Maksim Surayev Status: Retired 5/24/1972 – Nationality: Russian Type: Government Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Maksim Viktorovich Surayev (Russian: Максим Викторович Сураев, born May 24, 1972) is a retired Russian cosmonaut and politician. From December 1997 to November 1999, Surayev completed basic space training. In November 1999 he was qualified as a test-cosmonaut. From January 2000 he was in ISS advanced training. From March 2006 until April 2008 Surayev was assigned as a backup ISS Expedition 17 crewmember. From April 2008 until March 2009 he was a member of the ISS Expedition 19 backup crew.