With his published research and time in space, Atkov holds two of the USSR's highest honors; the Order of Lenin and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After his studies at the university, he worked on postgraduate training and received from the Russian Academy of Medical sciences his doctorate in cardiology.

He gained some fame in his field when he discovered a method to diagnose cardiovascular diseases using ultrasound.

As a cardiologist, it was his duty to monitor the health of the other cosmonauts on board and to research the long term effects of zero gravity on the human body.

The crew consisted of Oleg Atkov (Cosmonaut Researcher), member Leonid Kizim (the commander), and Vladimir Solovyov (the Flight-Engineer).

As the cardiologist, Atkov brought with him his own invention—a portable ultrasound cardiograph—which he would use to oversee the crew's health throughout their time in space.

[5] The initiative for this team was to continue a major medical task that would advance the study of the acute stage of adaptation to weightlessness, phenomenology, and mechanisms of changes in hemodynamics, metabolism, and other functions.

At the end of the Soyuz T-10 expedition, Atkov had estimated a total of 87 days spent on flight dedicated to medical work.

[5] Atkov's decision led to the return to the Myasnikov Institute of Clinical Cardiology, where he became Head of Department of new diagnostic methods.

[1] After Atkov's time in space, he decided to dedicate most of his work towards the Russian railways and cardiology.

Atkov has now been a part of 15 projects that produced a new type of technology to help with cardiology research.

Another notable invention was the Photogrammetrical plotting projector apparatus for radial nadir point triangulation.

In August 2005 he was promoted to be the Vice-President Russian Railways JSC while keeping his responsibility and focus in healthcare.

He answered the question by saying that we need to focus on returning to the Moon, but with a different goal than the space race that occurred half a century prior.

He told the interviewer that space exploration used to be two superpower nations, the United States and the Soviet Union, racing against each other.

Additionally, he added that there should be a focus on reaching Mars as well, but that those two goals should be prepared in safe conditions because of the known hazards that will be found.

These studies included coronary heart disease research, The Variations of Intrathoracic Amount of Blood as a Reason of ECG Voltage Changes, and several other projects.

Oleg Atkov, and other scientist conducted a research titled the Coronary heart disease diagnosis by artificial neural networks including genetic polymorphisms and clinical parameters.

Atkov, MD, PhDa, Svetlana G. Gorokhova, MD, PhDb, Alexandr G. Sboev, PhDc, Eduard V. Generozov, PhDd, Elena V. Muraseyeva, MD, PhDe, Svetlana Y. Moroshkinad, and Nadezhda N. Cherniyc.“The goal of this study was to develop an artificial neural networks-based diagnostic model for coronary heart disease using traditional and genetic factors of CHD (Coronary heart disease).

The models that had less than a 90% accuracy could potentially serve as a basis for development of software tools for diagnosis and predictors for CHD.

Oleg Atkov participated in a study titled The Variations of Intrathoracic Amount of Blood as a Reason of ECG Voltage Changes.

Marina Saltykova Ph.D.1, Andre Capderou M.D., Ph.D.2, Oleg Atkov M.D.1, Victor Gusakov M.S.3, Gennagiy Konovalov M.S.3, Leonid Voronin M.D.3, Rustem Kaspranskiy M.D.3, Valeriy Morgun M.D.3, Olivier Bailliart M.D., Ph.D.4, Milan Cermack M.D.5 and Pierre Vaïda M.D.6 were the members of this team.

“The main goal of the study was to estimate the influence of the variations of thoracic electroconduction, and heart volume on QRS voltage in humans due to gravity change.”[10] The balance between changes of degree of short circuiting by changes in the amount of blood in thorax and the changes of distance between heart and electrodes as a result of position, form, and volume of the heart are what influence the steadiness.

After Atkov's time in space, he dedicated most of his work towards the Russian railways and cardiology.

The main objective was to create something that could hold and maneuver an Echocardiograph and an Electrocardiograph at the same time while not being in the way of physicians.

Another notable invention was the Photogrammetrical plotting projector apparatus for radial nadir point triangulation.

Atkov has been a part of many other cardiology technology developments but most were small or did not impact the cardiology field as much as the device for positioning a cardiograph sensor or the Photogrammetrical plotting projector apparatus for radial nadir point triangulation.