Novitskiy was born on October 12, 1971, in Cherven, a Belarusian town of Minsk Region. Graduated from school#2 in Cherven in 1988 and entered the Borisoglebsk Military Pilot School named after V. Chkalov. In 1994 he graduated from the Kachinskoye Military Pilot School named after A. Myasnikov, where he studied at the department specializing in command tactical aviation. Novitskiy was certified as a pilot-engineer. Between September to December 1995, Novitskiy served as a pilot-instructor in the fighter aviation regiment of V. Chkalov Training Center. From December 1995 to June 2004 he served in a variety of positions, from pilot to air squadron deputy commander at the fighter air regiment of the 1st Guard Composite Air Division of the 4th Air Army and Air DefenseArmy of the North CaucasusMilitary Command. Graduated in 2006 from the Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy specializing in military units/Air Force detachments management. After graduation from the Academy Novitskiy was a commander of an attack air squadron. By the time of selection to the Cosmonaut Corps he has mastered skills of piloting the Л-39 and Су-25 aircraft. He has logged a total of 700 hours of flight time. He is a Class 2 military pilot. Novitskiy is a qualified paratrooper instructor and military diver.
Spaceflight Experience
Novitskiy was selected as a cosmonaut in 2006.Between February 2007 to July 2009 he completed basic spaceflight training and passed state exams with excellent grades. On August 1, 2009, he was qualified as a test-cosmonaut by the Interdepartmental Qualification Board, and between August 2009 to March 2010 he took the ISS advanced training course.
Expedition 33/34
From March 2010 to May 2012 he trained as the ISS Expedition 31/32 backup crew member, the Soyuz TMA-M Commander/ISS Flight Engineer. Part of Expedition 33/34 to the international space station where he served as ISS flight engineer. He was launched to space as part of the Soyuz TMA-06M crew on October 23, 2012 and returned on March 16, 2013. Overall time in space was 143 days 16 hours and 15 minutes.
Expedition 50/51
Novitskiy returned to space as part of Expedition 50/Expedition 51 which launched on November 17, 2016 on Soyuz MS-03. On June 2, 2017, MS-03 undocked from the ISS, carrying Novitskiy and Thomas Pesquet back to Earth after 196 days in space. Peggy Whitson will remain on the ISS and return on Soyuz MS-04. MS-03 touched down just over 3 hours after undocking, concluding Novitskiy's second spaceflight
