The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team
Their Lives, Legacy, and Historical Impact
Colin Burgess and Rex Hall
The First Soviet
Cosmonaut Team
Their Lives, Legacy, and Historical Impact
Published in association with
PP
raxis
raxis
PP
ublishing
ublishing
Chichester, UK
Mr Colin Burgess
Space¯ight Historian
Bonnet Bay
New South Wales
Australia
Mr Rex Hall M.B.E.
Education Consultant
Council Member of the BIS
London
UK
SPRINGER±PRAXIS BOOKS IN SPACE EXPLORATION
SUBJECT ADVISORY EDITOR: John Mason, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.
ISBN 978-0-387-84823-5 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York
Springer is part of Springer-Science + Business Media (springer.com)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008935694
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism
or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this
publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of
reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the
Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms
should be sent to the publishers.
# Praxis Publishing Ltd, Chichester, UK, 2009
Printed in Germany
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a speci®c statement, that such
names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free
for general use.
Cover design: Jim Wilkie
Project management: Originator Publishing Services, Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK
Printed on acid-free paper
Contents
Foreword by Alexei Leonov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xiii
Authors' preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
About the authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xxv
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxix
List of ®gures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxi
List of abbreviations and acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxvii
1
Sparking the Space Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
The Sputnik surprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
Losing the high-ground advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
``One small ball in the air'' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
A spectacular failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
2
A few good Soviet men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
An idea grows and expands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
Developing the launch vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
``We need many more''. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
Seeking out the ®nest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
Cosmonaut candidates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
A mystery interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
Only the best would go through. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
An ever-shrinking list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
Some would make it, some not . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
Yevgeny Karpov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23
Beginning an incredible journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
25
3
Russia's future spacemen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
27
Creating a training facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
27
Finding a suitable site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29
Ivan Anikeyev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
30
Pavel Belyayev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
Valentin Bondarenko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
35
Valery Bykovsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
37
Valentin Filatyev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
Yuri Gagarin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
41
Viktor Gorbatko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
45
Anatoli Kartashov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
48
Yevgeny Khrunov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
49
Vladimir Komarov. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
52
Alexei Leonov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54
Grigori Nelyubov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
56
Andrian Nikolayev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
59
Pavel Popovich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
Mars Ra®kov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
63
Georgi Shonin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
Gherman Titov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
Valentin Varlamov. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
70
Boris Volynov. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
71
Dmitri Zaikin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
76
4
Training days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
77
Settling in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
77
Wife of a cosmonaut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
78
Later arrivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79
Apartments at last . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
84
Weightless training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96
A life-changing injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
98
End of a dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
98
The doctors decide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
101
The training programme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
102
A simple accident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
102
``Pulled by the stars'' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
107
A near disaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
108
At long lastÐVostok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
109
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
111
vi Contents