Belarusian cosmonauts: full information and their achievements

More than 500 people were sent to space. Three of them are Belarusians Oleg Novitsky, Vladimir Kovalenok and Pyotr Klimuk. These names are familiar to every resident of the neighboring republic of the Russian Federation. In this article you will be provided with information about the Belarusian cosmonauts. So, let's get started.

The beginning of history

In 2015, humanity celebrated the 58th anniversary of the beginning of the space age. It all started on October 5, 1957, when Soviet scientists were put into orbit "Sputnik-1". For all the inhabitants of the planet, this was the discovery of the epoch of stars, galaxies and new worlds.

Soon brilliant engineering minds prepared everything for the next stage of the development of the black abyss. And April 12, 1961 was a breakthrough. 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 has developed quite actively. Dozens of orbital stations and hundreds of satellites were launched. A lot of technological and scientific experiments were carried out. And, of course, Belarusian cosmonauts made a very significant contribution to this matter. We will describe the most famous of them below.

Peter Klimuk

This person does not need a presentation. And for those who do not know, Pyotr 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 Gagarin's colleague. Peter was then only 23 years old. The young man passed the cosmonaut training course. This allowed him not only to fly confidently on ships like the "Union", but also to work perfectly at orbital stations like "Salute". As a commander, he made 3 space trips.

First flight

Held in 1973. Klimuk headed the ship Soyuz-13. The flight lasted a little more than a week. In 1975, Petr Ilyich was enlisted in the reserve crew of Soyuz-17. In the same year, Klimuk became a backup commander of the "Union-18-1", which, unfortunately, unsuccessfully started.

Second flight

Occurred in May 1975 and lasted as long as 62 days. He was assisted by flight engineer Sevastyanov. Soon their ship Soyuz-18-2 successfully docked with the orbital station Salyut-4. After returning to Earth, Klimuk began training under the Intercosmos program.

Third flight

During the third flight in June 1978, Pyotr Ilyich headed the international crew for a couple with the Polish cosmonaut Hermaszewski. The "Soyuz-30" managed by them successfully docked with the station "Salyut-6", on board were Ivanchenkov and Kovalenok. This time Klimuk stayed in space for seven days. His total flight 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 Cosmonaut Training Center named after Gagarin. Then Klimuk became deputy head. In 1983 he received additional education in the Military-Political Academy of Lenin (in absentia). And in 1987 he defended his thesis. Several years (from 1979 to 1984) was a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Order

Pyotr 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 Homeland, the Order of Friendship of Peoples and the Gold Medal of Tsiolkovsky. The name of Klimuk is worn by streets in such cities as Kletsk and Rogachev, as well as in the villages of Rubel, Nizhny Terebezhov and Motol. In Brest, Peter Ilyich was given a bronze bust.

Vladimir Kovalyonok

Any biography of Belarusian cosmonauts is noteworthy, but the history of life of this conqueror of the starry sky is perhaps the most interesting. Let's start with the fact that in aviation Kovalenok got in quite "green" age. But, as it turned out, 22 years are not an indicator. Vladimir became the main "cog" of spacecraft of the "Soyuz" type. On them he conquered the starry space three times.

Getting Started

Like all Belarusian cosmonauts, Kovalenok received good training in a military aviation school. Having finished it in 1963, I went to work in transport aviation. Vladimir flew to the An-24 second pilot. Over time, the young man was promoted to the commander. In 1965, Kovalenok became a candidate for a cosmonaut detachment. However, he was not enrolled, but left in reserve. The young man began the training course for space flight two years later.

Flight One

In October 1977, Vladimir Vasilyevich made his first flight on the Soyuz-25. Kovalenok was the commander of the ship. Also in the crew was Vladimir Ryumin. According to the flight program, Soyuz was supposed to make docking with the Salyut-6 station. But this did not happen due to switching the work of the approach system to an abnormal mode. The flight was stopped ahead of schedule. The total time spent in space was 2 days.

Flight of the second

Occurred in 1978 and passed much longer than the first. Kovalenok again was the commander of the ship. This time he headed the crew of Soyuz-29. The planned docking with the station "Salyut-6" was very successful. During his stay, the crew of Vladimir Vasilevich received two international expeditions: the German-Soviet (Ian, Bykovsky) and the Polish-Soviet (Hermaszewski, Klimuk). July 29 Kovalenok together with Ivanchenko made an exit into the starry space. Outside the ship, they were in a couple of hours. On November 2, Vladimir Vasilievich returned home to Soyuz-31. The total duration of the second trip was almost one hundred and forty days.

Flight Three

This time, Kovalenok headed the Soyuz T-4 spacecraft. Together with him flew the notorious Viktor Savinykh. And again they successfully docked with the "Salute-6". Just like last time, the cosmonauts accepted two international expeditions: the Romanian-Soviet (Prunariu, Popov) and the Mongolian-Soviet (Gurragchi, Dzhanibekov). The duration of this flight was almost seventy-five days.

Subsequent service

In 1984, Vladimir Vasilyevich successfully graduated from the Military Academy under the General Staff of the Armed Forces. After that, he received the post of deputy head of the 1st Gagarin Central Cosmonaut Training Center, which was engaged in training cosmonauts. In connection with this appointment, he no longer took part in the flights.

From 1989 to 1992 he worked as a people's deputy. In 1991 he headed the Belarusian Cosmonautics Federation. In 1993, Vladimir Vasilyevich was awarded the rank of colonel-general of aviation. In 2001 he headed the Federation of Cosmonautics of Russia. He came to the reserve by age in June 2002.

Awards

The story of the Belarusian cosmonaut Kovalenke we will finish by listing the orders he has. Vladimir Vasilyevich has three active orders of Lenin, several orders "For Merits to 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 led the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft. The start was made in October 2012. This event became an occasion for all Belarusians to be proud. In 2007, Novitsky passed general space training, receiving the highest score. Thus, he put forward his own candidacy for the nearest flight into the starry space.

Oleg Novitsky is a Belarusian cosmonaut, whose biography is known to every inhabitant of his country. He went to conquer the dark abyss immediately after the celebration of his 41st birthday. People who know Oleg Viktorovich personally, note his outward resemblance to Yuri Gagarin. Novitsky became the third Byelorussian who saw the planet from the other side. In the near future, for sure, the fourth conqueror of the black abyss will appear.

Missed

Belarusian cosmonauts Klimuk, Kovalyonok and Novitsky were able to fulfill their dream and to visit the starry sky. But there were those who could not do it.

Boris Belousov

He was born in Khotimsk (Mogilev region) in 1930. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in Mozhaisk in Leningrad. In 1965 he began to prepare for the flight to the starry space. Soon he was made the senior cosmonaut corps. After the successful passing of the state exam Belousov was appointed to the crew of the "Union". Before the flight to space there was very little. The cherished dream was about to become a reality. But suddenly Belousova 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, I was assigned to a detachment of astronauts. Having successfully passed the state exam, I was preparing for the flight at the Salyut orbital station and on the Soyuz spacecraft. In 1977, Dedkov was appointed commander of the 2nd crew on Salyut-6 and Soyuz-26. All plans were canceled by the unsuccessful docking of the 1st crew, which included such Belarusian cosmonauts as Ryumin and Kovalyonok. "From above" came an order: one crew member must necessarily have flight experience. This decision pushed Dedkov to the end of the line, which was replenished every year by younger applicants.

Tester

The next 6 years, Anatoly Ivanovich was testing space technology in extreme conditions. He experienced flying machines in the ocean and in the deserted terrain (taiga, jungle, desert). Also, Dedkov worked out the space walk in the Orlan space suit and tested the Sokol spacesuit. He performed more than 50 spacecraft landings with a parachute of varying difficulty. But the number of experiments (sometimes dangerous for health) did not help Anatoly Ivanovich to go into space. As a result, he was taken to the Flight Control Center as the main operator. Colonel Dedkov was never able to become the third Belorussian who subdued the dark abyss.

Alexander Shchukin

Born in 1946, in the city of Vienna (Wienn), Austria, in the family of a soldier. Schukin graduated from the school of test pilots, and after - the Moscow Aviation Institute. Alexander read a lot about Belarusian cosmonauts and dreamed of conquering the starry space. As a result, Shchukin was sent for training in the program "Buran", which was headed by Igor Volk. But Alexander's dream never came true. He crashed on a Su-26M aircraft during the preparation for the holiday in Zhukovsky. On the said aircraft, Shchukin made a training flight in order to test him for a spin. Unfortunately, Alexander could not get the plane out of this critical regime, and it all ended in tragedy.