Forty-two years ago, in 1971, on June 30, all the radio stations and television centers of the USSR reported the mournful news of the death of the crew of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft. The courageous space explorers completed the flight mission, all the goals were successfully achieved, and the tasks were solved.
Death awaited G. Dobrovolsky, V. Patsaev and V. Volkov where it was difficult to imagine. The simplest valve, consisting of a ball and a spring, did not close; as a result, depressurization of the descent vehicle occurred. At that time, three people could fit in the lander only without spacesuits, the crew members were fastened with seat belts, they were unable to close the hole.
The whole country grieved for the dead astronauts , there were no indifferents. People cried near newsstands, at tram stops, in schools, institutes and workshops. The road to the stars has always been the lot of courageous people who are ready to risk their lives for a great purpose.
Cosmonaut Volkov Vladislav Nikolaevich was buried in the Kremlin wall along with his space comrades - George Dobrovolsky and Victor Patsaev.
Fourteen years have passed. In 1985, Baikonur escorted the Soyuz T-14 spacecraft into a dangerous space flight. The task was to dock with the orbital station, consisting of two modules - Soyuz T-13 and Salyut-7. For almost 65 days, the crew of the scientific complex worked in orbit, and astronaut Volkov was in its composition. Yes, another. Alexander Alexandrovich was not a relative of that Volkov, just a namesake. He happened to visit space three times, including as part of international crews.
Space of the XXI century is being stormed by another cosmonaut Volkov. He dreams of flying to the moon, and, quite possibly, he will succeed. Sergey Volkov is a second-generation astronaut, behind his shoulders are two missions, spacewalks, hundreds of hours spent in zero gravity, and he is only forty years old. He knew about his profession firsthand, having spent his childhood in Baikonur. The father was not enthusiastic about the choice of his son and found out about him only by reading a report asking for admission to the cosmonaut corps.
So the dynasty was formed, the first in the world among the representatives of this dangerous profession. For ethical reasons, cosmonaut Volkov Sr. filed a dismissal report, giving way to his son. Well, a choice worthy of a real officer and man. They don’t work for such work.
Three astronauts, three fates and one last name. So, a memo for those who are interested in the history of Soviet and Russian cosmonautics (this was not found in any country, therefore it is important not to mix it up): Vladislav Volkov - an astronaut of the “first set”, enlisted in the detachment in 1966, Alexander Volkov made his first flight in the mid-eighties, and his son Sergei started already in the third millennium.
And there is also the Cosmonaut Volkov research vessel, providing communications with satellites. Breeders have created a tomato variety named after the hero. Astronomers dedicated to him the star they discovered. All this is in honor of Vladislav Volkov, but it is quite possible that the next generations of Russian cosmonauts will be honored with their names sparkling in the starry sky of planetariums and astronomical maps.