More than half a thousand people were sent into space. Three of them are Belarusians Oleg Novitsky, Vladimir Kovalenok and Petr Klimuk. These names are familiar to every resident of the neighboring republic of the Russian Federation. In this article, you will be presented with information about Belarusian cosmonauts. So let's get started.
The beginning of the story
In 2015, humanity celebrated the 58th anniversary of the beginning of the space age. It all started on October 5, 1957, when Soviet scientists launched Sputnik-1 into orbit. For all the inhabitants of the planet, this was the discovery of the era of stars, galaxies and new worlds.
Soon, brilliant engineering minds prepared everything for the next stage of mastering the black abyss. And on April 12, 1961, a breakthrough was made. Yuri Gagarin was the first person to fly into space. And this first attempt to conquer extraterrestrial space has become a landmark event in the history of the planet.
Over the next 50 years, astronautics developed at a fairly active pace. Dozens of orbital stations and hundreds of satellites were launched. Conducted many technological and scientific experiments. And, of course, Belarusian cosmonauts made a very significant contribution to this matter. We will talk about the most famous of them below.
Peter Klimuk
This person needs no introduction. And for those who don’t know, Petr Klimuk is the first Belarusian cosmonaut, scientist, colonel general, doctor of technical sciences. In 1965, he was enrolled in a detachment of conquerors of the starry sky. Later he became a colleague of Gagarin. Peter was then only 23 years old. The young man took a cosmonaut training course. This allowed him not only to fly confidently on ships like Soyuz, but also work perfectly at orbital stations of the Salute type. As a commander, he made 3 space travels.
First flight
Held in 1973. Klimuk headed the Soyuz-13 ship. The flight duration was a little over a week. In 1975, Pyotr Ilyich was assigned to the reserve crew of Soyuz-17. In the same year, Klimuk became an understudy for the commander of Soyuz-18-1, who, unfortunately, had a bad start.
Second flight
It happened in May 1975 and lasted as long as 62 days. Pyotr Ilyich was assisted by a flight engineer Sevastyanov. Soon, their Soyuz-18-2 ship successfully docked with the Salyut-4 orbital station. After returning to Earth, Klimuk began training under the Intercosmos program.
Third flight
During the third flight in June 1978, Pyotr Ilyich led the international crew together with the Polish cosmonaut Germashevsky. The Soyuz-30 operated by them successfully docked with the Salyut-6 station, on board of which were Ivanchenkov and Kovalenok. This time Klimuk stayed in space for seven days. His total flying experience is 78 days and 18 hours.
Out of space
Immediately after the third flight, Pyotr Ilyich was appointed head of the political department at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (CPC). Then Klimuk became deputy head. In 1983 he received additional education at the Military-Political Academy of Lenin (in absentia). And in 1987 he defended his thesis. For several years (from 1979 to 1984) he was a deputy at the Supreme Council of the USSR.
The Order
Petr Klimuk, like other Belarusian cosmonauts, has several awards. He is a laureate of the State Prize of the USSR and the Russian Federation. Also, Pyotr Ilyich was awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of Merit for the Homeland, the Order of Friendship of Peoples and the Tsiolkovsky Gold Medal. Streets in cities such as Kletsk and Rogachev, as well as in the villages of Rubel, Nizhny Terebezhov and Motol, bear the name of Klimuk. In Brest, Pyotr Ilyich was given a bronze bust.
Vladimir Kovalenok
Any biography of Belarusian cosmonauts is remarkable, but the life story of this conqueror of the starry sky is perhaps the most interesting. To begin with, Kovalenok got into aviation at a completely “green” age. But, as it turned out, 22 years are not an indicator. Vladimir became the main "cog" of the Soyuz-type spacecraft. On them he conquered starry space three times.
Service start
Like all Belarusian cosmonauts, Kovalenok received good training at the military aviation school. After graduating from it in 1963, he went to work in transport aviation. Vladimir flew on the An-24 as a co-pilot. Over time, the young man was promoted to commander. In 1965, Kovalenok became a candidate for the cosmonaut corps. However, he was not credited, but left in reserve. The course of preparation for the flight into space, the young man began to take place two years later.
First flight
In October 1977, Vladimir Vasilievich made his first flight on Soyuz-25. Kovalenok was the commander of the ship. The crew also included Vladimir Ryumin. According to the flight program, Soyuz was supposed to dock with Salyut-6 station. But this did not happen due to the switching of the proximity system into an emergency mode. The flight was stopped ahead of schedule. The total time spent in space was 2 days.
Second flight
It happened in 1978 and was much longer than the first. Kovalenok was again the commander of the ship. This time he led the crew of Soyuz-29. The planned docking with the Salyut-6 station was very successful. During the stay on it, the crew of Vladimir Vasilyevich took two international expeditions: the German-Soviet (Yen, Bykovsky) and the Polish-Soviet (Germashevsky, Klimuk). On July 29, Kovalenok, together with Ivanchenko, entered the starry space. Outside the ship, they were two and a half hours. November 2, Vladimir Vasilievich returned home to Soyuz-31. The total duration of the second trip was almost one hundred and forty days.
Third flight
This time, Kovalenok headed the Soyuz T-4 ship. The well-known Victor Savinykh flew with him . And again they successfully docked with Salyut-6. Like last time, the astronauts took two international expeditions: the Romanian-Soviet (Prunariu, Popov) and the Mongol-Soviet (Gurragchi, Dzhanibekov). The duration of this flight was almost seventy-five days.
Follow-up service
In 1984, Vladimir Vasilievich successfully graduated from the Military Academy under the General Staff of the Armed Forces. After that, he received the post of deputy chief of the 1st Directorate of the CPC Gagarin, which was engaged in the training of astronauts. In connection with this appointment, he no longer took part in flights.
From 1989 to 1992 he worked as a people's deputy. In 1991 he headed the Belarusian Federation of Cosmonautics. In 1993, Vladimir Vasilievich was awarded the rank of Colonel General of Aviation. In 2001 he headed the Russian Cosmonautics Federation. He left the reserve by age in June 2002.
Awards
We will end the story about the Belarusian cosmonaut Kovalenka by listing the orders he has. Vladimir Vasilievich has three assets of Lenin, several orders of Merit for the Motherland, and a gold medal of Tsiolkovsky. In the city of Krupki (Minsk region), Kovalenka has a bronze bust.
Oleg Novitsky
This name is not inferior in popularity to the two listed above. Oleg Novitsky is a Belarusian cosmonaut who headed the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft. The launch was made in October 2012. This event became an occasion for pride for all Belarusians. In 2007, Novitsky underwent general space training, receiving the highest score. Thus, he put forward his own candidacy for the next flight into starry space.
Oleg Novitsky is a Belarusian cosmonaut whose biography is known to every resident of his country. He went to conquer the dark abyss immediately after celebrating his 41st birthday. People who know Oleg Viktorovich personally note his resemblance to Yuri Gagarin. Novitsky became the third Belarusian to see the planet from the other side. In the near future, the fourth conqueror of the black abyss will surely appear.
Not fly
Belarusian cosmonauts Klimuk, Kovalenok and Novitsky were able to fulfill their dream and visit the starry sky. But there were those who failed to do this.
Boris Belousov
Born in Khotimsk (Mogilev region) in 1930. He graduated from the Mozhaisk Air Force Academy in Leningrad. In 1965, he began to prepare for a flight into starry space. Soon he was made the senior cosmonaut. After successfully passing the state exam, Belousov was assigned to the Soyuz crew. Before flying into space, there was very little left. The cherished dream was about to come true. But suddenly Belousov was expelled from the detachment. Boris was transferred to one of the military research institutes. The reason was that the Credentials Committee discovered a “dark spot” in the biography of his father-in-law.
Anatoly Dedkov
He was born in the village of Luchin (Gomel region) in 1944. He graduated from the Kharkov Military Aviation School. After that, he was identified in the cosmonaut corps. Having successfully passed the state exam, he was preparing to fly on the Salyut orbital station and on the Soyuz spacecraft. In 1977, Dedkov was appointed commander of the 2nd crew on Salute-6 and Soyuz-26. All plans were crossed out by the unsuccessful docking of the 1st crew, which included such Belarusian astronauts as Ryumin and Kovalenok. “From above” came an order: one crew member must have flight experience. This decision pushed Dedkov to the end of the line, which was replenished annually by younger applicants.
Tester
The next 6 years, Anatoly Ivanovich was engaged in testing space technology in extreme conditions. He tested aircraft in the ocean and in deserted areas (taiga, jungle, desert). Dedkov also practiced spacewalking in the Orlan spacesuit and tested the Falcon spacesuit. He performed more than 50 landings with a parachute of varying difficulty. But the number of experiments (sometimes dangerous to health) did not help Anatoly Ivanovich to go into space. As a result, he was taken to the Mission Control Center as the main operator. Colonel Dedkov never managed to become the third Belarusian to conquer the dark abyss.
Alexander Schukin
Was born in 1946, in the city of Vienna (Wienn), Austria, in the family of a military man. Schukin graduated from the school of test pilots, and after - the Moscow Institute of Aviation. Alexander read a lot about Belarusian cosmonauts and dreamed of conquering starry space. As a result, Schukin was sent to prepare for the Buran program, led by Igor Volk. But the dream of Alexander was never destined to come true. He crashed on a Su-26M aircraft in preparation for the holiday in Zhukovsky. On the aircraft, Schukin made a training flight in order to test it on a tailspin. Unfortunately, Alexander could not get the plane out of this critical regime, and it all ended in tragedy.