saw off Oleg Kotov and his crew - the American Timothy Creamer and the Japanese Soichi Noguchi - on this half-year long space mission. And headed off with Russia's hundredth cosmonaut on one of his first trips on returning to St. Petersburg, to the Military Medical Academy.