On March 17, 1995, he was selected as a member of Crew 2, the backup crew for the Euromir 95 mission, joining Gennadi Manakov and Pavel Vinogradov.
Den 17. marts 1995 blev han valgt som medlem af backup-holdet for Euromir 95-missionen, der allerede talte Gennadi Manakov og Pavel Vinogradov.