Grigory Grigoryevich Nelyubov

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Grigory Nelyubov
Country: Soviet UnionSoviet Union Soviet Union
Organization: AWMF
selected on March 7, 1960
( 1st cosmonaut group )
Calls: 0 space flights
retired on April 17, 1963
(disciplinary offense)

Grigori Grigoryevich Neljubow ( Russian Григорий Григорьевич Нелюбов ; born March  31, 1934 in Porfirjewka, Crimea , RSFSR ; †  February 18, 1966 near Vladivostok ) was a Soviet military pilot and cosmonaut . He was released from the Soviet space program in 1963 and did not go on a space flight . Nelyubov was a captain and pilot in the Soviet naval forces .

He was selected on March 7, 1960 as one of 20 pilots for the first cosmonaut group in the Soviet Union . When in May 1960 six candidates were nominated for the first flights of the Vostok program , Nelyubov was not one of them, but moved up in July for Anatoly Kartashov , who left for health reasons. Yuri Gagarin , German Titow and Neljubow were the first three candidates.

For the missions Vostok 1 and Vostok 2 Neljubow was selected as a second substitute (support team) for Gagarin and Titow respectively. For the double start of Vostok 3 and Vostok 4 Neljubow was no longer nominated as a substitute or for the support team.

On March 27, 1963, Neljubow, Anikejew and Filatjew were arrested drunk on the Chkalovsky military airfield for improper behavior . According to reports, if the cosmonauts apologized, the patrolling security forces were ready to overlook the incident, but Nelyubov refused. The incident was reported to the authorities. Since there were previous incidents, all three cosmonauts were released on April 17, 1963 (officially not until May 4, 1963). Nelyubov was never in space.

After his release, he went back to the air interceptors in Siberia , but drank a lot and fell into depression. He died on February 18, 1966, northwest of Vladivostok , when he stepped in front of a train while drunk. His death was officially classified as a suicide.

In order to protect the reputation of the space program, efforts were made to cover up the reason for the dismissal of Nelyubov and his death. So his picture was removed from the photos of the Six of Sochi , on which some Soviet spaceship candidates were depicted.

In 2007, the Roskosmos television studio released the documentary He Could Have Been First. The drama of the cosmonaut Neljubow (Russian: Он мог быть первым. Драма космонавта Нелюбова) filmed, in which u. a. the widow of Nelyubov has a say.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.vectorsite.net/tamrc_12.html
  2. ↑ James Oberg: Soviet Space Propaganda: Doctored Cosmonaut Photos. Wired, April 12, 2011, accessed September 28, 2012 .
  3. ↑ The film on the website of TV Roskosmos (Russian), accessed on December 14, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Nelyubov, Grigory Grigoryevich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Soviet military pilot and aspiring cosmonaut
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Porfiryevka , Crimea , Ukrainian SSR
DATE OF DEATH 18th February 1966
Place of death near Vladivostok