Alexander Vladimirovich Shchukin
Alexander Wladimirowitsch Schtschukin ( Russian Александр Владимирович Щукин , born January 19, 1946 in Vienna , † August 18, 1988 in Zhukovsky , Moscow Oblast , Russian SFSR) was a Soviet pilot and aspiring cosmonaut . He died in a plane crash before he could take off on a space flight.
Life
Shchukin was born in Vienna, where his father was doing military service at the time .
Shchukin was a civilian test pilot at the Mikhail Gromov University of Flight Research (LII). In 1970 he graduated from the Higher Military Aviation School in Katschinsk and the test pilot school in Zhukovsky . In 1977 he was selected as a cosmonaut for the Buran program . In 1980 he graduated from the Moscow State Aviation Institute MAI. With the self-launching Buran prototype OK-GLI , he carried out three taxi tests and five flights, including one with a fully automatic landing. He usually formed a crew with Anatoly Levchenko . Since the Buran flights were delayed, like Levchenko, he was also prepared for Soyuz missions. He was Anatoly Levchenko's potential replacement for the Soyuz TM-4 flight . Shchukin was killed on August 18, 1988 in the LII when a Su-26M aerobatic plane crashed. His grave is in the Bykowo cemetery in Zhukovsky, right next to the grave of Anatoly Levchenko, who died of a brain tumor just 12 days before him.
Private
Shchukin was married and had two children.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Shchukin, Alexander Vladimirovich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Shchukin, Alexander |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Soviet pilot and cosmonaut |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 19, 1946 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna , Austria |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 18, 1988 |
| Place of death | Zhukovsky , Moscow Oblast , Soviet Union |