Rest In Peace.
June 15, 2021
Today, June 15, 2021, at the 94th year of his life, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR Vladimir Alexandrovich Shatalov died.
Cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov
Vladimir Shatalov was born on December 7, 1927 in the city of Petropavlovsk, Akmola province (now the North Kazakhstan region of the Republic of Kazakhstan) in the family of a railway worker. The childhood and school years of the future cosmonaut were spent in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). While studying at school, Vladimir Shatalov studied in the aircraft modeling circle of the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers. Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, he graduated from six classes of secondary school in Leningrad. In July-September 1941, he participated in the construction of defensive fortifications in Gatchina near Leningrad, then he was enlisted as the son of a regiment, in which his father served as a military signalman.
At the front, Vladimir Shatalov spent a month and a half, and then went to his native Petropavlovsk, where the family left for evacuation. In June 1943, he graduated from the eight-year school in the city of Petropavlovsk and entered the Voronezh Special School of the Air Force (Air Force), from which he graduated in 1945 with a secondary education. Graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation School of Pilots in 1949, the Air Force Academy in 1956. In 1949-1956 Shatalov served as an instructor pilot at the Kachin school, then from 1956 to 1961 - deputy squadron commander, squadron commander, deputy aviation regiment commander.
Vladimir Shatalov made his first space flight on January 14, 1969 on board the Soyuz-4 spacecraft. Vladimir Aleksandrovich for the first time carried out a manual rendezvous and docking with the Soyuz-5 (spacecraft commander - Boris Volynov). With his participation, for the first time in the world, an experimental space station was created and the transition through open space of cosmonauts Alexei Eliseev and Yevgeny Khrunov from the Soyuz-5 spacecraft to Soyuz-4 was carried out. On January 17, V. Shatalov, A. Eliseev and E. Khrunov returned safely to Earth in Soyuz-4.
Vladimir Shatalov made his second space flight from 13 to 18 October 1969 as the commander of the Soyuz-8 spacecraft together with A.S. Eliseev. It was a group flight of three Soviet spaceships. The spacecraft Soyuz-6 (commander - Georgy Shonin), Soyuz-7 (commander - Anatoly Filipchenko) and Soyuz-8 were launched at intervals of 24 hours. During the flight, cosmonauts Vladimir Shatalov and Aleksey Eliseev carried out an experimental communication session with the MCC and the ship's measuring station Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov via the Molniya-1 satellite. The flight of the "magnificent seven" took its rightful place in the history of manned astronautics. The crews carried out the planned experiments and research in full.
Vladimir Aleksandrovich made his third space flight from 23 to 25 April 1971 as the commander of the Soyuz-10 spacecraft. On April 24, the world's first spacecraft docking with the Salyut orbital station was carried out, after which the crew was scheduled to board the station. However, due to a breakdown of the ship's docking assembly, it was not possible to complete the retraction of the ship and the station and ensure the tightness of the joint. The transfer to the Salyut orbital station was canceled.
From January 1987 to September 1991, Vladimir Alexandrovich Shatalov held the position of head of the Yu.A. Gagarin.
Vladimir Aleksandrovich was awarded three Orders of Lenin (1969, 1971, 1976), the Order of the October Revolution (1982), the Order For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, III degree (1989), the Order For Services to the Fatherland IV degree (2000), the Order of Friendship (2011), medals, as well as foreign orders and medals.
Cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov
Video above (In Russian): The Roscosmos State Corporation expresses condolences to the family and friends of Vladimir Shatalov. Everlasting memory!
Farewell to Vladimir Alexandrovich Shatalov will take place on June 17, 2021 at 12.00 at the Federal War Memorial Cemetery (Mytishchi, Moscow Region).
ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/31478/
Image, Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
R.I.P., Orbiter.ch
