Cosmonaut Zholobov biography. Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, hero of the Soviet Union Vitaly Zholobov: "Is sex possible in space? Why not? In any case, training on earth continues"

space hero

(according to the materials of the WPA publishing house)

ZHOLOBOV VITALY MIKHAILOVICH was born on June 18, 1937 in the village of Zburyevka, Golopristansky district, Kherson region. Russian. Member of the CPSU since 1966. Graduated from the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute. Since 1959 in the Soviet Army. In 1963 he was enlisted in the cosmonaut corps. He graduated from the Military-Political Academy named after V. I. Lenin in absentia in 1974. Pilot-cosmonaut Colonel Zholobov successfully carried out a flight on July 6, 1976-August 24, 76 on the Salyut-5 orbital scientific station and the Soyuz-21 transport spacecraft. After the flight, the commander of a group of students-cosmonauts, instructor-cosmonaut of the Y. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Since 1981 - in reserve. Lives in Kyiv. The hero of the USSR. Awarded the Order of Lenin, medals.

In the fishing village of Zburyevka, spread out on the shore of the estuary about thirty kilometers from Kherson, almost everyone lived by sea fishing. In the Zholobov family, many were also sailors. Grandfather Gavrila, the captain of a sailboat, was loved by the whole village for his cheerful disposition and cheerful character. Probably, Vitaly got a cheerful character and the ability to quickly converge with people from his grandfather. Vitaly Mikhailovich's father was already sailing on motor ships. In Kherson he graduated from the Marine Technical School, received a referral to the Caspian Sea. Here he worked all his life as the captain of the Caspian Shipping Company, drove tankers.

Vitaly grew up in Baku. A real holiday for him was when his father took him to the sea with him. It even happened that I got into a severe storm. Probably, in these years the love for distant wanderings was born.

After school, he was going to enter the naval school. Father dissuaded, but Vitaly still went to the draft board to ask. The mighty captain of the 2nd rank got up from the table, looked at the frail enthusiast and came up with some convincing argument so as not to offend the boy. So, he “did not become a figure” in military sailors.

Vitaly decided to enter the geological exploration department of the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute. I thought: still a wandering life, a romantic profession. In the third year, a new specialty appeared - "automation and telemechanics". Their entire group was transferred to this department. Here began the road that eventually led him into space.

Wandering life did not work. Immediately after graduation, he was drafted into the army. He served as a test engineer in aviation units: telemechanics specialists were needed not only in geology.

On April 12, 1961, one of my friends called the field site: “Zholobov, do you hear? Man in space! Our Soviet! He even got cold then on the skin went. And somewhere in the corner of my soul a crazy thought moved timidly: “Maybe I should try it too?” And then he thought disappointedly: “They said, they only take pilots.”

After the flight of Yuri Gagarin and German Titov, descriptions of the Vostok ship appeared in the press. A stack of books about space lay on Vitaly Zholobov's desk. Later it turned out that not only pilots, but also engineers were taken to the cosmonaut corps. Zholobov was among the first to file a report. I believed in my star. And I wasn't wrong. The doctors gave the go-ahead.

The cosmonaut training detachment spun around like a centrifuge. He took training seriously, he always worked at full strength. At first it was hard. Too much had to be overcome for the first time. New technology, new systems, flights.

After training flights, I realized that the pilots do not eat their chocolate in vain. You need to think quickly, and the situation is changing even faster - on the dashboard you need to be able to evaluate everything at a glance. It was also difficult for engineers to test devices. But there is an opportunity to analyze, but here the plane rushes, roars.

The first parachute jump was remembered for a lifetime. The instructor said: "Don't jump yourself, I'll push you out." Then all the guys confessed that this threat turned out to be the most effective. Zholobov learned to jump well faster than anyone in the group. Already on the third or fourth jump, when I was flying with my back to the ground and spinning like a dry leaf, I remembered how the instructor said: “The center of gravity should be in the navel, bend over.” He stretched out and immediately felt that he was flying normally - face down. Then he walked by himself. ask for extra jumps.

In 1974, Vitaly Zholobov was an understudy for Yuri Artyukhin, a member of the expedition on the Salyut-3 ship. Even then, he established himself as a hardworking, enthusiastic engineer. In the summer of the same year, without interruption from work at the Cosmonaut Training Center, he graduated in absentia from the Military-Political Academy named after V. I. Lenin.

Everything was going well for him. And I did not think that the preparation for the flight would last fourteen years. Probably the most difficult thing in the profession of an astronaut is waiting. But now his stellar day has come. Fly them together with Boris Volynov.

July 6, 1976 Baikonur Cosmodrome. The last check of the operation of all systems of the Soyuz-21 spacecraft has been carried out.

"The crew is ready for flight," the commander of the ship, Colonel B.V. Volynov, clearly reports! It's clear that. both he and his comrade Lieutenant Colonel V. M. Zholobov are very excited in anticipation of the cherished, most important decision in their lives.

A brush of fiery jets is already flaring up under the starting “table”, the rocket pushes away the supporting devices that have become unnecessary for it and, picking up speed, rises into the sky.

After the docking of the Soyuz-21 space transport vehicle and the Salyut-5 scientific orbital station, Boris Volypov and Vitaly Zholobov carried out the most difficult tests aboard the station for a long time.

After the completion of the operation to completely reactivate the station, an experiment was carried out with a hand-held spectrograph - a device that allows spectrography of objects so different in their brightness, such as a section of the Sun's surface and the water surface of the Earth. Thus, valuable information for the national economy was obtained.

V. Zholobov surveyed various types of natural formations encountered by the cosmonauts along the flight route. He photographed the Sun through the earth's atmosphere at various altitudes relative to the horizon. Such surveys are very important for the study of the state of the atmosphere.

A prominent place in the Salyut-5 flight program was occupied by biological experiments. One of them is with aquarium fish. It is known that fish determine their position in space mainly with the help of the vestibular apparatus and the swim bladder. In zero gravity, both of these analyzers are useless. How will the fish navigate in space?

The astronauts were constantly filming the behavior of fish, their movements. We determined what kind of reaction in fish causes the appearance of a light guide - a flashlight beam.

A significant number of technology experiments have been carried out at the Salyut-5 orbital station. Instruments under the general name "Physics" were placed in a special suitcase. A control panel was equipped to carry out all technological experiments, rescue containers for returning samples obtained in space to Earth.

The purpose of one of the experiments was to study the processes of melting and solidification of metal in weightlessness. It was carried out as follows: V. Zholobov turned on the Sphere device. A fusible alloy billet the size of a pencil tip from the "store" was poured into a ceramic tube. Here it was heated, melted, and then pushed into a lavsan bag. The ejection speed and the size of the bag are such that by the time of contact with the wall of the bag, the formed ball has time to harden.

Another technological experiment - "Flow" included in this flight the study of the behavior of a fluid in weightlessness. In a transparent box, two spherical containers are adjacent, which are interconnected by capillary channels. A colored liquid is poured into the first container. It is assumed that the capillary channel will suck up the liquid and, like a pump, distill it into the second container. The time it takes for a leak to occur is calculated. If everything goes as the theory suggests, then in outer space it is possible to widely use capillary sediments that do not have rotating parts and do not require any expenditure of electricity.

In one of the numerous interviews after the flight, Voltov said that each of the experiments and studies carried out during the flight is a new grain in the treasury of mankind's knowledge of space.

During one of the television sessions, Colonel B. Volynov and Lieutenant Colonel V. Zholobov gave us the opportunity to admire the panorama of our country, which opens from the board of the orbital scientific station. We saw the characteristic outlines of the Crimean peninsula, as if about to sail into the Black Sea, the squares of the fields of Ukraine, the bends of the mighty Volga, the mountain ranges of the Urals, the deep-water Baikal, the web of railways and highways, cities, towns.

Space "landscapes" are not only a beautiful sight. This is the subject of research. At present, methods have already been developed that allow using automated technical systems and electronic computers to quickly turn satellite images into maps of interest to specialists. Thus, the flight of Boris Volynov and Vitaly Zholobov, like many other flights of Soviet cosmonauts, was of great help to cartography specialists, which will eventually make it possible to radically change the methods of mapping.

The sun is the most important star for humanity. All life on our planet depends on it. Nevertheless, terrestrial science, despite centuries of observation, cannot yet boast that it has studied the “character” of our luminary well: so far, much in the behavior of the Sun remains a mystery to scientists. Only astronautics can remove the veil of mystery from certain solar phenomena.

On board the Salyut-5 station, Boris Volynov and Vitaly Zholobov studied outside the atmosphere the infrared radiation of the Sun, which reaches the surface of our planet in a highly "truncated" and distorted form.

During the experiment, when the Sun for the station was at its zenith, flight engineer Vitaly Zholobov, observing the Sun through a sighting device, controlled the telescope so that it examined not only the luminary, but also captured the space around the Sun. The visual picture observed by the astronaut during the experiment was recorded on film. This made it possible for the scientists of the Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, who conceived this experiment, to “tie” the received infrared radiation to the region of the star where it is born. As it scanned, the telescope picked up infrared radiation coming from pure outer space, then from the upper rarefied layers of the solar atmosphere, which helped in studying the transition region from the solar surface to the rarefied corona.

In addition, studies of solar infrared radiation carried out in space by the crew of the Salyut-5 scientific orbital station were of great importance for clarifying the problem of solar-terrestrial relations.

Numerous scientific, technical, technological and medical-biological experiments and studies carried out by the astronauts make it possible to better understand what level of professional knowledge the spacecraft crew must have in order to carry out effective work. And, apparently, it is no coincidence that the training period for flight engineer Zholobov was so long.

Colonel B. Volynov and Lieutenant Colonel V. Zholobov spent seven weeks in space, and the time has come to part with the Salyut-5 scientific station. The Soyuz 21 transport ship, which delivered the astronauts to work in the orbital laboratory, now, after the completion of the work shift, had to return them to Earth.

When the grips tightening the station and the transport ship unclenched, the small withdrawal engines turned on and, after a slight shake, Soyuz-21 began to slowly move away from the "space berth". In the sighting device and on the television screen, it was clear how their beautiful station was gradually decreasing in size and partingly sparkling in the sun with the wings of solar batteries.

Then events began to unfold at a rapid pace. In preparation for the descent, the astronauts had to work hard, check all the systems before issuing the command to land.

...Somewhere in the sky over Africa, the brake system turned on, and the ship rushed to the ground, where numerous aviation and ground search teams were already waiting.

All the days of the flight, the Earth helped its messengers, relentlessly monitored their well-being, the state of all station systems, and the transport ship. In various operating modes of the station, the command and measuring devices conducted over six thousand communication sessions. More than ten billion values ​​of measuring parameters were received and processed from space. And now - the last chord.

Radar stations are the first to detect the fire trail of a landed vehicle, followed by the crews of aircraft loitering at given altitudes in the landing area, and the ground stations are the last to hear the cosmonauts.

I am "Baikal", - reports the commander of the ship, Colonel B. Volynov. - Everything is fine. The parachute system worked well.

Ordinal number 78 - (35)

Number of flights - 1

Flight duration - 49 days 06 hours 23 minutes 32 seconds.

Status - pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, 2nd Air Force recruitment

Date and place of birth:
Born on June 18, 1937 in the village of Staraya Zburyevka, Golopristansky district, Kherson region, Ukrainian SSR.

Education and scientific titles:
In 1954 he graduated from the 10th grade of secondary school No. 164 in Baku.
In 1959 he graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Department of Automation and Telemechanics of the Azerbaijan Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the Institute of Oil and Chemistry named after Azizbayov. He received a diploma in the specialty "Automatic, telemechanical and electrical measuring instruments and devices" and the qualification of "electrical engineer".
On July 29, 1974 he graduated from the Correspondence Department of the Military-Political Orders of Lenin and the October Revolution of the V.I. Lenin Red Banner Academy with a degree in Military-Political Aviation. Received the qualification "officer with a higher military-political education."

Professional activity:
From April 1, 1983 to February 1987, he worked as an assistant to the general director of NPO "Mayak" in Kyiv for civil defense, head of the civil defense headquarters of the Research Institute of Electromechanical Devices. In 1986, for two months, he was engaged in the evacuation of people and equipment from the city of Pripyat. The liquidator of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP).
In February 1987, he was transferred to the Noyabrsk Integrated Research Department as the head of the oblique drilling laboratory of the integrated research department to ensure work in the Noyabrskneftegaz association in the city of Noyabrsk, Tyumen Region, and on February 21, 1987, he was transferred to the Zapsibneftegeofizika Department. On August 21, 1987, he was appointed head of the November Aerospace Geological Party organized by him to search for minerals.
From 1990 to January 1991 he worked as head of the department of aerospace geology and geodesy, and from January 2, 1991 - head of the department of geodesy and cartography of aerospace geological research at the branch of the Institute for Advanced Studies (IPK) of the USSR Ministry of Geology in Kyiv. On January 1, 1992, the IPK branch was transformed into the Institute of Management, Business and Retraining of Personnel of the State Committee of Ukraine for Geology and Subsoil Use. On December 31, 1992, he was fired of his own free will.
From January 2 to November 1, 1993, he worked as chairman of the sports committee in the Mirage innovative association.
From June 12, 1996 to February 4, 1997, he worked as Deputy General Director of the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU).
From August 1, 1997 to July 31, 1998, he worked as Deputy Director of LLC Tavria-Impex LTD.
From November 1, 1998, he worked as Deputy General Director of Kalita LLP.
Since April 11, 2002 he has been the President of the Aerospace Association of Ukraine.

Military service:
On July 1, 1959, he was called up for active military service and placed at the disposal of the head of military unit 15644 (at the Kapustin Yar training ground).
Since August 15, 1959, he served as the head of the machine of the department of the ore department of the engineering test team of military unit 31935 (at the Kapustin Yar training ground)
From January 11, 1960 he served as a test engineer of the 3rd department of military unit 15646 (at the Kapustin Yar training ground)
On January 7, 1981, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, he was dismissed from the Armed Forces for health reasons.

Military rank:
Lieutenant engineer (05/05/1959).
Senior Lieutenant Engineer (06/14/1962).
Captain Engineer (09/15/1964).
Major engineer (04/11/1967).
Engineer-lieutenant colonel (01.12.1969), from 03.12.1971 - lieutenant-colonel-engineer.
Colonel-engineer (08/29/1976), from 01/07/1981 - colonel of the reserve.

Service in the cosmonaut corps and CTC:
On January 23, 1965, he was appointed to the post of cosmonaut of the 2nd detachment (military space programs).
On April 30, 1969 he was appointed cosmonaut of the 2nd department of the 1st department of the 1st Research Institute of the CTC.
On March 30, 1976 he was appointed astronaut of the Special Purpose Spacecraft Group.
On January 25, 1978, he was appointed instructor-cosmonaut, commander of a group of students-cosmonauts.
On January 7, 1981, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, he was dismissed from the Armed Forces and expelled from the cosmonaut corps for health reasons. Excluded from the lists of the unit on January 31, 1981.

Space training:
In 1962, he underwent a medical examination at the Central Military Research Aviation Hospital (TsVNIAG) and in November received permission from the Central Medical Flight Commission (TsVLK). January 8, 1963 At a meeting of the credentials committee, he was recommended for enrollment in the cosmonaut corps. By order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force No. 14 dated January 10, 1963 was enrolled in the CTC as a student-cosmonaut.
From January 1963 to January 1965 he passed general space training (OKP). On January 13, 1965, after passing the OKP exams, he received the qualification of "Air Force cosmonaut". On January 23, 1965, he was appointed to the post of cosmonaut of the 2nd detachment (military space programs).

From September 1966 to 1971 he was trained under the Almaz program as part of a group of cosmonauts.

From November 1971 to April 1972 he was trained in a conditional crew along with Viktor Gorbatko.

From September 11, 1972 to February 1973, he was trained to fly on OPS-101 "Almaz" ("Salyut-2") as a flight engineer for the second (backup) crew under the program of the 1st expedition, together with Boris Volynov. The flight was canceled due to depressurization of the OPS Almaz in orbit in April 1973.

From August 13, 1973 to June 1974, he was trained for the flight OPS-101-2 "Almaz" ("Salyut-3") as a flight engineer for the second (backup) crew of the 1st expedition, together with Boris Volynov. During the launch of the Soyuz-14 spacecraft on July 3, 1974, he was the understudy of the ship's flight engineer.

From January 1975 to June 1976, he was trained to fly on OPS-103 "Almaz" ("Salyut-5") as a flight engineer for the main crew under the program of the 1st expedition, together with Boris Volynov.
The first flight

From July 6 to August 24, 1976 as a flight engineer of the Soyuz-21 spacecraft and the 1st main expedition (EO-1) to the Almaz OPS (Salyut-5), together with B.Volynov.

Due to problems at the station, the flight was terminated ahead of schedule.

Callsign: "Baikal-2".

The flight duration was 49 days 06 hours 23 minutes 32 seconds.

Social and political activities:
In 1993, he was the initiator of the creation and became chairman of the Kherson Fund "Cosmonaut Gagarin" for the social protection of the disabled, the poor, Afghan soldiers and victims of the Chernobyl accident.
From July 12, 1994 to June 7, 1996 he worked as the head (head) of the Kherson Regional Rada of People's Deputies.
From July 11, 1995, he was the head of the Kherson Regional State Administration.
He is the president of the All-Ukrainian Association "Glory", created under the patronage of the State Committee for Communications and Information (unites Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of Socialist Labor, full holders of the Orders of Glory and members of their families).

Academic degrees:
Since April 22, 1994 he has been an academician of the Transport Academy of Ukraine.

Honorary titles:
Hero of the Soviet Union (Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 1, 1976).
Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR (09/01/1976).
Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (09/17/1976).
Statesman of the 1st rank (Ukraine, 05.10.1994).

Classiness:
Airborne training instructor (PDP) (01/18/1966).
Cosmonaut 3rd class (08/31/1976).

Awards:
He was awarded the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin (09/01/1976), the medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands" (1976), the medal "For Distinction in the Protection of the State Border" (1977) and 8 jubilee medals.
He was awarded the medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 436 of April 12, 2011).
Awarded with the Order of Merit III class. (Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 322/2008 of April 11, 2008).

Family status
Father - Zholobov Mikhail Gavrilovich, (1905 - 08/25/1993), captain of the KASPAR shipping company in Baku.
Mother - Zholobova Anastasia Vasilievna, (1908 - 09/10/1998), housewife.
Brother - Zholobov Valentin Mikhailovich, born in 1935, engineer of the SK plant in Sumgayit, retired.
Wife (former) - Zholobova (Tuchkova) Lilia Ivanovna, born in 1936, worked as an engineer at TsNII-30.
Daughter - Zholobova Elena Vitalievna, born in 1962, was married to cosmonaut Timothy Mays (Great Britain).
Wife - Zholobova (Andriets) Tatyana Ilyinichna, b. 03/28/1952, worked as a sociologist at the Kholmogorneft oil and gas production department in the city of Noyabrsk, Tyumen Region.
Daughter - Zholobova Anastasia Vitalievna, b. May 13, 1982.

Hobbies
Fishing, hunting, music, books, car, aviation.

quoted1 > > > Zholobov Vitaly Mikhailovich

Zholobov Vitaly Mikhailovich (1937- gg.)

Short biography:

USSR cosmonaut:№35;

Astronaut of the world:№78;

Number of flights: 1;

Duration: 9 days 06 hours 23 minutes 32 seconds;

Vitaly Zholobov- The 35th Soviet cosmonaut and hero of the USSR: biography with photo, space, personal life, significant dates, first flight, Union, work with Volynov.

He was born on June 18, 1937 in the small village of Staraya Zburyevka in the Kherson region (then the USSR). After many years of overwork, the man will become the 35th cosmonaut of the Soviet Union and 78th in the world. Vitaly Mikhailovich will be in outer space only once and will stay there for 49 days. But that's later....

After graduating from 10 classes of the Azerbaijani school No. 164 in the city of Baku, in 1954 the young guy entered the Institute of Oil and Chemistry named after Azizbayov, which was awarded the Azerbaijan Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

After 5 years, in 1959, he received a diploma in electrical engineering.

In 1974, a man receives another diploma, this time - an officer with a higher education in the military-political direction.

Space

Vitaly Zholobov passed the medical commission in 1962 and in the same year received official permission to fly. On January 8, 1963, by decision of the credentials committee, Vitaly Mikhailovich was enrolled in the ranks of the cosmonauts.

For five whole years from 1966 to 1971, the man trained in the Almaz detachment.

For the next couple of years, the man worked for the good of the Motherland with Boris Volynov, he underwent an internship on the OPS-101-2 aircraft with the rank of flight engineer of the second (backup) crew of the 1st expedition.

Over the next year, Vitaly Zholobov was preparing to fly on OPS-103, already being a flight engineer for the main crew under the Expedition 1 program. He was the understudy of the flight engineer of the Soyuz-14 spacecraft on July 3, 1974, during its launch.

From the beginning of July to the end of August 1976, Vitaly Zholobov worked as a flight engineer on the Soyuz-21 spacecraft hand in hand with Boris Volynov. In space, the man had the call sign "Baikal-2".

The man spent a little more than 49 days in outer space, their expedition was prematurely terminated due to problems at the station.

Personal life

Zholobov Mikhail Gavrilovich - father, captain of the Baku steamer "Kaspar", died in 1993.

Zholobova Anastasia Vasilievna - mother, housewife, died in 1998.

Zholobova (nee Tuchkova) Lilia Ivanovna - the first wife, the astronaut divorced her. The woman was an employee of TsNII-30, now retired. A daughter was born in marriage.

Zholobova Elena Vitalievna - daughter from her first marriage, born in 1962. Now the woman is married to British astronaut Timothy Mays.

Zholobova (nee Andriets) Tatyana Ilyinichna is the second wife, in marriage with her the man also has a daughter. She was an employee of Kholmogorneft, which is located in the Tyumen region.

Zholobova Anastasia Vitalievna - daughter from her second marriage, born in 1982.

Enthusiasm

The retired cosmonaut likes to spend his leisure time in a variety of ways. The circle of his hobbies is very wide: fishing and music, cars and aviation. But hunting game takes first place among all his favorite activities.

Scandals of the Soviet era Razzakov Fedor

Interrupted flight (Boris Volynov / Vitaly Zholobov)

aborted flight

(Boris Volynov / Vitaly Zholobov)

At the beginning July two Soviet cosmonauts went on another flight: Boris Volynov and Vitaly Zholobov. However, this flight is destined to become one of the most scandalous in history, since the astronauts will not be able to find mutual understanding with each other and their flight will be interrupted ahead of schedule (they had to stay in orbit for another two weeks).

Meanwhile, even before the launch, there were skeptics from among the employees of the Mission Control Center, who predicted a sad fate for the flight. True, no one believed these skeptics, since their conclusions were based on ... superstition. In their opinion, the flight was a failure due to the fact that one of the cosmonauts - Zholobov - flies into space for the first time with a mustache. Seems like nonsense, but...

The astronauts are back August 24, 1976 at 21.33 Moscow time. In the newspapers, of course, there was not a word about the fact that the flight had stopped ahead of schedule, so only a narrow circle of elected people knew about what had happened. One of them, A. Eliseev, describes the backstage of those events as follows:

“Two weeks before the scheduled end of the flight, we receive an emergency call to the Control Center for the early return of the crew. Volynov, as the commander of the ship, demanded an immediate descent due to the fact that Zholobov's state of health had deteriorated sharply. According to him, Zholobov was pale, weak, looked like a seriously ill person, and his condition was rapidly deteriorating. Zholobov confirmed his poor health and the need for an urgent landing. An alarming message from the board knocked everyone out of the rut. The medical parameters of both cosmonauts were normal, and the doctors had no formal reason for concern. German Titov, the second cosmonaut of the planet, decided to have a confidential talk with Boris Volynov. Everyone, of course, respected Herman, and we hoped that he would be able to find out some details. But in vain. Boris only added that he also had a severe headache, and repeated that Zholobov's condition was very bad. The flight was cancelled.

To the surprise of the meeting group, both cosmonauts looked quite healthy immediately after landing. After returning to Moscow, the experts asked them to explain what had happened. Both said that a strong smell of nitric acid appeared in the station and it became impossible to stay there. A very strange statement. There really was nitric acid at the station - it was used as an oxidizing agent in the propulsion system, but it could not get into the living compartment. The fuel tanks were in a vacuum, outside the station's pressurized building. Since both cosmonauts insisted on the smell of acid, the next expedition flew to the station with gas masks and a large set of reagents, allowing an objective analysis of the chemical composition of the atmosphere in the living compartment. The analysis of deviations from the norm was not found. The cosmonauts who carried out this analysis did not feel any foreign odors after taking off their gas masks. The question is, what happened in the previous flight? No hypothesis, except for a psychological disorder, gave an explanation for what happened ... "

Marina Vlady VLADIMIR, or Interrupted flight to Mom, Tanya, Bernard, Jean-Marc, Minda, Igor, Andrey and Simone… Volodya had many friends. Some met him every day, others only occasionally managed to get to his concerts, others only listened to tape recordings. But