He was commander of the 180-day EuroMir 95 mission, on which European Space Agency astronauts came aboard the Russian space station Mir from September 1995 to February 1996. In 2000 he became one of the first resident crew members aboard the International Space Station, transported in a Soyuz spacecraft launched on 31 October 2000, and returning aboard the space shuttle Discovery on 18 March 2001. He was launched on 25 April 2002 on the Soyuz TM-34, which he commanded. He made two space walks during his career totalling 3 hours 37 minutes. He was selected as a cosmonaut in 1987.