First cosmonaut group in the Soviet Union

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The first cosmonaut group in the Soviet Union was put together in the spring of 1960 from 20 air force pilots. They were to form the crews of the manned spaceships in Soviet space travel . Twelve of them came to one or more space flights.

background

With the launch of the artificial satellite Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the era of space travel began . In both the United States and the Soviet Union , there were government space programs whose goal was to get a person into space . The US space agency NASA selected seven pilots as potential space travelers in April 1959 . The Soviet Union also had to select suitable candidates for manned space flights.

selection

The human factor for a space flight was never underestimated by the officials, and so in early 1959 a meticulous search for suitable candidates and a strict selection procedure began. The selection was supported by the Department of Space Medicine, which was set up by the head of the Soviet Air Force , Konstantin Vershinin , a great proponent and supporter of space travel, under the direction of Prof. Vladimir Jasdowski . More than 3000 pilots were checked by the "Commission for Topic No. 6" (the camouflage designations were necessary due to the strict secrecy of the entire space program) in the course of 1959 and up to 400 men were removed from the list. The decisive factor in recruiting was a critical look at the pilots' files. So you had to have a "pure" relationship with the party and have a "clean" biography. Only people with a flawless past would ultimately allow themselves to be used for propaganda purposes as one imagined at the time.

The 400 chosen were divided into groups of 20 and examined in more detail in Moscow in autumn 1959. Most of them were disqualified due to a lack of perseverance, so that finally only 30 candidates remained, whose number was reduced again to 20 in January 1960 and who were finally presented as the first cosmonaut group. Up until that point in time, the actual purpose of their selection had been withheld from all recruits, as they did not want to take any risks and the national security and international prestige were perceived as threatening the efforts to achieve the fastest possible success.

The 20 pilots who formed the first group of cosmonauts in the Soviet Union on February 25, 1960, were ( cosmonauts without space flight are listed in italics):

As a major , Belyayev was the highest-ranking and oldest candidate at 34, and Lieutenant Bondarenko was the youngest at 23. Lieutenant Leonov had the lowest rank. With the exception of Rafikov ( Kyrgyz SSR ), all candidates came from the Russian or Ukrainian Soviet Republic .

education

The 20 candidates began a kind of basic training in March 1960 at Moscow's central airport "MW Frunze". Theoretical classes mainly consisted of lessons in physics, celestial mechanics, rocket science and biology, especially medicine. The training was led by space theorists, rocket scientists and designers from OKB-1. Curiously, there were also some of the instructors who later flew into space themselves: for example Makarov , Jelissejew and Feoktistow . The practical training consisted of parachuting, flights with the MiG-15 UTI (with which Gagarin had a fatal accident in 1968), parabolic flights with a Tupolev Tu-104 , but also from nerve-wracking stays in isolated baroque chambers .

The spacemen were followed at every turn and every deficiency was recorded by the instructors, the mental and physical condition closely followed during the training. The training itself no longer corresponds to today's methods, because at that time, due to a lack of knowledge about the influences of weightlessness on the human organism, the training units could not be designed "space-friendly".

Since an expansion of the entire manned space program was foreseeable, a decision by the Central Committee of the CPSU was initiated on January 11, 1960, to establish a central cosmonaut training center. The basic infrastructure in Svyosdny Gorodok (Star City), 40 kilometers northeast of Moscow, had already been created in the summer of this year, and training could be started there, much better hidden from the public. The ZPK (Zentr Podgotowki Kosmonawtow, today Yuri Gagarin cosmonaut training center ) was from now on the center of efforts for a manned space flight and the training units were intensified in order to further narrow down the circle of possible cosmonauts in spe. The first head of the ZPK was Colonel Yevgeny Karpov , and from then on Nikolai Kamanin headed the cosmonaut training , already a hero of the Soviet Union due to his services as a pilot at that time .

The Vostok flights

Six for Vostok

All work went according to plan, training progressed and the aircraft was already ready, so that in December 1960 the aim was to usher in the age of human presence in space. On May 31, six of the 20 candidates were selected to participate in the Vostok program. These were Gagarin, Titov, Nikolayev, Popovich, Kartaschow and Varlamow. The remaining 14 recruits did not drop out of the training program, but were not specially trained in the Vostok simulator, which happened from July. On June 18, the candidates were taken to the Kuibyshev manufacturing plant, where they saw the Vostok spacecraft for the first time and was shown by Sergei Korolev , the chief designer.

Although everything went according to plan up to then, several unforeseeable events occurred at that point in time, which curtailed and changed the cosmonaut group and disrupted the entire planning. First, Anatoly Kartaschow was disqualified and, after a centrifuge test on July 16 found a vascular tear in the spine, was replaced by Neljubow and put back. It was not completely removed from the space program until April 7, 1962, after it was found to be unsuitable for overloading.

On July 24, 1960, Valentin Varlamow injured himself on a bathing trip as a result of a diving head on the cervical spine and was replaced by Bykowski. From then on, Varlamov was the trainer of the ZPK in astronavigation.

The six Vostok candidates were now Gagarin, Titow, Nikolajew, Popowitsch, Bykowski and Neljubow.

A serious and fatal accident occurred on March 23, 1961, just a short time before the start of Gagarin, in an isolation chamber of the ZPK. Candidate Bondarenko was killed in a self-inflicted fire. The incident was hushed up because of the feared “harmful” rubs off the image of the successful Soviet achievements in space travel up to 1986.

After their exams on January 17th and 18th, the six applicants were symbolically awarded the title (“Aviator) Cosmonaut”, but were not allowed to call themselves that publicly, as the members of the cosmonaut group were also obliged to maintain secrecy. Ultimately, it was a matter of choosing from among the six remaining people who, on the one hand, showed the best test results, but, on the other hand, could also be used by the propaganda machine with charm and character.

General Kamanin gave Yuri Gagarin to understand at the end of March that he should hope to be the first to fly into space. Gagarin excelled in all disciplines by always being among the top performers and not having any areas in which he was weak. At the same time, he had a strong, but by no means arrogant character, as was the case, for example, with Nelyubov, the second substitute for Vostok 1 and 2. Mentally, he could hardly cope with not being the first, did not move up as the first substitute on the flight from Titov and after that, by order of Kamanin, did not receive any further flight nominations. A joint excess of alcohol in March 1963 with Anikeiev and Filatiev led to the dismissal of all three candidates from the cosmonaut corps. While Anikjew and Filatjew continued their careers in the armed forces, Nelyubov could not cope with his transfer to the Far East and died on February 18, 1966 when he was hit by a train at the Ippalitowka train station in Siberia . It could not be clearly established whether an accident occurred or whether he committed suicide.

Yuri Gagarin, who undertook the first manned space flight with Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, became known and famous .

Vostok 2 to 6

The first six Soviet spacemen. V. l. To the right: Popowitsch (Wostok 4), Gagarin (Wostok 1), Tereschkowa (Wostok 6, not from the first cosmonaut group), Nikolajew (Wostok 3), Bykowski (Wostok 5), Titow (Wostok 2)

In 1961 the second Soviet space flight was carried out with Vostok 2 . Titov was nominated as a spaceman, his substitute was Nikolayev, who was allowed to raise hopes for the next flight.

In August 1962, the first double flight in space history was carried out with Vostok 3 and Vostok 4 . The pilots were Nikolayev and Popovich, their substitutes were Bykowski and Komarov.

With Bykowski, the last of the pre-nominated "Six for Vostok" was still waiting to be used, while Komarow was a candidate from the second row.

Bykowski came to his space flight with Vostok 5 in June 1963 , but Vostok 6 was not occupied by Komarow, but with Valentina Tereschkowa from the cosmonaut group composed especially for this flight , which consisted of five parachutists.

In 1962 and 1963 the first cosmonaut group had decimated significantly. Following the death of Bondarenko and the injuries of Kartashov and Varlamov, four candidates were expelled from the group on disciplinary grounds: Nelyubov, Anikeiev, Filatiev and Rafikov. Thus 13 of the original 20 candidates were left. Eight of them were still waiting for their first space flight.

Vozhod

After the end of the Vostok program, several flights with multi-seat Vozhod spaceships were to be carried out from 1964 .

A protracted dispute arose over the crew between Kamanin, the head of cosmonaut training, and Korolev, the chief designer. While Kamanin was defending his pilots as cosmonauts, Korolyov pushed for engineers to fly. He also tried to push veteran pilot Georgi Beregowoi into the cosmonaut group. Beregowoi was much older than the other cosmonauts and found it difficult to integrate into the existing group.

Komarov was finally accepted as the commander of Vozhod 1 ; his substitute was Wolynov. The other two crew members and their substitutes had only undergone brief training as spacemen. Only Feoktistow remained in the cosmonaut squad after the flight, but was always a controversial candidate.

The first space exit was to take place on the flight of Vozhod 2 . Both the crew (Belyayev and Leonow) and the substitutes (Gorbatko, Chrunow, Saikin) consisted of cosmonauts of the first group.

Another Vozhod flight, Vozhod 3, was planned but never operated without ever being officially canceled. In the course of time, eight cosmonauts were discussed as a crew. From the first group of cosmonauts, these were Wolynow, Schonin, Gorbatko and Chrunow.

Soyuz

Unsuccessful maiden flight

The maiden flight of the new Soyuz spacecraft took place in April 1967. A double flight with a transfer of two cosmonauts from Soyuz 2A to Soyuz 1 was planned . Both commanders (Komarow and Bykowski) should come from the first cosmonaut group, as well as another cosmonaut (Chrunow). The fourth crew member was to be an engineer. The same classification also applied to the substitutes: Gagarin and Nikolajew as commanders, and Gorbatko as another member of the crew. As planned, Komarov took off with Soyuz 1 and was the first cosmonaut to come on a second mission. Because of the massive technical problems with the flight of Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2A had to stay on the ground. Soyuz 1 crashed on landing due to parachute failure, Komarov was killed.

More Soyuz flights

When the Soyuz program was resumed, the cosmonauts of the first selection group had to assert themselves not only against the engineers like Yelissejew and Kubasow, but also against pilots from later selection groups like Shatalov and Filipchenko, who had joined the cosmonaut corps in 1963.

However, due to several group flights, the need for cosmonauts was relatively high, so that further members of the first selection group came to their nominations.

During the double flight of Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 , Wolynow and Chrunow came on their first mission, Schonin and Gorbatko were substitutes.

Schonin and Gorbatko came on their first assignment on the group flight from Soyuz 6 , 7 and 8 . Vostok veteran Nikolayev was a substitute for Soyuz 8 and flew into space for the second time during the long-term flight of Soyuz 9 .

The last active cosmonaut of the first group was Saikin . He had been the substitute commander of Woschod 2 , but had to leave the cosmonaut corps in October 1969 for medical reasons.

Leonov undertook further flights in 1975 as part of the Apollo Soyuz test project and Bykovsky in 1976 with the Soyuz 22 earth observation mission .

Salyut and Almas

After the Soviet lunar program had been gradually scaled back from 1969 and was finally abandoned, Soviet space travel increasingly concentrated on the operation of space stations .

Leonov, Bykovsky, and Wolynov were originally intended to be commanders of the Salyut 1 and Salyut 2A crews . By replacing the crew of Soyuz 11 shortly before take-off, Leonov had to forego the flight to Salyut 1 that was intended for him. The substitute team that was flying instead was killed on the return of Salyut 1. This catastrophe and the false start of Salyut 2A then also prevented the use of Wolynow and Bykowski.

From 1974 Popowitsch ( Salyut 3 and Almas 2), Wolynow ( Salyut 5 and Almas 3), Bykowski ( Salyut 6 ) and Gorbatko (Salyut 5 and 6) were in use on space stations. Chrunov was a substitute for a visit with Soyuz 38 on Salyut 6, but was not deployed and received no further assignments. Gorbatko's assignment as commander of Soyuz 37 / Soyuz 36 in the intercosm mission with Phạm Tuân ended the space flights of the first cosmonaut group.

Retirement

When, in the course of 1982, 22 years after their appointment, Bykowski, Leonow, Nikolajew, Popowitsch and Gorbatko resigned as active cosmonauts, only Volynov remained in active service. With his departure in 1990, the last cosmonaut of the first selection group ended his space travel career after 30 years. Only John Young , with more than 42 years of service, served as an astronaut for longer.

While all astronauts in the first US selection group (the " Mercury Seven ") flew into space, only twelve of the 20 candidates originally selected from the first Soviet selection group actually became space travelers. One of them (Bondarenko) died during the preparations, three others (Kartaschow, Saikin, Varlamow) were unfit for medical reasons. In addition, four of them (Anikeev, Filatjew, Neljubow, Rafikow) were expelled for disciplinary offenses in 1962 and 1963.

Volynov is the last surviving member of the astronauts appointed to the group in 1960 (as of February 2020), while Saikin died in 2013 as the last candidate without a space flight.

See also

Web links

literature

  • Colin Burgess, Rex Hall: The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team. Their Lives and Legacies. Springer, 2008, ISBN 978-0387848235 .