18.12.2022
In early August 1971, David Scott and James Irwin, astronauts of the Apollo 15 crew, landed on the Moon. In addition to scientific research, they carried out several symbolic activities, among which of particular importance was the installation of a miniature Memorial to the Space Explorers, who by that time had died. T
he memorial consisted of a small figurine of a man in a spacesuit made by Belgian artist Paul Van Heydonck and a plaque on which David Scott hand-engraved the names of eight American astronauts and six Soviet cosmonauts.
The latter list included Vladimir Komarov (who died April 24, 1967 when the descent vehicle of the Soyuz 1 landed), Yuri Gagarin (who died March 27, 1968 in a plane crash), Pavel Belyaev (who died January 10, 1970 of peritonitis), Georgy Dobrovolsky, Viktor Patsaev and Vladislav Volkov (all three died June 30, 1971 during depressurization of the descent vehicle of the Soyuz 11). The plaque was supposed to commemorate those who personally participated in the first decade of the intense space competition of the superpowers, but for one reason or another passed away without ever knowing how it would end.
After many years it became known that the list of deceased Soviet cosmonauts was missing two names: Valentin Bondarenko (burned up in a surdobar chamber on March 23, 1961) and Grigory Nelyubov (committed suicide on February 18, 1966). They never flew into space, but they were trained and could theoretically go into orbit. Upon learning of this, David Scott expressed regret: If the tragic stories of Bondarenko and Nelyubov had not been classified by the Soviet authorities, he would no doubt have included them in the Memorial list, as he did with those of his compatriots who also did not fly into space, but were making every effort to prepare for flight.
Of course, many of the scientists and journalists who worked directly with the group of cosmonauts knew the names of those who for various reasons were excluded from the training program, but for decades they had to keep silent. A well-known journalist and science popularizer Yaroslav Kirillovich Golovanov was the first one who decided to outline the problem. In 1990, he bitterly wrote:
“The interest in space exploration is fading rapidly. I noticed that the boys stopped playing cosmonauts and abandoned the barrels and boxes that were used to “fly” to the Moon and Mars not so long ago. And this is an accurate indicator. We lied so much to our readers, listeners and viewers that they stopped believing us, stopped reading, listening and watching. And there is only one way to regain this public trust: to tell the truth, to express different points of view, to criticize. I very much wanted, for example, to tell the truth about the first, “Gagarin’s” group of our cosmonauts – about twenty young, often naive, very pure fellows who had no knowledge of universal glory, who had no dreams of gold stars and gold shoulder straps. For two years I tried to convince the numerous censors that our country’s defense potential would not weaken if I mentioned eight names of the first group of non-flying cosmonauts, some of whom were no longer alive, while others were retired. As far as Marshal S. F. Akhromeyev is concerned.
The marshal did not listen. Two years passed, and only direct intervention of a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee Yakovlev allowed to publish in spring 1986 in Izvestia a documentary story “Cosmonaut number 1” and call all the heretofore “secret” names. You have to hand it to Yaroslav Golovanov. In the 1990s he did a great deal to help us learn the details of the real history of Soviet cosmonautics, not the history invented by the crafty propagandists. Although attempts to tell, for example, about the first squadron had been made before him (there is an autobiographical book by pilot-cosmonaut Georgy Shonin entitled The Very First, published in 1976), it was Golovanov who in a series of articles for Izvestia newspaper finally named all members of the legendary “Gagarin” set, including Bondarenko and Nelyubov. But how long did we have to wait for this simple honest information to appear!
Fortunately, today we have not only Golovanov’s essays, but also documents that allow us to take a completely new look at the stages of preparation of the squadron, including answering the question of why exactly Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was chosen for the first flight, in what his “exceptionality” was manifested. So, by the end of 1959 twenty-nine officers managed to pass the commission on “theme number 6”, which provided for two-stage psychophysiological examination. Here are their data: Ivan Nikolaevich Anikeev (27 years old), Nikolai I. Bessmertny (age 28), Pavel Ivanovich Belyaev (age 35), Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko (age 23), Boris I. Bochkov (age 28), Georgy A. Bravin (25), Valery Bykovsky (26), Valentin Varlamov (26), Boris Volynov (26), Yuri Gagarin (26), Viktor Gorbatko (26), Mikhail Efremenko (28), Dmitry Zaikin (28), Grigory K. Inozemtsev (age 31), Valentin A. Karpov (26), Anatoly Yakovlevich Kartashov (28), Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov (33), Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov (26), Lev Zinovievich Lisits (33), Grigory Grigoryevich Nelyubov (26), Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolaev (31), Paul Romanovich Popovich (30), Mars Zakirovich Rafikov (27), Valentin P. Sviridov (age 32), Ivan M. Timokhin (age 27), German Stepanovich Titov (age 25), Valentin Ignatyevich Filatiev (age 30), Evgeny Vasilievich Khrunov (age 27), Georgy Stepanovich Shonin (age 25). Almost all of them were fighter pilots with secondary education; the exceptions were Vladimir Komarov and Lev Lisits – in addition to their flight training they had higher engineering education.
In general, the commission adhered to the requirements of Sergei Korolev, but for some candidates “indulgences” were made. For example, Vladimir Komarov was thirty-three years old, but distinguished by outstanding knowledge; Pavel Belyaev was thirty-five years old, but he was an excellent pilot; Georgy Shonin was a little taller than he should have been, but he impressed the doctors with his special coolness and intelligence.
The squadron candidates went to their garrisons. Yuri Gagarin also returned to Lowestari. There he received the good news: he was promoted to the rank of senior lieutenant. Some biographers say that as if Yuri Alekseyevich was unaware of the commission’s decision and was waiting for the summons. For example, Valentina Ivanovna Gagarina wrote in her book “Every Year on April 12” (1984):
“Another month passed. Yuri was summoned to Moscow again. When he came back, as soon as he opened the door, I guessed from his look: it’s time to get ready for the long journey.
What was he doing on a business trip to Moscow? What did he learn? What was it that encouraged him, cheered him up, lifted his spirits? I dared not ask questions: if it is possible, he will tell me himself. But ignorance bred anxiety, and, of course, the desire at least a little to be aware of his affairs and plans.
Finally came the call that Yura had been waiting for. It was just the 8th of March. We were leaving the next day, and it was his birthday. It was his 26th birthday”.
The documents say differently: Gagarin knew that he was selected and had every reason to prepare for his departure. Time was really running out (the first “Vostok” spacecraft launches with pilots were tentatively planned for January 1961), and after the two-stage examination was over, logistical arrangements began. On January 11, 1960, the Air Force Commander-in-Chief signed directive No. 321141, according to which a special military unit (in/noon 26266) was organized. All selected pilots were admitted to the “third stage of training” (special training). However, the directive stipulated that the number of the first unit should not exceed twenty people, so the credentials committee had to make the final choice, transferring nine of them to the “reserve. What considerations guided the members of the commission at this last stage, no one can say today. On February 25, 1960, the final composition of the future squadron was determined. As a result, the following people remained overboard: Nikolay Bessmertny, Boris Bochkov, Georgy Bravin, Mikhail Efremenko, Grigory Inozemtsev, Valentin Karpov, Lev Lisits, Valentin Sviridov, Ivan Timokhin.
Future cosmonauts were called at the same time – in February 1960. On March 1, Pavel Popovich arrived in the capital. Three days later he was joined by Valery Bykovsky, then came Ivan Anikeev, Boris Volynov, Yuri Gagarin, Viktor Gorbatko, Vladimir Komarov, Grigory Nelyubov, Andriyan Nikolayev, German Titov, Georgy Shonin, Alexei Leonov.
March 3, 1960 came out the order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR № 0031 “Provisional Regulation on Astronauts”, which defined the status and duties of members of the squadron. The document used a new word for the Russian language – “cosmonaut”. The author of the neologism is rightly considered the largest Soviet cosmonautics theorist Ari Abramovich Shternfeld, who used the term in his works even before the war, for which he was often criticized by his colleagues, who were used to the commonly used word “astronaut”. Sternfeld responded by reasonably pointing out that one cannot call a new field of human activity by one of its possible purposes, for “aster” means “star. In any case, “pilot-cosmonaut” sounded much more euphonious in Russian than “pilot-astronaut.
On March 7, 1960 twelve members of the squadron were presented to the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Konstantin Vershinin. On the same day by order No. 267 all of them were enrolled as “cosmonaut trainees” in the Cosmonaut Training Center of the Air Force (CTC Air Force), the first chief of which was Colonel Evgeny Anatolyevich Karpov, Medical Service. The training was headed by legendary pilot, Lieutenant General Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin, appointed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force as curator of the space program.
So Yuri Gagarin could not have received the call to Moscow on March 8, as Valentina Ivanovna says in her book, because in reality the day before he appeared before the Commander-in-Chief among other members of the squadron.
At that time no one could yet say exactly how the cosmonauts should be trained, but it was possible to rely on aviation experience with the involvement of specialists involved in the rocket and space program. In fact, the first squadron was experimental – it was used to practice training methods, which were adjusted in the process.
By the time the squad members arrived in Moscow, housing for them was not yet ready, so the group, together with their families, was housed in a barracks of builders on the Leningrad highway (now Leningradsky Prospekt), near the Frunze Central Airfield (Khodynka). Pilot-cosmonaut Pavel Popovich recalled:
“There were no comforts, no chairs. Only soldiers’ bunks. On the floor there were newspapers with inscriptions: table, chair, do not stand up. Later Lieutenant General Vasily Yakovlevich Klokov, deputy chief of the Institute of the Aerospace Medicine, managed to persuade the officials in Mossovet that we – future cosmonauts and need more decent housing than half-destroyed barracks. And we were each assigned a room.
Indeed, in April, the family cosmonauts were accommodated in Building 95 on Leninsky Prospekt; each family received a room in a two-room apartment: for example, the Titovs were put in with the Popoviches and the Gagarins with the Nelyubovs.
Theoretical studies were held in a two-story house of the CSKA Sports Base, located next to the Dynamo metro station at the Frunze Central Airfield. They started in the morning of March 14. The first lecture was delivered by Vladimir Ivanovich Yazdovsky. He told future cosmonauts in detail about effects of g-loads, weightlessness, and introduced them to medical and biological problems. Chief Designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, learning that the class was limited to medical topics, ordered his staff (Mikhail Tikhonravov, Konstantin Feoktistov, Vitaly Sevastyanov) and physicists from the Academy of Sciences to join the training. Vitaly Ivanovich Sevastyanov, an engineer of the 9th Department of OKB-1, the future pilot-cosmonaut, recalled (I quote from a phono recording made on April 19, 1985):
“I well remember how a few days after the first squad of cosmonauts assembled in Moscow … we came with Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov to open a course on the mechanics of space flight. ‘…’ I read three times a week for four hours. And so I continued the second course, already on the Vostok design.
Our meetings lasted until July 8, 1960, when exams were held. Every day of the meetings was an amazing learning experience for these extraordinary people. Three pauses between lectures, conversations after lectures. Sometimes I also participated in sports activities with the cosmonauts. They invited me to the pool, or to the soccer field to play.
Constantly there were questions about the technology itself – what is it – space technology, and the first popular explanation of the various systems of a future spacecraft, which at that time was just being built. Here was the main interest that rallied us, united us, and aroused the deep interest of the astronauts themselves in the subject of the course of lectures on the mechanics of space flight and the design of the Vostok.
For me, it was an amazing acquaintance with Yuri Gagarin and Volodya Komarov, with Pasha Popovich, Andriyan Nikolayev, with German Titov and Valery Bykovsky. We were almost the same age. Only Vladimir Komarov and Pavel Belyaev were older, the rest were 25-27 years old. Young, strong, but still inexperienced military pilots of strong, unique health. Very hard-working, inquisitive. We got into the practice at the last hour of class to answer the questions they wanted to ask. I left 10-15 minutes, and the questions were so difficult that there was not enough time to answer them. And in the following lectures I tried to deepen them by answering them.”
During March-April seven more students joined the squadron, and on June 17 the Air Forces Commander’s order 839 enrolled Anatoly Kartashov who was the last in the intake. The following phrase is notable: “young, strong, but still inexperienced military pilots of strong, unique health. It was true: the flying time of most of the squadron members did not exceed 300 hours in the military units from which they came. Although some of them (for example, Yuri Gagarin and Alexei Leonov) sometimes had to take to the air in difficult weather conditions, their flying experience allowed them to qualify only for the third (lower) class of flying skill. Parachute training also left much to be desired. As far as physical fitness was concerned, there were problems here as well. There remained a curious document which remained top secret for a long time – “The data of general physical training, tests in heat chambers, and the evaluation of the astronauts’ ability to tolerate back-to-back accelerations” (dated June 23, 1961):
“From the physical history it was found that physical training and sports were not systematically practiced by most of the cosmonaut cadets before they were enrolled in the Cosmonaut Training Center (CTC).
A physical fitness check in March-April 1960 showed that the cosmonaut trainees were poorly physically prepared. Most of the students were able to pull up on the horizontal bar from 2 to 5 times, hold a “hanging angle” for no more than 1-5 seconds. When performing gymnastic exercises, stiffness, angularity and poor coordination of movements were noted. The quality of endurance was insufficiently developed. This manifested itself in the rapid fatigue during physical training sessions. For example, already after 30-40 minutes of playing volleyball or 3-5 minutes of playing basketball many students complained of fatigue, muscle pain. Especially poor endurance was revealed during swimming and running lessons. Expressed fatigue occurred 2-3 minutes after the start of swimming or running. The study of functional capabilities of the cardiovascular system showed that the reaction of the cardiovascular system to a dosed physical load (three-minute running in place) was unsatisfactory in 18 people. The majority had stepwise rise of maximal arterial pressure, “dystonic type of reactions” with prolonged (2-3 min) listening to the phenomenon of endless tone, etc., only in two listeners the pulse rate was restored to the initial level after 5 min rest. In four people (Belyaev, Gagarin, Nelyubov, Bykovsky) functional changes of cardiovascular system after running testified to extremely unsatisfactory preparation of the organism for physical loads (sharp pulse excitability with slow recovery to initial level, stepped rise of maximal arterial pressure, etc.).
Taking into account poor physical fitness and insufficient general fitness of the majority of cosmonaut trainees, the following tasks were set for physical training.
- To increase general and speed endurance. 2. Develop strength qualities and improve coordination of movements.
- Prepare the body to tolerate sufficiently intense and prolonged physical exertion.
- And these are, mind you, the best of the best, including Gagarin, who was famous for his sporting success! What were those who were eliminated after the two-stage selection?
- Reading the document, one might think that Sergei Pavlovich Korolev made a mistake by betting on cadre fighter pilots. However, if we look at the problem from a different angle, it becomes apparent that he, knowing the situation in the troops not by hearsay, chose the youth – such as they are, there was no other, – because he believed: from these shambles guys can in the short term “forge” full-fledged heroes, of whom will be composed poems and songs, which will be equal and who will be put monuments one day: not only on Earth, but also on the Moon.
- The chief designer was right. Those who were able to pass all the tests and climb the space steps really did become national heroes. But we will try not to forget about others, whose existence was hushed up for decades, because, despite the obscurity, their contribution to the space future of mankind is not less.
