Yuri Gidzenko was training as the commander for another Mir mission when his bosses suggested ~~ "suggested, like ordered" ~~ that he switch to the International Space Station instead. Veteran cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyev had quit the ISS Expedition One crew, and Russian space officials needed a replacement...fast. It was 1996 and the high-profile mission was just two years off, or so everyone thought.

Gidzenko agreed to take Solovyev's place as the commander of the Soyuz spacecraft and the space station's second-in-command. But he didn't stop stewing about it until he started training and traveling with his two crewmates, and grew to like them and the job. Gidzenko, 38, a Russian Air Force lieutenant colonel spent six months on Mir in 1995 and 1996...

- The Associated Press

The above training suit was worn by Yuri Gidzenko during his four years of training for the International Space Station Expedition One crew.