To this date, Valery Bykovsky still holds the record for the longest solo space orbit, spending five days aboard Vostok 5 back in 1963. He was the 11th man in space and his journey aboard Vostok 5 coincided with Valentina Tereshkova’s ground- (orbit?) breaking journey. At one point, their vessels were visible to each other by the naked eye. After retiring from active duty, Bykovsky became a key figure in the USSR’s Interkosmos programme, which sought to bring space travel to other communist nations. Which is why Mongolia managed to put a man in space 10 years before the UK did.
Valery Bykovsky
2 August 1934 – 27 March 2019
Died aged 84 (unique hit)