The First And Last Marriage In Space

The love story of Ekaterina Dmitriev and Yuri Malenchenko made history on August 10, 2003, as they exchanged vows while Malenchenko floated 250 miles above her in space. The first-ever space wedding took place via satellite link, with Dmitriev at NASA's headquarters in Houston, Texas, and Malenchenko on the International Space Station.

Dmitriev donned a white dress and jewelry for the occasion, posing beside a life-sized cardboard cutout of her new husband wearing his space suit and bow tie. Malenchenko dialed into a video link, blowing a kiss to his bride, who reciprocated.

The wedding was not planned in such a groundbreaking way, according to the BBC, as their original wedding date was set before Malenchenko's extended time in space. Instead, they opted for a space wedding, without the 200 guests planned to attend the original ceremony.

Edward Lu, another astronaut on the ISS, acted as best man, playing the wedding march on a portable keyboard. Dmitriev referred to their relationship as having a "celestial, soulful connection," as they met at a party celebrating Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight.

Malenchenko, who had made multiple trips into space and performed multiple spacewalks, was named after Gagarin and received Russia's highest honor, the Hero of the Russian Federation award.



The couple was used to a long-distance relationship as Dmitriev lived in the US, and Malenchenko trained for spaceflight in Russia. Their marriage was approved by Russia, but the country did not grant permission for other cosmonauts to marry while in space, making their achievement unusual. The ISS re-emerged into sunlight as Dmitriev walked down the aisle to a David Bowie song, orbiting the earth south of New Zealand, as reported by NBC.