The first cosmonauts and astronauts, photo from the family of test pilot Yuri Bykov and the official photo for Life magazine
The Lecture
In During the lecture I told that astronaut Scott Carpenter after the flight had gone to the submariners, and when Gemini was already flying, he contacted his former colleagues in space from the ocean floor. This story prompted me to tell how the life of the first astronauts and astronauts passed after the flight.
Biographies
Yuri Gagarin a month after returning from space went on an international trip and then traveled a lot, visiting about thirty countries. In the autumn of 1961, together with the other cosmonauts of the first detachment, he began to study at the Air Force Engineering Academy named after I. Zhukovsky. In 1964 he became commander of a detachment of Soviet cosmonauts and deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center. He was a backup of Komarov for the Soyuz-1 flight, which ended in disaster. I wanted to fly to space again, so I began to restore the qualification of the fighter pilot. He was killed on March 27, 1968 while performing a training flight on the MiG-15UTI along with instructor Seregin. Left behind a wife and two daughters. Even information about his slightly unusual hobbies-water skiing and collecting cacti-has survived.
Alan Shepard who made the first American jump into space, nearly flew a second time on Mercury after the ” As astronaut Gordon Cooper flew at low altitude in a jet plane over the administrative building of NASA. For aerial hooliganism, Cooper was almost not removed from the flights, but in the end still changed his mind. Shepard would have been the pilot of the three-day mission “Mercury”, which was canceled, and was assigned to the crew of the first manned flight of the ship “Gemini”, but he suddenly developed a disease of the inner ear – Ménière’s disease. Episodes of severe nausea and dizziness with loss of balance were not combined with the control of the spacecraft, and Shepard was removed from flights. In NASA, he served as chief of the detachment of astronauts. The stroke to the portrait – Shepard’s secretary took several photos of Alan full face in a different mood, and these photos were hung out in the office on a special place like “the mood of the day”, so that all incoming people knew the spirit of the boss today. In 1968, Shepard learned that a doctor in Los Angeles had devised an experimental operation to treat Meniere’s syndrome, and anonymously passed it. He was lucky – the symptoms completely disappeared, and Alan was able to return to the detachment again. Crew Shepard was supposed to fly to “Apollo 13”, but he had to change with the crew of Jim Lowell and move to “Apollo 14”, where he successfully flew to the moon. After the second space flight Shepard began to devote more time to his wife and children, and even the publication of stories of his adultery in Tom Wolfe’s book “Guys what you need” did not destroy his marriage. He left NASA in 1974 and started a business in which he succeeded. He died of cancer in 1998, his wife survived him for only five weeks.
Gus Grissom immediately after the flight, a rather unpleasant time was waiting, because there were people who accused him of having Because of his lack of professionalism, the capsule drowned. Colleague-astronaut Walter Shirra experimentally proved his innocence. After Shepard’s illness Grissom was in the crew of the first manned mission “Gemini”. He worked so tightly with the engineers that the first three ships were jokingly called “gas cars”. He was an understudy for the flight “Gemini-6A”, but moved to the project “Apollo”. He died in the crash of the Apollo-1 in January 1967. He left behind a wife and two sons.
German Titov after the flight, as well as other cosmonauts of the first set, entered the Academy. Zhukovsky, who graduated in the spring of 1968. He became commander of the second cosmonaut detachment and was preparing for a flight on the aerospace system “Spiral”, the project of which was closed in the 70’s. In the memoirs of General Kamanin in this period, a lot of criticism of Titov. The life of the first cosmonauts of the USSR was not easy – people’s love and veneration gave rise to many temptations, and Kamanin demanded almost perfect behavior. In 1972 he received a second higher education, in 1980 he defended his thesis, and then his doctoral dissertation. Until 1991 he worked in military astronautics. Elected deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the first three convocations of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the Communist Party. He died in 2000.
John Glenn as the first American to make an orbital flight, became a national icon, which greatly worsened his chances of flying again. As a result, in 1964, Glenn left NASA and the next day announced his intention to run for the Senate from the Democratic Party of the United States in Ohio. But, slipped in the bathroom and received an injury to the inner ear, was forced to withdraw his candidacy. In 1965 he retired from the US Marine Corps and got a job in a soda production company. In 1970 he tried to go back to the Senate, but lost the election. And only at the third attempt in 1974 he managed to become a senator. In addition, he participated in the presidential and vice-presidential primaries, but failed. In politics, Glenn stayed until 1998, not only noting the support of the scientific and technical and space spheres, but also participating in the corruption scandal, along with Senator John McCain. In addition, thanks to the political support of NASA, I was able to pierce my flight to the Space Shuttle in 1998, becoming the oldest astronaut in orbit. Was friendly with the Kennedy family. He died in December 2016, having survived all the astronauts of the first set, despite being older than all of them. Impressed the most “correct” astronaut – an exemplary family man, the elder of the Presbyterian Church, no lychachism and bad habits. Who knows, maybe this really prolongs life?
Scott Carpenter after landing, unskilled piloting was accused by the head of flights Chris Kraft, who, according to legend, said that “this son of a bitch with me no longer Will fly. ” Hard to say, Carpenter would have waited for his next flight, but in 1964 he injured his hand in a motorcycle accident. Attempts to correct the mobility of the hand were unsuccessful, and Carpenter was forced to withdraw from the detachment of astronauts. However, reading his biography, there is a feeling that he found no less interesting hobby – the underwater world. Even before the injury, Scott took a vacation to NASA to participate in the project underwater laboratory SEALAB. In 1965, he spent 28 days underwater in the laboratory of SEALAB II, from where he conducted a communication session with his colleague on the first set of astronauts Gordon Cooper, who went into space at Gemini 5. After SEALAB II returned to NASA for an administrative position, developed programs for underwater training of astronauts to work in zero gravity, then went into the next deepwater project. He retired in 1969, founded the company Sea Sciences, Inc., which dealt with the use of ocean resources and ecology. He was married four times, had seven children from three wives. He died in 2013.
Andriyan Nikolayev as well as Gagarin and Titov, after Flight in parallel with work in the detachment of astronauts went to the academy. In 1963 he married Valentina Tereshkova, with whom she was married until 1983. In his diaries, General Kamanin writes that “unlimited power in the family” was captured by Valentine. In the marriage daughter Elena was born. In 1970 Andrian went into space for the second time on the Soyuz-9 spacecraft together with cosmonaut Sevastyanov. In a long flight lasting more than 17 days, the cosmonauts had their first communication with their relatives (Nikolayev’s daughter was 6 years old that day) and the first space weekend with the chess match “Earth-Cosmos”. Was in the group of the lunar program. Worked as deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center and, in parallel, was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR several convocations. Since 1994 he worked in the apparatus of the Credentials Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. He died suddenly in 2004 after judging the V All-Russian Summer Rural Sports Games in Cheboksary. After the death, a scandal erupted because of the burial place. Nikolayev was buried in his native village Shorshely, and his daughter and ex-wife were in favor of burial in the Star City. However, according to available information, later the parties came to reconciliation.
Pavel Popovich Also graduated from the academy after the flight, and in the cosmonaut corps was the secretary of the party organization. It was planned that he would go to the first joint flight on the “Soyuz” with a female cosmonaut, but the mission was canceled. I should have experienced the military version of the Union – the Union of 7K-VI, but this project was canceled. He was a member of the group of astronauts of the lunar program. The second flight was made on Soyuz-14 with cosmonaut Artyukhin to the military station Almaz (Salyut-3), where he spent 15 days. He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviets of the USSR and the Ukrainian SSR. In 1977 he defended his thesis. In 1982 he was expelled from the cosmonaut detachment with the post of deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center. Since 1991, he was director of the Russian Institute for Monitoring Land and Ecosystems, then worked as chairman of the board of directors of the All-Russian Institute of Agricultural Aerial and Photogeodetic Research (VISKAGI). He was interested in ufology, was a member of the commission on abnormal atmospheric phenomena (UFO) of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, then became president of the UFO Association of Russia. He was married twice, had two daughters from his first marriage. He died in 2009.
Walter Shirra became the first astronaut who made three space flights. The second time he went to space on “Gemini 6A”. At the start, the engine went off accidentally and, contrary to instructions, Shirra and Stafford did not catapult. The decision was true, they saved the ship and went on a flight in three days. Already in orbit, Shirra arranged one of the first cosmic jokes, smuggling a lip accordion and playing “Jingle Bells” after the report on finding a UFO with Santa Claus. The third space flight was performed on Apollo-7. He was the first in the history of direct television reporting from orbit, for which he received the Emmy Award. On the orbit, the symptoms of a cold appeared, already in flight inflicted a colleague on the crew. The cold on board the Apollo-7 became so famous that Shirra was later invited to advertise the released version of the cold remedy, which was on the onboard medicine chest. Was a consultant to CBS News, commenting on the subsequent space flights of the Apollo. After the third flight, he left NASA, held high positions in various companies, then founded his own. He was married once, had two children. Died in 2007.
Gordon Cooper made the second flight in two years (in 1965). Flied to “Gemini 5” with Pete Conrad and set a new record of the duration of stay in space – as long as 8 days. Was the understudy of the mission “Apollo-10” because of what he hoped to get on “Apollo 13”, but the crew of Shepard was appointed there. Cooper himself wrote in his memoirs that Shepard managed to get out of the queue because of his friendship with Dick Slayton (the first set astronaut, transferred to administrative position for health, many years later he managed to fly under the Soyuz-Apollo program). Slayton also wrote in his memoirs that Cooper had relaxed before the Gemini-5, and he had to literally persuade to train in the simulator. Slayton wrote that if Cooper brilliantly showed himself as an understudy on Apollo 10, he would still have some chances to get an appointment for Apollo 13, but he did not. Frustrated, Cooper left NASA in 1970 and worked as a technical consultant in many companies, even managed to work for The Walt Disney Company. In 1971, he divorced his wife and married a second time, had two daughters in each marriage. He was a convinced ufologist, claimed that he saw a UFO and believed that the government hides contacts with aliens. He died in 2004. His ashes were launched three times into space – on a suborbital mission, on Falcon 1 (lost in an accident) and Falcon 9 / Dragon to the ISS.
Valery Bykovsky like many other cosmonauts of the first detachment, graduated from the academy after the flight. He was the commander of the Soyuz-2 spacecraft, which was supposed to dock with Komarov’s Soyuz-1, but because of the accident in orbit the flight was canceled, and Komarov’s death showed that the crew would also have crashed on the Soyuz-2. The second flight was made to Soyuz-22 with cosmonaut Vladimir Aksenov, it was the only “Union” launched at a large inclination of the orbit 64.76 °. The main task in flight was multispectral photography of the Earth. The third flight was made with the first cosmonaut GDR Zygmund Yen to the station “Salyut-6”. Was commander of the lunar group of Soviet cosmonauts. He left the cosmonaut detachment in 1988. He is married and has two sons. According to open information, he is alive, but not published, and there is no data on what he has been doing for the last thirty years.
Valentina Tereshkova also after the flight she graduated from the academy. Zhukovsky, but General Kamanin noted that it would be better for her to receive higher education in the profile of public work. Something Kamanin was right, because Tereshkova no longer flown into space, and devoted her whole life to social and political activities – headed the Committee of Soviet Women, was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR until 1989. Since 2011, the State Duma deputy from the party “United Russia”. Carried the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Sochi. She was married twice, has a daughter from her first marriage. In March of this year, she turned 80.
The first / Geektimes
