The space age in the history of mankind began in 1961. On April 12, 1961, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin flew into space, which in many ways turned world history upside down. He became the first person to rise to an unprecedented height. Prior to this, spacecraft of the USSR already flew into space. In 1957, the first artificial earth satellite was launched .
Cosmonauts of Russia
In 1991, the USSR collapses. The main "space heritage" was received by Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Despite the deep economic crisis and frequent military conflicts, especially in Russia, the development of space programs did not stop. In many sources there is no separation in the list of cosmonauts into Soviet and purely Russian. And yet, the Russian cosmonauts are a new generation of astronauts who have worked and continue to work on advanced spacecraft.
From 1961 to 2014, about 248 flights were made from the Baikonur and Plesetsk Cosmodromes. From 1991 to 2014, 91 starts took place. That is, more than a third of all space launches from the sites of the former USSR took place during the time of Russian independence. Given the high cost of implementing space programs , we note that this is quite a lot.
The first cosmonauts of Russia since independence
The first flight of the spacecraft with the participation of the Russian after 1991 took place from March to August 1992. Kaleri Alexander Yuryevich was awarded the honor. Born May 13, 1965 in the Latvian city of Jurmala. He made 5 flights into space (August 1996-March 1997, April-May 2000, a joint flight with an American astronaut from October 2003 to April 2004, from October 2010 to March 2011).
Among the first Russian astronauts, one can also distinguish Avdeev Sergey Vasilievich, who made 3 starts. The first of them took place a few months after the first flight of Kaleri - July 17, 1992. Avdeev was born in the city with the symbolic name Chapaevsk, in the Kuibyshev region of the RSFSR, in 1956. His first flight ended in February 1993. Also, this pilot-cosmonaut participated in joint flights with American space researchers (September 1995-February 1996). The third and last flight was in a team with Gennady Padalko and Yuri Baturin (he was at the station from October 1997 to July 1998).
How is the selection of candidates for participation in flights?
There are several criteria by which an expert commission, which includes astronauts, selects candidates who can take part in flights after training. The commission reviews exclusively military pilots. These are people who have already completed basic training and are able to act in extreme situations, possessing good endurance and coordination of movement. The commission also takes into account the specific experience of the raid, the altitude at which a particular candidate flew. Probably the most important criterion is the state of health of the candidate at the time of selection. It is clear that it should be perfect.
After the initial selection, candidates are sent for special training. A training course can last a different amount of time. It all depends on what time the next flight is planned. Cosmonauts of Russia are Great Patriots of the Motherland!
Space program today
Russia continues to fly into space today. For this, all the necessary infrastructure and training facilities have been created. New models of spacecraft are built on the scientific developments of scientists. How many astronauts are active in Russia today? According to statistics of 2014 - 47 people, among them one woman. Of course, not all of them will be able to fly into space, but everyone takes part in training, undergoes continuous training in halls and training grounds. They have a goal - to conquer space and look at the Earth from there!