Specializing in aircraft manufacturing, Budarin graduated from the night-time education department of Ordzhonikidze Moscow Aviation Institute in 1979 with a mechanical engineering diploma.

Budarin occupied various engineering positions at NPO Energia where he was involved in experimental investigations and testing of space technology.

From February 1991 to December 1993, he took an advanced training course for the Soyuz-TM transport vehicle and the Mir Station flight.

From 27 June to 11 September 1995, Budarin participated in a space mission as a board engineer of the 19th long-term Mir expedition.

The Soyuz capsule carrying Budarin and cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyev landed on 11 September 1995 at 06:52:40 UTC, 108 km north east of Arkalyk.

From 28 January to 25 August 1998, he participated in a space mission as a board engineer of the 25th long-term expedition aboard the Mir orbital station.

The Soyuz TM-27 spacecraft with Budarin, cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev and ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 29 January 1998, at 16:33:42 UTC.

[4] One experiment called Diatomeya involved observation of ocean surface in order to determine regions best suited for fishing.

Budarin returned to Earth onboard the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft with NASA astronauts Kenneth Bowersox and Donald Pettit.

He and fellow cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev started repairing a solar panel damaged in the collision between Mir and the Progress M-34 supply ship.

While the two spacewalkers were struggling with installing a brace on the solar panel, Mir suddenly went to free drift and began turning away from the sun.

During Expedition 6, on 15 January 2003, Budarin was supposed to join NASA astronaut Kenneth Bowersox in a six-hour spacewalk outside the ISS.

However, after failing to meet U.S standards in tests on a stationary bicycle in December 2002, NASA barred him from making a spacewalk citing medical reasons.

[10] The claim was rejected by the Russian authorities, which pronounced Budarin was healthy despite NASA concerns about cardiovascular "peculiarities".

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.