Round 60 years ago, on April 12, 1961, the first astronaut of the planet Yuri Gagarin made a legendary space flight not only for himself but for all of humanity.
With Gagarin’s flight, the Soviet Union demonstrated superiority in the field of mysterious space exploration.
On this commemorative milestone, Mr. Boris Volynov, Soviet cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, the last living astronaut from the first astronaut team, who made two flights into space. , shared with Sputnik about the selection of astronauts at the time, about his relationship with Gagarin and about the cause of the death of astronaut No. 1. – How was he selected in the space pilot team? – Boris Volynov: In 1955 I graduated from the training school and became a pilot of the Moscow air defense force, serving in Yaroslavl. The work is very complicated and difficult. There is practically no day off. One day, I received an order to the command of the regiment. Before entering the office, I was invited to another room, where the KGB National Security Agency representative asked me to sign a nondisclosure agreement. Entering the office, there were no regimental commanders, but strangers instead. T I was asked to do the life-risky job of flying at higher speeds and higher altitudes than our fighters, although we are still proud of the fact that we fly at high speeds and contemporary highest altitude. I agreed to accept a new assignment, then after a short time I received an order to make a business trip to Moscow. We go through a selection of pressure chambers, on centrifuges, on special swings to test the vestibular apparatus. The total challenge time is 40 days and nights. Out of the five regimental pilots who were called to the Army Hospital, only I was the one who passed the test with a “Match” result. After a while, he received orders to return to Moscow. There are 12 people, the next day to add a 13th person. In the aviation profession, this is a number that people are very afraid of. Not a single aircraft in our air force unit has the tail number 13, no apartments in the military town are numbered 13. Such details remain bold in memory. 
Soviet Hero Yuri Gagarin. – Do you remember your acquaintance with Gagarin? – Boris Volynov: We get to know him better through skydiving. He thought I was good at dancing and came to consult. We arrange parachutes together. Yura had made no mistake. Right after the 17th dance, at the request of the team leader, I was assigned to be a guide and help you. We communicate not just about work. We also play volleyball together. – It was not immediately clear then that Yuri Gagarin would become the first astronaut. When do you know who will fly April 12? – Boris Volynov: Until the very last moment, we still don’t know who will fly, Yuri Gagarin or the German Titov. For example, in space travel, human weight is very important. Being overweight always wastes the fuel of the boosters. German is lighter than Yura. It is only at the meeting of the State Committee for the Universe that it is decided who flies first. We weren’t there, but only knew of this choice during flight, when we heard Gagarin’s “Kedr” (Snow Pine) signal during radio communications with Earth. On the other hand, it wasn’t long before German flew into space as well. If Gagarin did a spin around the Earth and couldn’t feel all the “pleasure” of weightlessness, then German would be the first person in the world to experience everything on his own in a day long flight. Your night. At that time, no one knew and no one could explain how weightlessness would affect the vestibular apparatus, where the head was filled with blood. 
Astronaut Gagarin in the compartment “Vostok-1”. – How and where did he welcome on April 12, 1961? – Boris Volynov: That day I was in Khabarovsk at the radio broadcasting station. It is my duty to make sure to get in touch with Yura. As he passed us, he began to report: “I am entering the shadow of the Earth”. We all wonder, “How is that?”. At that time no one knew about this. So what’s more, in 1961. Why is the darkness of the Earth? We did not understand until later. Yura landed, our job done, it was time to return to Moscow. In the city, we saw a jubilant scene. It was a weekday working day, but a lot of people were gleefully pouring out into the street so I can only compare this event with the Victory Day celebration. – Why do you think Gagarin himself was chosen? Due to his inherent human qualities? – Boris Volynov : Yura is always willing to help others. Even in difficult times, he knows how to unravel the situation. He went through many hardships, but I have never seen him offend anyone. Yura is always ready to support and share. He has the qualifications, skills, intelligence to find a common voice with everyone. Once we went with him to a repair workshop. He understood everything, spoke the same language as the craftsmen. And after the flight, he talked to the members of the Academy of Sciences. Yura is “me” everywhere and at all times. – Were you involved in the investigation of Gagarin’s death? – Boris Volynov: Have. – Alexei Leonov has his own hypothesis about what happened to the jet that passed by Gagarin’s plane. And what do you think about this? – Boris Volynov: His assumptions are unreasonable. Once central television invited me, Alexei Leonov, Viktor Gorbatko, the test pilot Stepan Mikoyan, who said that the whole assumption was bullshit. And Leonov said that he did not give the full name of the faulty test pilot, who was 90 years old at the time, to avoid ruining his life. And Mikoyan knew all about the test pilots. There was only one 90-year-old man who could not pass near Gagarin in supersonic mode, because he specialized in testing transport planes. Mikoyan even did the test: he took the MiG-15UTI, and then asked to arrange two test pilots, flying at the same altitude and at the same speed as the modern supersonic plane flies by side. next to them in different directions, below, above, at different angles. The MiG-15UTI swung up and down, but no emergency situation occurred. That is the perspective of a professional test pilot. 
Soviet space pilot Yuri Gagarin and aerospace pilot Alexei Leonov after flight aboard the MIG-15 fighter plane – In your opinion, is this a tragic accidental scene? – Boris Volynov: Hard to say. I do not understand anything. There are many theories, of which what is the truth cannot be known. One of the assumptions was that a soldier launched a meteorological balloon. This is a device weighing about 1 kg. If the plane collided with it in the light of its headlights at high speed, it wouldn’t be a small deal. At the same time, it was impossible to see the ball early while flying at high speed. – His active period coincided with a period of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States. Now people talk more about cooperation. In your view, should competition or cooperation be better? – Boris Volynov: Competition is not bad either. In 1969 we and the Americans attended the international convention in Delhi. Due to his outstanding achievements in space exploration, astronaut Neil Armstrong received the highest award from the International Space Federation for the world’s first landing on the lunar surface, while also commanding spacecraft Boris Volynov and astronaut researcher Evgeny Khrunov receive the award for the first time in the world to pair two spacecraft and go from ship to ship in open space. At this international conference, Neil Armstrong and I shook hands. I talked to him, he is a normal person and has learned a lot in my life. When he was a little boy, he wanted to fly in airplanes. They also have the same Flight Clubs we have in the Soviet Union, except the Americans have to pay and we are free. To earn money to pay for school, Neil Armstrong did the cleaning. As a result, we both flew into outer space. 108 minutes to change the world In the early 60s, Yuri Gagarin was fortunate to be among the first 20 astronauts in Soviet history, selected by the government from 3,000 of the best military students, thereby training them for missions without Any country in the world thinks: Fly into space! Regardless of the government’s expectations, Yuri Gagarin has made history after completing a 108-minute mission around the Earth on the Orient 1 spacecraft (Vostok 1). This event helped the Soviet Union become the first country in human history to get people out of the Earth’s gravity, spread their wings out into large space. At that time, Gagarin was only 27 years old. His trophies brought the Soviet Union to become the number 1 power in space conquest. On March 27, 1968, Yuri Gagarin returned to the flight route with the task of training a test pilot on the first generation MiG-15 jet fighter. Minutes after taking off from Chkalovsky airbase near Moscow, Gagarin suddenly notified ground control that they would return to the base. However, shortly thereafter, all communications with Gagarin’s plane were lost. After the plane disappeared from radar screens, authorities sent a search team consisting of hard-wing aircraft and helicopters. Four hours later, the body of the crashed plane was found near the city of Kirzhach, 133km from Moscow. Seven years after his historic mission, Yuri Gagarin farewell to the world in tears, when he was still too young at the age of 34.
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