requirements. PREPARATION. PROSPECTS

If you are a citizen of the Russian Federation, you are no more than 35 years old and you know how to keep state secrets, you have a chance to become an astronaut.

How to do it?

Wait until Roscosmos and the Cosmonaut Training Center officially announce the next recruitment to the Russian detachment (the 17th recruitment took place in 2017).

Send all the necessary documents to the head of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Research Institute Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin" at the address: 141160, Moscow region, Star City, with the note "To the commission for the selection of cosmonaut candidates."

Successfully pass the “space” interview and entrance tests.

Dedicate at least six years to preparation and training.

Wait for assignment to the crew and, in fact, fly into space.

Not enough specifics? We talk in detail about how to make space your profession.

WHAT ARE THEY TAKEN TO BE COSMONAUTS?

Today you don’t have to be Yuri Gagarin to get into the squad: the requirements for the new recruits are much softer than for the first.

57 years ago, an astronaut had to be a member of the party, be an experienced military pilot no taller than 170 cm and no older than 30 years old, have impeccable health and physical fitness at the level of a master of sports.

Today, political beliefs do not in any way influence the outcome of selection, although a number of “strategic” restrictions are still present. Thus, the path to space is closed to holders of dual citizenship and residence permits on the territory of a foreign state.

As for the “compactness” of the first detachment, it is associated with the small size of the Voskhod-1 spacecraft. Height restrictions remain, but in general, modern astronauts have become much taller. According to experts, in the future - when developing new models of space technology - it will be possible to move away from rigid anthropometric frameworks. The requirements may be relaxed after the five-seat Federation spacecraft is put into operation.

But for now, even the length of the foot is regulated.

There is no lower age limit, but the candidate must have time to obtain a higher education and work in his specialty for at least three years. During this time, a person has time to “prove himself” from a professional point of view. Only diplomas of specialists and masters are “counted” (nothing is said about bachelors in modern requirements).

Most space programs are international, so candidates are also required to have knowledge of English at the program level of non-linguistic universities. To be fair, it is worth noting that the training of foreign astronauts also includes the study of Russian (mainly technical terms).

There are no “core” universities yet, but Roscosmos actively cooperates with the Moscow Aviation Institute, Moscow State Technical University named after. Bauman and the Faculty of Space Research of Moscow State University.

Since 2012, open enrollments have been held in the Russian Federation, which means that not only military pilots and employees of the rocket and space industry have a chance to become an astronaut. Although engineering and flight specialties are still a priority.

Do humanists have a chance? Yes, but not in the near future. So far, as experts emphasize, it is faster to teach an engineer or pilot to report or take photographs than to teach a professional journalist or photographer to understand complex space technology.

As for the level of physical fitness, the “space” standards are partially comparable to the GTO standards for the age group from 18 to 29 years. Candidates must demonstrate endurance, strength, speed, agility and coordination. Run 1 km in 3 minutes 35 seconds, do at least 14 pull-ups on the bar, or turn 360 degrees while jumping on a trampoline. And this is only a small part of the program.

The most stringent requirements are put forward for the health of potential cosmonauts. Problems that seem insignificant on Earth can become fatal under the influence of harsh space conditions.

If you get motion sickness while traveling, that's a problem. In space, where the usual concepts of up and down are absent as such, people with a strong vestibular apparatus are needed.

Regarding psychology: there are no fixed requirements for temperament, but, as doctors emphasize, both “pure” melancholic people and pronounced choleric people are not suitable for long-term missions. Space does not like extremes.

Yuri Malenchenko, pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, first deputy head of the Research Institute of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin

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The psychological strength of those we select is high enough for a person to work well with any team. People must be fairly balanced and primarily focused on completing the flight program

Yuri Malenchenko, pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, first deputy head of the Research Institute of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin

It is also important to have a good memory, the ability to maintain attention, and the ability to work in extreme situations and under conditions of severe time pressure. And be punctual (work in space is scheduled by the hour). Therefore, we do not recommend that you be late for the interview.

Well, the common phrase about “if you really want to, you can fly into space” is not without practical meaning here. After all, one of the main requirements for future cosmonauts is strong motivation.

HOW THEY ON EARTH PREPARE FOR SPACE

Let's start with the fact that once you pass the selection process, you will not immediately become an astronaut. From “applicant to candidate” you will simply be transferred to “candidates”. Ahead of you are two years of general space training, after which you will have to pass the State exam and receive the title of “test cosmonaut”.

They will be followed by two years of training in groups (which means about 150 more exams, tests and tests). And, if you are assigned to the crew, it will take another 18 to 24 months to prepare for the first flight under a specific program.

Despite all the romanticized ideas about the profession, most of your time will be spent studying the theory (from the structure of the starry sky to the dynamics of flight) and the principles of working with on-board systems and complex space equipment.

Oleg Kononenko,

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I still remember the mnemonic rule for remembering and identifying constellations. So, the base constellation is Leo. And we remembered that Leo holds Cancer in his teeth, points at Virgo with his tail, and crushes the Cup with his paw.

Oleg Kononenko,

Russian pilot-cosmonaut, commander of the cosmonaut corps

During long-term training, you will begin to develop a set of certain qualities. Thus, professional composure, immunity to interference and multitasking are formed in the process of parachute training. During the jump, you concentrate not only on the flight, but also on other tasks, for example, reporting, solving problems, or deciphering ground signs. And, of course, it is important not to forget to open the parachute at an altitude of about 1200 meters. If you forget about it, the system will open it automatically, but the task will most likely not be counted towards you.

Another purely cosmic task is also associated with flights - creating weightlessness. The most “pure” possible on Earth occurs when flying along a certain trajectory, called the “Kepler parabola”. For these purposes, the Cosmonaut Training Center uses the Il-76 MDK laboratory aircraft. Within one “session” you have from 22 to 25 seconds to practice a specific task. As a rule, the simplest ones are aimed at overcoming disorientation and testing coordination. For example, you may be asked to write a name, a date, or a signature.

Another way to “reproduce” weightlessness is to transfer training underwater, to the Hydrolab.

Also, the future cosmonaut must thoroughly study the structure of the International Space Station. To do this, you will have at your disposal a life-size model of the Russian segment of the ISS, which will allow you to familiarize yourself with the structure of each module, conduct a “rehearsal” of orbital scientific experiments and work out various situations - from routine to emergency. If necessary, training can be carried out in various “speed” modes: both at a slow and at an accelerated pace.

The program also includes regular missions during which you will have the opportunity to study foreign segments of the station, including the American (NASA), European (EKA) and Japanese modules (JAXA).

Well, then - to the “exit”. This is the name of the simulator based on the Orlan-M spacesuit, which simulates a spacewalk - in a professional environment, it is considered the most difficult and dangerous procedure. And, perhaps, most of the cosmic stereotypes are associated with it.

So, they don’t put on a spacesuit - they “enter” it through a special hatch located on the back. The hatch cover is also a backpack in which the main life support systems are located, designed for ten hours of autonomous operation. At the same time, “Orlan” is not monolithic - it has removable sleeves and trouser legs (allowing you to “adjust” the spacesuit to your specific height). Blue and red stripes on the sleeves help distinguish those in outer space (as a rule, all such work is carried out in pairs).

The control panel located on the chest allows you to adjust the ventilation and cooling systems of the suit, as well as monitor vital signs. If you are wondering why all the inscriptions on the case are mirrored, then this is for your own convenience. You won’t be able to read them “directly” (the suit is not that flexible), but you can do this with the help of a small mirror attached to the sleeve.

It takes a lot of effort to work at Orlan for at least a few hours. Thus, movement in a 120-kilogram spacesuit occurs exclusively with the help of the hands (the legs in the space environment generally cease to perform their usual functions). Every effort you put into squeezing your gloved fingers is comparable to working out with an expander. And during a spacewalk, you need to make at least 1200 such “grasping” movements.

Typically, in real space conditions, after working outside the ISS, you may need to spend several hours in the airlock chamber in order to equalize the pressure. On Earth, people are prepared for a long stay in confined spaces in a soundproof chamber - a small room with artificial lighting and soundproofed walls. As part of general space training, the candidate must spend about three days in it. Of these, 48 hours are in continuous activity mode, that is, absolutely without sleep.

As psychologists emphasize, even if at first it seems to you that you are easy-going, patient and socially adapted, two days of forced wakefulness will “rip off all your masks.”

The final stage of pre-flight training for astronauts is centrifuge training. The Cosmonaut Training Center has two at its disposal: TsF-7 and TsF-18. Contrary to popular belief, their size does not at all affect the “intensity” of the simulated overloads.

The maximum "power" of the overload created by the 18-meter TsF-18 is 30 units. An indicator incompatible with life. In Soviet times, when the requirements for cosmonauts were much stricter, overloads did not exceed 12 units. Modern training takes place in a more gentle mode - and the overload is up to 8 units.

What does the difference in size mean? As experts explain, the longer the centrifuge arm, the less discomfort your vestibular apparatus experiences, and the training goes more smoothly. Therefore, from the point of view of sensations, training on the relatively small TsF-7 may be more difficult than on the impressive TsF-18.

Also, before going into space, you will have to study in detail all the components of the flight: its theory, dynamics, processes of putting the ship into orbit, descent to Earth and, of course, the structure of the Soyuz MS itself. This usually takes about a year.

Oleg Kononenko,

Russian pilot-cosmonaut, commander of the cosmonaut corps

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As for the preparation - when I boarded the ship for the first time (and it was already ready for launch and docked with the rocket), at first, of course, there was a feeling of excitement, but when the hatch was closed behind me, there was a complete feeling that I was in a simulator

Oleg Kononenko,

Russian pilot-cosmonaut, commander of the cosmonaut corps

Since it is not always possible to predict where the ship will land, you will have to go through a group of “survival” training in rather unfriendly locations: desert, mountains, taiga or open water. In a professional environment, this stage of preparation is considered an extreme analogue of team building.

Perhaps the most harmless component of pre-flight preparation is tasting and drawing up a space menu. To prevent everything from becoming boring during the flight, the diet is designed for 16 days. Then the set of dishes is repeated. Contrary to popular belief, freeze-dried products are not packaged in tubes, but in small plastic bags (the only exceptions are sauces and honey).

The main question: does everything you have completed guarantee that you will move on to the fourth stage of training, that is, a direct flight into space and honing the acquired skills outside of Earth?

Unfortunately no.

Thus, the annual medical expert commission can remove you at any stage (for your own good). After all, during training you will constantly test the strength of your own body’s reserve capabilities.

Yuri Malenchenko, pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, first deputy head of the Research Institute of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin

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It happens that a person is already ready to be included in the crew, but within a specific program there is simply no place for him. That's why we don't carry out kits on a regular basis, but as needed. To ensure that there are no “extra” astronauts and that everyone is distributed in the most optimal way

Yuri Malenchenko, pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, first deputy head of the Research Institute of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin

WHAT EXPECTS THOSE WHO PASSED ALL STAGES

What will those six to eight people who will eventually be enrolled in the detachment do?

If everything goes well, they will have the opportunity to join the ranks of those who have flown into space.

According to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), this is . Among them are discoverers, explorers and holders of space records.

Over the next 10 years, the main location for space programs will be the ISS. It is believed that “newcomers” need to spend at least a month at the station in order to feel confident and acquire all the necessary skills for further work.

The priority task of astronauts in orbit is to conduct scientific research that will help humanity advance in the further exploration of outer space. These include biological and medical experiments related to preparation for long-distance flights, growing plants in space conditions, testing new life support systems and working with new equipment.

During his third flight, Oleg Kononenko took part in the Russian-German experiment "Kontur-2", in which he remotely controlled a robot designed to explore planets.

Oleg Kononenko,

Russian pilot-cosmonaut, commander of the cosmonaut corps

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Let's say we fly to Mars. We don’t know in advance where we can land. Accordingly, we will lower the robot to the surface of the planet and, by remotely controlling it, we will be able to select a landing site and land

Oleg Kononenko,

Russian pilot-cosmonaut, commander of the cosmonaut corps

You most likely will not have time to fly to Mars during your career. But to the Moon - quite.

The estimated launch date for the Russian lunar program is 2031. As we get closer to this date, adjustments will be made to the cosmonaut training process, but for now the set of disciplines is standard.

You will also be inspired by space traditions: from the obligatory pre-flight viewing of “White Sun of the Desert” (for good luck) to avoiding the names of stones in call signs (for example, the tragically deceased cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov had the call sign “Ruby”). However, in our time, call signs are an anachronism, and MCC employees quite often communicate with astronauts “by name.”

For each anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight, “exposing” articles appear again and again in newspapers and the Internet, claiming that Gagarin was not the first cosmonaut. Usually they come down to a list of rumors about pilots who allegedly flew into space before Gagarin, but died there, which is why their names are classified. Where did the myth about the victims of Soviet cosmonautics come from?

Venusian phantom

For the first time, the Soviet Union was accused of keeping silent about the deaths of cosmonauts even before Gagarin’s flight. In the diary of the then head of the cosmonaut corps, Nikolai Kamanin, there is an entry dated February 12, 1961:

After the launch of a rocket to Venus on February 4, many in the West believe that we failed to launch a man into space; the Italians even allegedly “heard” groans and intermittent Russian speech. These are all completely baseless fabrications. In fact, we are working hard to guarantee the astronaut's landing. From my point of view, we are even overly cautious in this. There will never be a complete guarantee of a successful first flight into space, and some of the risk is justified by the greatness of the task...

The launch on February 4, 1961 was indeed unsuccessful, but there was no person on board. This was the first attempt to send a research apparatus to Venus. The Molniya launch vehicle launched it into space, but due to a malfunction, the device remained in low-Earth orbit. The Soviet government, according to established tradition, did not officially acknowledge the failure, and in a TASS message to the whole world it was announced that the heavy satellite had been successfully launched and that the scientific and technical tasks had been completed.

In general, it was the unjustified in many cases veil of secrecy surrounding the domestic space program that gave rise to a lot of rumors and speculation - and not only among Western journalists, but also among Soviet citizens.

Birth of a myth

However, let's return to Western journalists. The first message dedicated to the “victims of red space” was published by the Italians: in December 1959, the Continental agency disseminated a statement by a certain high-ranking Czech communist that the USSR had been launching manned ballistic missiles since 1957. One of the pilots, named Alexey Ledovsky, allegedly died on November 1, 1957 during such a suborbital launch. Developing the topic, journalists mentioned three more “dead cosmonauts”: Sergei Shiborin (allegedly died on February 1, 1958), Andrei Mitkov (allegedly died on January 1, 1959) and Maria Gromova (allegedly died on June 1, 1959). At the same time, the female pilot allegedly crashed not in a rocket, but while testing a prototype of an orbital aircraft with a rocket engine.

During the same period, rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth said that he had heard about a manned suborbital launch that allegedly took place at the Kapustin Yar test site in early 1958 and ended in the death of the pilot. However, Obert emphasized that he knew about the “cosmic catastrophe” from hearsay and could not vouch for the veracity of the information.

And the Continental agency produced sensation after sensation. Italian correspondents talked either about the “lunar ship” that exploded on the launch pad of the mythical Siberian cosmodrome “Sputnikgrad”, or about the upcoming secret flight of two Soviet pilots... Since none of the sensations was confirmed, they stopped trusting Continental’s reports. But the “rumor factory” soon gained followers.

In October 1959, the Ogonyok magazine published an article about aircraft testers. Among them were mentioned Alexey Belokonev, Ivan Kachur, Alexey Grachev. The newspaper "Evening Moscow" in a note on a similar topic spoke about Gennady Mikhailov and Gennady Zavodovsky. For some reason, a journalist from the Associated Press, which republished the materials, decided that the photographs in these articles depicted future Soviet cosmonauts. Since their names subsequently did not appear in TASS space reports, the “logical” conclusion was drawn: these five died during early unsuccessful launches.

The real Belokonov, Grachev and Kachur in photographs from Ogonyok (Photo: Dmitry Baltermants)

Moreover, the wild imagination of the journalists ran so wild that for each of the pilots they came up with a separate detailed version of their death. Thus, after the launch of the first satellite 1KP, the Vostok prototype, on May 15, 1960, Western media claimed that the pilot Zavodovsky was on board. He allegedly died due to a malfunction in the orientation system, which put the ship into a higher orbit.

The mythical cosmonaut Kachur found his death on September 27, 1960 during the unsuccessful launch of another satellite, the orbital flight of which was supposed to take place during Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to New York. According to rumors, the Soviet leader had with him a model of a manned spacecraft, which he was supposed to triumphantly show to Western journalists if the flight was successful.

It must be admitted that the Soviet diplomatic services themselves created an unhealthy atmosphere of anticipation for some high-profile event, hinting to American journalists that “something amazing” would happen on September 27. Intelligence reported that spacecraft tracking ships had taken up positions in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A Soviet sailor who escaped during the same period confirmed that a space launch was being prepared. But, after knocking his fist at the UN General Assembly, on October 13, 1960, Nikita Khrushchev left America. There have been no official statements from TASS. Of course, journalists immediately trumpeted to the whole world about a new disaster that befell the Soviet space program.

Many years later it became known that a launch was actually planned for those days. But it was not a person who was supposed to fly into space, but 1M - the first apparatus for studying Mars. However, attempts to send two identical devices into at least low-Earth orbit, undertaken on October 10 and 14, ended ingloriously: in both cases, the launch was disrupted due to the failure of the Molniya launch vehicle.

The next “victim of the space race,” pilot Grachev, died, according to Western media, on September 15, 1961. The same rumor factory “Continental” told about his terrible death. In February 1962, the agency said that in September 1961, two Soviet cosmonauts were launched on the Vostok-3 spacecraft: supposedly this launch was timed to coincide with the XXII Congress of the CPSU and during the flight the ship was supposed to fly around the Moon, but instead “ lost in the depths of the Universe."

Cosmonaut Ilyushin?

Vladimir Sergeevich Ilyushin, the son of a famous aircraft designer, is another victim of sensation hunters. In 1960, he had an accident and was declared another “Dogagarin cosmonaut.” Proponents of the conspiracy theory believe that Ilyushin was forbidden to talk about his flight into space until the end of his life, because he allegedly... landed on Chinese territory. It is impossible to think of a more ridiculous reason to abandon space primacy. Moreover, Ilyushin not only did not die - he lived until 2010 and rose to the rank of major general.

Voices in space

The grave of tester Zavodovsky. As can be seen from the dates, the “deceased cosmonaut” died in the 21st century in retirement

The failed launch of the Venusian station on February 4, 1961 gave rise to a new wave of rumors. Then the radio amateur brothers Achille and Giovanni Iudica-Cordiglia first made their presence known and built their own radio station near Turin. They claimed to have intercepted telemetry radio signals of a human heartbeat and the ragged breathing of a dying Soviet cosmonaut. This “incident” is associated with the name of the mythical cosmonaut Mikhailov, who allegedly died in orbit.

But that's not all! In 1965, brother radio amateurs told an Italian newspaper about three strange broadcasts from space. The first interception allegedly took place on November 28, 1960: radio amateurs heard the sounds of Morse code and a request for help in English. On May 16, 1961, they managed to catch the confused speech of a Russian female cosmonaut on air. The third radio intercept, on May 15, 1962, recorded conversations between three Russian pilots (two men and a woman) dying in space. In the recording, through the crackling noise, the following phrases could be discerned: “Conditions are getting worse... why aren’t you responding?.. the speed is falling... the world will never know about us...”

Impressive, isn't it? In order to finally assure the reader of the authenticity of the “facts” presented, the Italian newspaper names the names of the victims. The first “victim” on this list was pilot Alexey Grachev. The female cosmonaut's name was Lyudmila. Among the trio who died in 1962, for some reason only one is named - Alexei Belokonev, about whom Ogonyok wrote.

In the same year, the “sensational” information from the Italian newspaper was republished by the American magazine Reader’s Digest. Four years later, the book Autopsy of an Astronaut, written by pathologist Sam Stonebreaker, was published. In it, the author claimed that he flew into space on Gemini 12 to obtain tissue samples from dead Soviet pilots resting in the ship in orbit since May 1962.

That's who really flew into space before Gagarin - the dummy Ivan Ivanovich. To prevent him from being mistaken for the corpse of an astronaut, a “Model” sign was inserted into the helmet.

As for the article in Ogonyok, which gave rise not even to a myth, but to an entire mythology, the famous journalist Yaroslav Golovanov, who investigated the stories of the “Dogagarin cosmonauts,” interviewed Alexei Timofeevich Belokonov himself (that’s right, and not Belokonev, as is customary among myth-makers ). This is what the tester, who was buried by Western rumor factories a long time ago, said.

In the 50s, long before Gagarin’s flight, my comrades and I, then very young guys - Lyosha Grachev, Gennady Zavodovsky, Gennady Mikhailov, Vanya Kachur, were engaged in ground testing of aviation equipment and anti-g flight suits. By the way, at the same time, spacesuits for dogs that flew on high-altitude rockets were created and tested in a nearby laboratory. The work was difficult, but very interesting.

One day a correspondent from the magazine “Ogonyok” came to us, walked around the laboratories, talked with us, and then published a report “On the threshold of great heights” with photographs (see “Ogonyok” No. 42, 1959 - Ya. G.). The main character of this report was Lyosha Grachev, but they also told about me how I experienced the effects of explosive decompression. Ivan Kachur was also mentioned. They also talked about the altitude record of Vladimir Ilyushin, who then rose to 28,852 meters. The journalist slightly distorted my last name and called me not Belokonov, but Belokonev.

Well, that's where it all started. The New York Journal-American published a fake that my comrades and I flew into space before Gagarin and died. The editor-in-chief of Izvestia, Alexey Ivanovich Adzhubey, invited Mikhailov and me to the editorial office. We arrived, talked with journalists, and took pictures of us. This photograph was published in Izvestia (May 27, 1963 - Ya. G.) next to Adzhubey’s open letter to Mr. Hurst Jr., the owner of the magazine that sent us into space and buried us.

We ourselves published a response to the Americans to their article in the newspaper “Krasnaya Zvezda” (May 29, 1963 - Ya. G.), in which we honestly wrote: “We did not have the chance to rise into extra-atmospheric space. We are testing various equipment for high-altitude flights.” No one died during these tests. Gennady Zavodovsky lived in Moscow, worked as a driver, didn’t get into Izvestia at that time - he was on a flight, Lyosha Grachev worked in Ryazan at the calculating and analytical machines factory, Ivan Kachur lived in the town of Pechenezhin in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, worked as a teacher in an orphanage . Later, I participated in tests related to life support systems for astronauts, and even after Gagarin’s flight I was awarded the medal “For Labor Valor” for this work...

Forgotten heroes

So, the list of mythical astronauts still included people who worked for the space program, but their real lives were noticeably different from journalistic fantasies.

In addition to the four testing friends, a very real figure was, for example, Pyotr Dolgov. Western media declared him an astronaut who died during the orbital satellite disaster on October 10, 1960 (in fact, on that day they tried to launch the 1M No. 1 apparatus). Colonel Pyotr Dolgov died much later: on November 1, 1962, during a parachute jump from a stratospheric balloon raised to a height of 25.5 kilometers. When Dolgov left the stratospheric balloon, the face shield of the pressure helmet cracked - death occurred instantly.

Record-breaking skydiver Pyotr Dolgov really died, but space has nothing to do with it

Pilot Anokhin flew on a rocket plane, not on a spaceship

I present all these details here not in order to amaze the reader or make him doubt the history of astronautics as we know it. A review of rumors and mythical episodes is needed to show how detrimental the policy of silence and disinformation was to the reputation of the domestic space program. The reluctance and inability to admit mistakes played a cruel joke on us: even when TASS made a completely truthful statement, they refused to believe it, looking for contradictions or trying to read “between the lines.”

Sometimes the test pilots themselves contribute to the spread of rumors. Shortly before his death in 1986, the outstanding Soviet pilot Sergei Anokhin said in an interview: “I flew on a rocket.” Journalists immediately asked the question: when and on what rocket could he fly? They remembered that from the mid-1960s Anokhin headed the department in Sergei Korolev’s bureau that trained “civilian” cosmonauts for flights. And he himself was part of the detachment. Is it because he already had experience “flying on a rocket” in the early 1950s?.. But in fact, long before working at the bureau, Anokhin participated in testing a rocket plane and a cruise missile and, most likely, had this in mind.

James Oberg, one of the debunkers of this "conspiracy theory"

American space technology expert James Oberg undertook to systematize all the rumors about Soviet cosmonautics that had appeared in the Western press since the mid-1960s. Based on the collected material, he wrote the article “Phantoms of Space,” first published in 1975. Now this work has been supplemented with new materials and has gone through many reprints. Having a reputation as a staunch anti-Soviet, Oberg is nevertheless very scrupulous in selecting information concerning the secrets of the Soviet space program, and is very careful in drawing conclusions. Without denying that there are many “blank spots” in the history of Soviet cosmonautics, he concludes that stories about cosmonauts dying during launch or in orbit are implausible. All these are the fruits of fantasy, heated by the regime of secrecy.

Reality vs Myth

Soviet cosmonauts really died - both before and after Gagarin’s flight. Let us remember them and bow our heads to Valentin Bondarenko (died on Earth, without ever flying into space, on March 23, 1961 due to a fire during testing), Vladimir Komarov (died on April 24, 1967 due to a disaster during the landing of the Soyuz spacecraft). 1"), Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev (died on June 30, 1971 due to depressurization of the Soyuz-11 descent module). However, in the history of Soviet cosmonautics there was and is not secret corpses.

For cynics who do not believe documents, memoirs and diaries, but rely on “logic” and “common sense,” I will give a cynical but absolutely logical argument. In the conditions of the space race, it did not matter whether the first cosmonaut returned to Earth or not - the main thing was to declare his priority. Therefore, if there had been pilot Zavodovsky on the 1KP satellite, as irresponsible authors are trying to assure us, it would be Zavodovsky who would have been declared the first cosmonaut of the planet. Of course, the whole world would mourn him, but the Soviet man would still be the first to be in space, and this is the main thing.

The readiness of the USSR government for any outcome of the flight is confirmed by declassified documents. I will give here a fragment of a note sent to the CPSU Central Committee on March 30, 1961 on behalf of those involved in the space program:

We consider it appropriate to publish the first TASS message immediately after the satellite enters orbit for the following reasons:

a) if necessary, this will facilitate the rapid organization of rescue;
b) this will prevent any foreign state from declaring an astronaut a spy for military purposes...

Here is another document on the same topic. On April 3, the CPSU Central Committee adopted a resolution “On the launch of a spacecraft-satellite”:

1. Approve the proposal<…>about the launch of the Vostok-3 spacecraft with an astronaut on board.
2. Approve the draft TASS report on the launch of a spacecraft with an astronaut on board an Earth satellite and grant the Launch Commission the right, if necessary, to make clarifications on the launch results, and the USSR Council of Ministers Commission on Military-Industrial Issues to publish it.

They did it as they decided. The TASS message dedicated to the first manned space flight sounded even before Gagarin returned to Earth. He could have died during the descent - and April 12 would still have become Cosmonautics Day.

There are only about 20 people who gave their lives for the benefit of world progress in the field of space exploration, and today we will tell about them.

Their names are immortalized in the ashes of cosmic chronos, burned into the atmospheric memory of the universe forever, many of us would dream of remaining heroes for humanity, however, few would want to accept such a death as our cosmonaut heroes.

The 20th century was a breakthrough in mastering the path to the vastness of the Universe; in the second half of the 20th century, after much preparation, man was finally able to fly into space. However, there was a downside to such rapid progress - death of astronauts.

People died during pre-flight preparations, during the takeoff of the spacecraft, and during landing. Total during space launches, preparations for flights, including cosmonauts and technical personnel who died in the atmosphere More than 350 people died, about 170 astronauts alone.

Let us list the names of the cosmonauts who died during the operation of spacecraft (the USSR and the whole world, in particular America), and then we will briefly tell the story of their death.

Not a single cosmonaut died directly in Space; most of them all died in the Earth’s atmosphere, during the destruction or fire of the ship (the Apollo 1 astronauts died while preparing for the first manned flight).

Volkov, Vladislav Nikolaevich (“Soyuz-11”)

Dobrovolsky, Georgy Timofeevich (“Soyuz-11”)

Komarov, Vladimir Mikhailovich (“Soyuz-1”)

Patsaev, Viktor Ivanovich (“Soyuz-11”)

Anderson, Michael Phillip ("Columbia")

Brown, David McDowell (Columbia)

Grissom, Virgil Ivan (Apollo 1)

Jarvis, Gregory Bruce (Challenger)

Clark, Laurel Blair Salton ("Columbia")

McCool, William Cameron ("Columbia")

McNair, Ronald Erwin (Challenger)

McAuliffe, Christa ("Challenger")

Onizuka, Allison (Challenger)

Ramon, Ilan ("Columbia")

Resnick, Judith Arlen (Challenger)

Scobie, Francis Richard ("Challenger")

Smith, Michael John ("Challenger")

White, Edward Higgins (Apollo 1)

Husband, Rick Douglas ("Columbia")

Chawla, Kalpana (Columbia)

Chaffee, Roger (Apollo 1)

It is worth considering that we will never know the stories of the death of some astronauts, because this information is secret.

Soyuz-1 disaster

“Soyuz-1 is the first Soviet manned spacecraft (KK) of the Soyuz series. Launched into orbit on April 23, 1967. There was one cosmonaut on board Soyuz-1 - Hero of the Soviet Union, engineer-colonel V. M. Komarov, who died during the landing of the descent module. Komarov’s backup in preparation for this flight was Yu. A. Gagarin.”

Soyuz-1 was supposed to dock with Soyuz-2 to return the crew of the first ship, but due to problems, the launch of Soyuz-2 was canceled.

After entering orbit, problems began with the operation of the solar battery; after unsuccessful attempts to launch it, it was decided to lower the ship to Earth.

But during the descent, 7 km from the ground, the parachute system failed, the ship hit the ground at a speed of 50 km per hour, tanks with hydrogen peroxide exploded, the cosmonaut died instantly, Soyuz-1 almost completely burned out, the remains of the cosmonaut were severely burned so that it was impossible to identify even fragments of the body.

“This disaster was the first time a person died in flight in the history of manned astronautics.”

The causes of the tragedy have never been fully established.

Soyuz-11 disaster

Soyuz 11 is a spacecraft whose crew of three cosmonauts died in 1971. The cause of death was the depressurization of the descent module during the landing of the ship.

Just a couple of years after the death of Yu. A. Gagarin (the famous cosmonaut himself died in a plane crash in 1968), having already followed the seemingly well-trodden path of space exploration, several more cosmonauts passed away.

Soyuz-11 was supposed to deliver the crew to the Salyut-1 orbital station, but the ship was unable to dock due to damage to the docking unit.

Crew composition:

Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Dobrovolsky

Flight engineer: Vladislav Volkov

Research engineer: Viktor Patsayev

They were between 35 and 43 years old. All of them were posthumously awarded awards, certificates, and orders.

It was never possible to establish what happened, why the spacecraft was depressurized, but most likely this information will not be given to us. But it’s a pity that at that time our cosmonauts were “guinea pigs” who were released into space without much security or security after the dogs. However, probably many of those who dreamed of becoming astronauts understood what a dangerous profession they were choosing.

Docking occurred on June 7, undocking on June 29, 1971. There was an unsuccessful attempt to dock with the Salyut-1 orbital station, the crew was able to board the Salyut-1, even stayed at the orbital station for several days, a TV connection was established, but already during the first approach to the station the cosmonauts stopped filming for some smoke. On the 11th day, a fire started, the crew decided to descend on the ground, but problems emerged that disrupted the undocking process. Spacesuits were not provided for the crew.

On June 29 at 21.25 the ship separated from the station, but after just over 4 hours contact with the crew was lost. The main parachute was deployed, the ship landed in a given area, and the soft landing engines fired. But the search team discovered at 02.16 (June 30, 1971) the lifeless bodies of the crew; resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

During the investigation, it was found that the cosmonauts tried to eliminate the leak until the last minute, but they mixed up the valves, fought for the wrong one, and meanwhile missed the opportunity for salvation. They died from decompression sickness - air bubbles were found during autopsy even in the heart valves.

The exact reasons for the depressurization of the ship have not been named, or rather, they have not been announced to the general public.

Subsequently, engineers and creators of spacecraft, crew commanders took into account many of the tragic mistakes of previous unsuccessful flights into space.

Challenger shuttle disaster

“The Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the space shuttle Challenger, at the very beginning of mission STS-51L, was destroyed by an explosion of its external fuel tank 73 seconds into flight, resulting in the death of all 7 crew members. The crash occurred at 11:39 EST (16:39 UTC) over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of central Florida, USA."

In the photo, the ship's crew - from left to right: McAuliffe, Jarvis, Resnik, Scobie, McNair, Smith, Onizuka

All of America was waiting for this launch, millions of eyewitnesses and viewers watched the launch of the ship on TV, it was the culmination of the Western conquest of space. And so, when the grand launch of the ship took place, seconds later, a fire began, later an explosion, the shuttle cabin separated from the destroyed ship and fell at a speed of 330 km per hour on the surface of the water, seven days later the astronauts would be found in the broken cabin at the bottom of the ocean. Until the last moment, before hitting the water, some crew members were alive and tried to supply air to the cabin.

In the video below the article there is an excerpt of a live broadcast of the launch and death of the shuttle.

“The Challenger shuttle crew consisted of seven people. Its composition was as follows:

The crew commander is 46-year-old Francis “Dick” R. Scobee. US military pilot, US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, NASA astronaut.

The co-pilot is 40-year-old Michael J. Smith. Test pilot, US Navy captain, NASA astronaut.

The scientific specialist is 39-year-old Ellison S. Onizuka. Test pilot, Lieutenant Colonel of the US Air Force, NASA astronaut.

The scientific specialist is 36-year-old Judith A. Resnick. Engineer and NASA astronaut. Spent 6 days 00 hours 56 minutes in space.

The scientific specialist is 35-year-old Ronald E. McNair. Physicist, NASA astronaut.

The payload specialist is 41-year-old Gregory B. Jarvis. Engineer and NASA astronaut.

The payload specialist is 37-year-old Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliffe. A teacher from Boston who won the competition. This was her first flight into space as the first participant in the Teacher in Space project.”

Last photo of the crew

To establish the causes of the tragedy, various commissions were created, but most of the information was classified; according to assumptions, the reasons for the ship’s crash were poor interaction between organizational services, irregularities in the operation of the fuel system that were not detected in time (the explosion occurred at launch due to the burnout of the wall of the solid fuel accelerator), and even. .terrorist attack. Some said that the shuttle explosion was staged to harm America's prospects.

Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

“The Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, shortly before the end of its 28th flight (mission STS-107). The final flight of the space shuttle Columbia began on January 16, 2003. On the morning of February 1, 2003, after a 16-day flight, the shuttle was returning to Earth.

NASA lost contact with the craft at approximately 14:00 GMT (09:00 EST), 16 minutes before its intended landing on Runway 33 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which was scheduled to take place at 14:16 GMT. Eyewitnesses filmed burning debris from the shuttle flying at an altitude of about 63 kilometers at a speed of 5.6 km/s. All 7 crew members were killed."

Crew pictured - From top to bottom: Chawla, Husband, Anderson, Clark, Ramon, McCool, Brown

The Columbia shuttle was making its next 16-day flight, which was supposed to end with a landing on Earth, however, as the main version of the investigation says, the shuttle was damaged during the launch - a piece of torn off thermal insulating foam (the coating was intended to protect tanks with oxygen and hydrogen) as a result of the impact, damaged the wing coating, as a result of which, during the descent of the apparatus, when the heaviest loads on the body occur, the apparatus began to overheat and, subsequently, destruction.

Even during the shuttle mission, engineers more than once turned to NASA management to assess the damage and visually inspect the shuttle body using orbital satellites, but NASA experts assured that there were no fears or risks and the shuttle would descend safely to Earth.

“The crew of the shuttle Columbia consisted of seven people. Its composition was as follows:

The crew commander is 45-year-old Richard “Rick” D. Husband. US military pilot, US Air Force colonel, NASA astronaut. Spent 25 days 17 hours 33 minutes in space. Before Columbia, he was commander of the shuttle STS-96 Discovery.

The co-pilot is 41-year-old William "Willie" C. McCool. Test pilot, NASA astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

The flight engineer is 40-year-old Kalpana Chawla. Scientist, first female NASA astronaut of Indian origin. Spent 31 days, 14 hours and 54 minutes in space.

The payload specialist is 43-year-old Michael P. Anderson. Scientist, NASA astronaut. Spent 24 days 18 hours 8 minutes in space.

Zoology specialist - 41-year-old Laurel B. S. Clark. US Navy captain, NASA astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

Scientific specialist (doctor) - 46-year-old David McDowell Brown. Test pilot, NASA astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.

The scientific specialist is 48-year-old Ilan Ramon (English Ilan Ramon, Hebrew.‏אילן רמון‏‎). NASA's first Israeli astronaut. Spent 15 days 22 hours 20 minutes in space.”

The shuttle's descent took place on February 1, 2003, and within an hour it was supposed to land on Earth.

“On February 1, 2003, at 08:15:30 (EST), the space shuttle Columbia began its descent to Earth. At 08:44 the shuttle began to enter the dense layers of the atmosphere." However, due to damage, the leading edge of the left wing began to overheat. From 08:50, the ship's hull suffered severe thermal loads; at 08:53, debris began to fall off the wing, but the crew was alive and there was still communication.

At 08:59:32 the commander sent the last message, which was interrupted mid-sentence. At 09:00, eyewitnesses had already filmed the explosion of the shuttle, the ship collapsed into many fragments. that is, the fate of the crew was predetermined due to NASA’s inaction, but the destruction itself and the loss of life occurred in a matter of seconds.

It is worth noting that the Columbia shuttle was used many times, at the time of its death the ship was 34 years old (in operation by NASA since 1979, the first manned flight in 1981), it flew into space 28 times, but this flight turned out to be fatal.

No one died in space itself; about 18 people died in the dense layers of the atmosphere and in spaceships.

In addition to the disasters of 4 ships (two Russian - "Soyuz-1" and "Soyuz-11" and American - "Columbia" and "Challenger"), in which 18 people died, there were several more disasters due to an explosion, fire during pre-flight preparation , one of the most famous tragedies is a fire in an atmosphere of pure oxygen during preparation for the Apollo 1 flight, then three American astronauts died, and in a similar situation, a very young USSR cosmonaut, Valentin Bondarenko, died. The astronauts simply burned alive.

Another NASA astronaut, Michael Adams, died while testing the X-15 rocket plane.

Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin died in an unsuccessful flight on an airplane during a routine training session.

Probably, the goal of the people who stepped into space was grandiose, and it is not a fact that even knowing their fate, many would have renounced astronautics, but still we always need to remember at what cost the path to the stars was paved for us...

In the photo there is a monument to the fallen astronauts on the Moon

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The idea of ​​traveling into space seems attractive. Many of us dreamed of becoming astronauts - or even the first people on Earth, some in childhood, and some still today. Who wouldn't want to reach out? And yet there are several facts that may make us change our minds, or at least think about it. It turns out that space is not only difficult and inconvenient, it is also unpleasant. Here are ten nasty facts about space travel that you may need to be well prepared for.

NASA doesn't know what to do with astronauts who died in space

NASA has no clear plans for what to do with the bodies of astronauts who die in space. In fact, NASA doesn't expect astronauts to die in space at all, so it doesn't specify what they should do if a colleague dies. But what happens if an astronaut dies in space? After all, this is quite possible, especially in the case of a long mission, for example, to Mars.

One option is to send the body into space. But this option is not an option because the UN prohibits dumping debris (including bodies) into space due to concerns that it could collide with or contaminate others. Another option is to store the body inside the spacecraft and burn it upon return to . Again, this option is not suitable: it could endanger the lives of other astronauts. One last option: If humans ever colonize Mars, the body could be used as fertilizer. True, the question remains whether people really can be good fertilizer.

NASA is currently working with funeral company Promesse, which is developing Body Back. The corpse would be sealed in an airtight sleeping bag and attached to the outside of the spacecraft, where it would be exposed to the cold of space. The body will freeze, vibrate, and break into many small particles as the craft moves through space. By the time he returns to Earth, only tiny specks of dust will remain from the astronaut's body.

Astronauts drink recycled urine

Access to fresh fresh water in space can be a challenge. American astronauts receive most of their water through recycling and recovery in a system introduced in 2009. As its name suggests, the water recovery system allows astronauts to recover most of the fluid they lose through sweat and urine while shaving or making coffee.

American astronauts don't just recycle their own urine. They also dispose of astronauts' urine because the Russians refused to drink such water. According to Lane Carter, water subsystem manager for the ISS, recycled water tastes no different than bottled water.

Astronauts lose muscle and bone mass and age prematurely

Microgravity conditions in space lead astronauts to premature aging. The skin ages faster, becomes thinner and drier, and begins to itch. Bones and muscles also weaken. Astronauts lose 1% muscle mass and 2% bone mass with each month they spend in space. During a four to six month stay on the International Space Station, the loss is about 11% of the mass of the femur.

Even the arteries are affected. They become tougher, which threatens astronauts with heart attacks and strokes. Canadian Robert Thirsk suffered from weakness, brittle bones and balance problems after spending six months in space. He said that upon returning to Earth he felt like an old man. Premature aging is now considered one of the side effects of space travel. And there is no hiding from it, although astronauts can reduce the effect by exercising several hours a day.

Space travel can make you infertile

There are suggestions that long-term space missions make astronauts infertile. In one experiment, male rats were suspended above the floor for six weeks, simulating the weightlessness of outer space, causing their testes to shrink as well as their sperm count, effectively dictating infertility. Female rats suffered similar or worse fates when sent into space. The rats' ovaries stopped working after 15 days. By the time they returned to Earth, the gene responsible for producing estrogen was worn out, and the cells that produced eggs were dying.

Space travel has also been linked to loss of libido. In one experiment, two male and five female mice sent into space refused to mate. However, some scientists insist that space has nothing to do with libido or infertility. The eggs of fish and frogs sent into space were fertilized, although the offspring of the frogs remained in the tadpole phase. Male astronauts also impregnated their wives within days of returning to Earth.

The situation is similar with women. They also became pregnant shortly after returning from space missions, although they had a higher chance of miscarriage. The effects of space travel on reproduction remain controversial and, for obvious reasons, very difficult to research. NASA has abandoned efforts to count the sperm counts of astronauts returning from space due to privacy concerns.

Most astronauts get sick in space

Despite advances in space exploration, “space sickness” remains a headache for NASA. More than half of all astronauts sent into space experience nausea, headaches, vomiting and general discomfort. These are all causes of space sickness, also called space adaptation syndrome. Among the famous astronauts who encountered space sickness is Jake Garn, who felt the symptoms even before leaving Earth. When he returned, he could barely walk.

Garn's space sickness was so severe that his name became an informal scale for measuring the severity of the disease. Astronauts assess the severity of their suffering with phrases like “two bucks,” “three bucks,” and so on. While NASA is looking for solutions to the issue of space sickness, agency engineers have created an early warning device if astronauts become ill in space.

All astronauts wear diapers

NASA missed something in the design of the first spacesuit. It turned out that scientists had forgotten that astronauts may need to go to the toilet in their spacesuit. This omission led to Alan Shepard, the first American in space, walking right under himself while in a spacesuit. And this happened only after permission, because NASA scientists feared that the urine could short-circuit the electrical components of the spacesuit.

To prevent similar scenarios from occurring on future missions, NASA came up with a condom-like device that astronauts would wear while still in their spacesuit. For obvious reasons, when American women went into space in the 1970s, they had problems, so the agency had to develop a urine and feces distribution system called DACT. DACT was used by people of both sexes, although it was made specifically for women.

In 1988, NASA replaced DACT with MAG - essentially an adult diaper similar to shorts. Each astronaut is issued three of these MAGs per mission. One is worn during spacewalk, one upon return, and a third just in case.

You'll have to masturbate in space

Astronauts are always at risk of getting urinary tract infections and other diseases while in space. Men are more likely to end up with prostatitis, and women are more likely to get a urinary tract infection. From 1981 to 1998, 23 of the 508 NASA astronauts sent into space experienced urinary problems. Although these statistics indicate that genitourinary diseases affect only a small percentage of astronauts, these problems cannot be ignored because they can lead to the cessation of spaceflight.

The Soviet Union found this out most decisively when, in 1985, cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin had to return to Earth after only two months out of a planned six. Vladimir suffered from severe prostatitis, which caused fever, nausea and serious pain when urinating.

Marjorie Jenkins, NASA's medical advisor, clarified that prostatitis may be one of the consequences of decreased ejaculation. When men don't ejaculate often enough, bacteria can build up in the prostate gland and cause an infection.

It is unknown whether astronauts would have to masturbate during space flights, but that doesn't mean they didn't do it. A Russian cosmonaut once admitted to “having sex with his hand” while in space. In 2012, astronaut Ron Garan revealed on Reddit that astronauts do get some "free time" on the International Space Station. When asked to clarify, he said: “I can only speak for myself, but we are professionals.”

There is no emergency in space

NASA doesn't have any fancy medical equipment on board its spacecraft or even the ISS. All there is is medicine and basic first aid equipment. Astronauts are not treated with anything other than a band-aid and psyllium with painkillers. What to do if the astronaut becomes very ill or even requires surgery?

When this happens, NASA demands that the astronaut be sent back to Earth. NASA has an agreement with Roscosmos, according to which emergency missions are launched to save sick astronauts from the ISS. In addition to the sick astronauts, the rocket will return with two more astronauts, as a crew of three is needed. Such a trip would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the seriously ill astronaut might not even survive the trip.

If NASA goes through all this just to pick up a sick astronaut from the “nearby” ISS, what happens when the astronaut needs help on the way to Mars? The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) funds several agencies to create unique medical equipment that can cope with serious illnesses such as heart attacks and appendicitis in space.

Medicines in space are less effective

We just mentioned that the medical care available to astronauts in space qualifies as first aid. But even with all this, most of the available drugs are not as effective as on Earth. In one study, researchers stocked the first eight first aid kits with 35 different medications, including sleeping pills and antibiotics. Four first aid kits were sent to the International Space Station, and the other four were stored in a special chamber at the Space Center. Johnson in Houston.

After 28 months, the drugs sent to the ISS were less effective than those stored at the space center. Six drugs were also found to have melted or changed color. Scientists believe that the loss is effectively due to the excess vibration and radiation that the drugs encounter in outer space. NASA has now reduced the severity of this problem by supplying fresh drugs to the ISS every six months. In the future, astronauts will be given all the necessary ingredients to produce medicines in space.

Carbon dioxide poisoning may be a problem

The concentration of carbon dioxide on the ISS is increased. On Earth, the concentration of CO 2 is about 0.3 mm Hg. Art., but can reach 6 mm Hg. Art. on the ISS. Adverse side effects such as headaches, irritation and sleep problems, which have become the norm among astronauts, are just a few of the consequences of elevated carbon dioxide concentrations. In fact, most astronauts complain of headaches at the start of their missions.

Unlike on Earth, where carbon dioxide leaving the body dissipates into the air, the gas exhaled by astronauts forms a cloud above their heads. There are special fans on board the ISS that blow out these clouds and disperse them throughout the object. But the gas concentration still exceeds the recommended level. Let's hope that by the time humans are sent to Mars, a solution will be found.

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If we talk about traveling beyond the Earth’s orbit, for example, to Mars, all these 10 obstacles will become negligibly small compared to the problem of protection from hard cosmic radiation. many times higher than the “usual” near-Earth one.

1. “hard cosmic radiation” is stopped by 5 mm of aluminum. Solar flares pose a danger, but we learn about them in advance and there is time for astronauts to move to a protected room.

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Was Yuri Gagarin the first man in space?
Soviet propaganda myth: Gagarin was not the first in space? / "Unsolved Mysteries"

According to one source, Yuri Gagarin was the second man in space, according to others - the fourth, and some claim even the twelfth. In the Guinness Book of Records for 1964, the first cosmonaut on Earth was listed as Victor Ilyushin. Other

"Unsolved Mysteries": Was Yuri Gagarin the first man in space

November 10, 1959. A newspaper with sensational material is published in the USA. It contains a secret recording of conversations between the chief Soviet designer Sergei Korolev and the cosmonaut: “Earth. Pressure is normal.” After a minute of silence: “I can’t hear you, the batteries have failed. Oxygen. Comrades, for God’s sake, what to do? What? I can’t. Do you understand? Do you understand?” Then the astronaut’s speech turned into an indistinct muttering and disappeared completely. According to journalist Allen Henders, the deceased's name was Alexander Belokonev.

“As for Gagarin, there is no smoke without fire. There are some factors that allow rumors to emerge. We all know the canonical date of Gagarin’s flight – April 12, but before his flight there were five satellite ships on which the flight of the Vostok spacecraft was tested,” - said Vadim Lukashevich.

Andrey Simonov has been researching flight tests in our country for many years. He admits experiments in this industry have been going on since 1953.

Yuri Gagarin, 1961

“The Hungarian writer Eastwood Nemory wrote a whole book about how the first cosmonaut was Viktor Ilyushin, who survived, but was in unsightly shape after this unsuccessful landing,” said Yuri Karash.

The Italian agency "Continental", shortly after Gagarin's return, published an interview with its scientists, the Undico-Cordillo brothers, who said that since 1957 they had recorded three tragedies in space. In their space listening center, they picked up radio signals of the dying, groans and intermittent heartbeats. Those recordings still exist today.

“Initially, about 3,000 people were selected. They looked first of all at their medical records, that is, there was a requirement for almost absolute physical health. Of these, as a result of strict selection, 6 people were left who flew under the Vostok program. In fact, “Of course, more were selected,” adds Yuri Karash.

The last unofficial flight in the foreign press is listed as February 4, 1961. The Baikonur launch actually took place that day, but who flew? Why didn't you come back? The details remained classified for many years.

Why did cosmonaut Bondarenko die?

The West is convinced that Gagarin only played the role of the first cosmonaut to hide his failures.

“Before Gagarin’s flight, the Americans were also working on their Mercury spacecraft, they had two suborbital launches, they managed to launch them. The rhesus monkey Sam flew in the first, and the first astronaut, the chimpanzee Ham, flew in the second. He flew two months before Gagarin, he rose to a height of 285 km vertically. Maybe that’s why Korolev began to say that there was no point in launching Gagarin suborbitally, he would have been second behind the monkey,” said Vadim Lukashevich.

Today, astronauts acknowledge the death of one of their colleagues. This really happened before Gagarin, and they don’t like to talk about it. Valentin Bondarenko was one of the favorites of the first squad - the youngest and most cheerful. Pilot-cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko was friends with him, but even he admits that he died through his own fault.

"We heated food and tea on ordinary spiral tiles. We wiped his head for sensors with alcohol, and an alcohol swab accidentally fell on the tile - he was getting ready to have dinner. A fire occurred, he had 80% burns, he was taken away in an ambulance, but he I lived only two or three hours,” recalls Viktor Gorbatko.

Yuri Gagarin before the start

“We rehearsed the landing, reported them, they were taken in an elevator to the very top, to the ship. Everything was done except boarding the ship. That is, a large retinue: conscript soldiers standing in a cordon saw that the cosmonauts reported, went to the rocket, rocket flew away,” said Vadim Lukashevich.

This is how rumors are born. They are also fueled by kitchen conversations of dissidents who do not trust the authorities.

“Once I was in Italy, those who proved that Gagarin and Tereshkova were not the first gathered there,” recalls Viktor Gorbatko.

Late 70s Almost twenty years after Gagarin's flight. Cosmonauts can already divulge some details of the first launches. Then Viktor Gorbatko says for the first time that Valentin Bondarenko died not in space, but in a soundproofing chamber during a test. But those radio signals that the Italian brothers heard really existed, and they came from space.

“Radio transmitters were taken on board. They simply recorded the voice and watched how the signal would pass to Earth. There were simple call signs: “Reception!”, “Can you hear me?”, etc. Western pilots, having heard this, might well have thought “that a person is saying this, although in fact it was a tape recorder speaking,” said Andrei Simonov.

Human trials

So was astronaut number zero, and who are the people whose names were named by the largest foreign publications? Why did they believe in them so much? Was Gagarin the first, second or twelfth cosmonaut in the world? The first journalistic investigation appeared in the summer of 1965.

“In American publications - Belokonev, Ledovsky, Shiborin, Gusev, Zavadovsky also flew before Gagarin - a lot of names were given. And it turned out that in 1959 in the Ogonyok magazine there was a detailed publication where testers of spacesuits for pilots, not for cosmonauts, were interviewed And they said that they were testing high-altitude spacesuits. And so the Americans took the names of people from this group and passed them off as astronauts. But questions remained. What really happened to Vladimir Ilyushin? - said Andrei Simonov.

“He was a very unique person. In 1959, he set a world altitude record for flying an airplane, a lot was written about him. And then in 1960 he suddenly disappeared from view. Everything was simple: on June 8, 1960, he got into a car accident on the way from Moscow to Zhukovsky, and was treated for a long time. This year he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and he came on crutches to the presentation. And, apparently, someone saw, and gossip began that he had an unsuccessful flight into space. “I myself have always denied this,” recalls Simonov.

Yuri Gagarin in the Grand Kremlin Palace, 1961

"Someone randomly asked me: 'Oh! Are you alive? “I heard you died” - “No, I say, you’re alive!” said Evgeny Kiryushin.

Kiryushin was one of those who did everything to prevent the cosmonauts from dying. For more than 20 years, he was officially listed as either a simple laboratory assistant or a mechanic at the Institute of Space Medicine. Only in the early 1990s did it become possible to speak out loud about his work, and he received the title of Hero of Russia.

“Let’s say, explosive decompression, when they checked the suit for an explosion - a fraction of a second passes until complete depressurization, from earth pressure to vacuum - three tenths of a second. God knows what can happen: maybe lightning will tear off, maybe the helmet, and maybe the head ", explained Kiryushin.

There are countless tragedies among the testers; not many can withstand twelve-fold overloads and emergency ejection. A common injury is a spinal fracture. Until the very end, no one knows how a person will behave in space. It is believed that in a state of weightlessness he will simply go crazy. Gagarin's entire ship control panel is blocked. The code is in a special envelope; a deranged pilot will not be able to decipher it. Until the last minute, the success of the flight is in doubt.

“After the Second World War, the International Commission banned experiments and tests on people. But how can you develop such a new industry as astronautics without conducting experiments with people? This is impossible, therefore, despite all sorts of international acts, we had a group of testers who did this.” , - said Evgeny Kiryushin.

Vadim Lukashevich has written more than one book about astronautics. He believes that the Americans, by spreading rumors about Soviet launch failures, did not want to belittle the achievements of the Soviet country. On the contrary, they were frightened by such information. During the Cold War, they kept a close eye on the Russians. For meetings in the US Congress on the budget, the Pentagon even published a special brochure “Soviet Military Power”.

"The West then accepted very little information about the Soviet Union. To the point that they would not say where we started from. We started from Chuo Tama, but they said that from Baikonur, and this is hundreds of kilometers away. And the Americans recognized the launch site from ballistic calculations, looking at where the rocket took off. Gagarin is the first person in space, but according to the rules of the international association, in order to register a record, he had to take off in a ship, and land in a ship. And he ejected at an altitude of 80 km and landed on a parachute. separately, but when we submitted documents to register the record, we hid it. That is, they thought up a lot of things,” said Vadim Lukashevich.

Death of Ivan Ivanovich

Larisa Uspenskaya knows the secrets of space flight like no one else. For many years she has been in charge of the archive of the first cosmonaut corps. Unique, recently closed documents are stored here.

“In 2011, when celebrations and anniversary events took place, a massive declassification of documents was carried out. Documents from the archives of the president, the state authorities at that time and our department were declassified. Recently, a non-departmental commission declassified a significant block of archives relating to the first space flights,” said Larisa Uspenskaya .

The very first recordings of the archive of Gagarin's flight were made in real time by Korolev and the cosmonaut personally immediately after landing. Gagarin writes how he lost his pencil in weightlessness, how he was thirsty, how the ship deviated from course.

Designer Sergei Korolev and first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, 1961

Meanwhile, three weeks earlier, a resident of the village of Korsha, in Western Kazakhstan, discovered a man in a spacesuit on a high spruce tree - he landed unsuccessfully with a parachute. The news about the deceased cosmonaut quickly spread around the area. But no one had time to get close to him: the military arrived and the victim disappeared without a trace.

“We can only call the dummy Ivan Ivanovich as cosmonaut number zero. It was absolutely impossible to imagine how the human body would react. The overloads that the astronauts were subjected to during training and testing on Earth could not compare with what would happen there,” said Larisa Uspenskaya .

Officially, two dummies flew into space, jokingly nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich by the designers. In order not to scare people, they will write on the suit of the second one: “Model”. But it was impossible to stop the rumors.

“It was only fifty years later that the UN established that April 12, 1961 is the day of the first human flight into space,” said Viktor Gorbatko.

Today, for $1 million, anyone can go into space. But has it become safe? What are astronauts still hiding?

“I was worried, of course, but there was no fear. Unfortunately, the previous crew, when we flew to Almaz (the Salyut-5 military station), panicked, they began to take things more and more acutely, which caused a deterioration in their health, and this led to an emergency landing, and for some time they even believed that the station was poisoned.

Only behind the scenes, testers say that the risk in flights has not disappeared. It's still roulette, which is why they sign non-disclosure documents. Their reports are kept as secret files for years.

“As a result of each flight, not counting TASS reports, a whole complex of documents arises. For example, Gagarin’s flight log has not yet been published. What do we know about the flights after Gagarin?” - Vadim Lukashevich argues.

It would seem that the veil of secrecy of the first flights has been opened, and except for dogs and mannequins, no one had been in orbit before Gagarin, but until all the documents are declassified, these questions will be investigated again and again.

Major Gagarin completed the task. After him, Viktor Gorbatko managed to travel into space three times, each time the mission was made more difficult.

“Plains, forests, all this can be seen from space. On my second flight, taking the appropriate equipment, we could see a person,” recalls Viktor Gorbatko.