Georgy Beregovoy

Georgy Timofeyevich Beregovoy (Template:Langx, Template:Langx; 15 April 1921 – 30 June 1995) was a Soviet cosmonaut who commanded the space mission Soyuz 3 in 1968.<ref>Clark, Philip (1988); The Soviet Manned Space Program; Orion (Crown Publ.), NY; Template:ISBN. p. 182, "Appendix 3: Cosmonaut Data"</ref> From 1972 to 1987, he headed the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

At the time of his space flight, Beregovoy was 47 years of age: he was the earliest-born human to go to orbit, being born three months and three days earlier than the second earliest-born man in orbit – John Glenn, but later than X-15 pilot Joe Walker who made 2 (or 3, according to USAF definition) suborbital space flights.

Background

Beregovoy was born on 15 April 1921 in Fedorivka, Poltava Oblast, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Ukraine). His father worked as a telegraph operator on the railways.<ref name="ib">Template:Cite web</ref> He had two older brothers; the eldest, Viktor, also became a pilot and the younger, Mikhail, an officer in the Soviet Air Defence Forces. Viktor was caught in the Great Purge of the late 1930s, and was arrested and executed in 1938. He was subsequently rehabilitated.<ref name="ib"/> Georgy graduated from a school in 1938 at Yenakieve, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. He joined the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) in 1941, and was soon assigned to a ground-attack unit flying the Ilyushin Il-2 "Shturmovik". He flew some 185 combat sorties during the course of World War II and rose quickly through the ranks, finishing the war as a captain and squadron commander. His corps commander was then-colonel Nikolai Kamanin, a celebrated polar aviator and a future head of the cosmonaut training in the Soviet space program, which would turn important later.Template:Citation needed

Following the war, he became a test pilot, and over the next sixteen years test-flew some sixty different aircraft, rising to the rank of colonel and the position of deputy chief of the air force's flight-testing department. In 1962, he applied and was accepted for cosmonaut training, sponsored by his former WWII commander, General Kamanin, who was the head of the cosmonaut training at the time.Template:Citation needed

In 1956 he graduated from the Air Force Academy.Template:Citation needed

Cosmonaut career

In 1965, Colonel Beregovoy was scheduled to fly the following year in Voskhod 3, but the mission was never launched.<ref>Clark (1988). p. 182: "This mission was cancelled in late 1965; it is uncertain whether Beregovoy would have been the back-up pilot or commander for Voskhod 3."</ref>

On 25 October 1968 Beregovoy took the Soyuz 3 into outer space: he orbited the Earth for almost four days at an altitude of up to 252 km. As part of his mission, Beregovoy twice maneuvered his craft into rendezvous positions with the uncrewed Soyuz 2 satellite<ref>Clark (1988). See p.49-50: "The initial orbital altitude was announced as 205-225km.... [A] further rendezvous between Soyuz 2 and Soyuz 3 was completed. ... the orbital altitudes were announced as: Soyuz 2, 181-231km; Soyuz 3, 179-252km."</ref> but was unable to establish a direct physical link to the craft<ref>Hall, Rex D. & Shyler, David J. (2003); Soyuz, A Universal Spacecraft; Springer/Praxis, Berlin; Template:ISBN. p. 421: "[Beregovoy] tried, but failed, to dock the craft with the unmanned Soyuz 2...."</ref> before returning on 30 October 1968.Template:Citation needed

Nonetheless, Beregovoy's flight was in some ways an encouraging success for the Soviet crewed space program,<ref>Clark (1988). p. 50.: "With Soyuz 3, the Soviet manned programme regained its confidence, and its success may have encouraged the Soviets to consider a manned flight around the Moon in December 1968....[O]verall it [Soyuz 3] represented a successful return to manned space missions after a break of eighteen months."</ref> and the colonel was celebrated as a hero upon his return. Soyuz 3 was Beregovoy's only spaceflight and soon after it he retired from active duty, having been promoted to Major General.Template:Citation needed

Later life

At a public ceremony in honor of the Soviet cosmonaut team, Beregovoy was lightly wounded during the 1969 assassination attempt upon Leonid Brezhnev.<ref>New York Times, January 24, 1969; "Gunman Attacks Car in Kremlin, 2 Wounded": "A fifth astronaut, Major Gen. Georgi T. Beregevoi, who orbited the earth last October, was nicked by flying glass."</ref>

In October 1969, Konstantin Feoktistov and Georgi Beregovoi traveled as guests of NASA throughout the US, visiting any city they chose and the Disneyland amusement park in California - they were joined on the trip by US astronauts as hosts, including Eugene Cernan, Neil Armstrong and others. Kirk Douglas and others hosted receptions for them in Hollywood<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> - they were protected by Special Agents of the US State Department on request of NASA. Almost every place they went when accompanied by Eugene Cernan, if a band was present the song "Fly Me To The moon" was played - when they visited Disney Park they enjoyed the ride Trip To The Moon, then joked with the US Astronauts that they went to Disneyland and not the moon. It was a trip that all enjoyed and international friendships were made.Template:Citation needed

Beregovoy took up a position at the Centre for Cosmonaut Training, and in 1972 was made Director of that facility.Template:Citation needed

He is a consultant for the film directed by Arvazd Peleshyan "Our Century" (1983).

After retirement, Beregovoy became a Soviet parliament member representing the Donbas region of the Ukrainian SSR. In this capacity, he reportedly helped Viktor Yanukovych to start a new life, getting his two criminal convictions expunged from the court records. Many years later, Yanukovych became prime minister and then president of modern independent Ukraine.Template:Citation needed

Georgy Beregovoy died during heart surgery on 30 June 1995,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours and awards

Beregovoy was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union twice, the first time on 26 October 1944, for his military service during World War II, and a second time for his space flight. He was the only Soviet cosmonaut who undertook space flight being the Hero of the Soviet Union (the highest Soviet distinction) for a previous achievement unrelated to space travel.

He was also awarded:

• Title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR,
• Two Orders of Lenin (1944 and 1968)
• Two Orders of the Red Banner
• Order of Alexander Nevsky,
• Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 3rd class,
• Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class, twice
• Two Orders of the Red Star,
• Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 3rd class,
• Medal for Battle Merit, 1949
• Medal "For Impeccable Service", 1st class
• USSR State Prize (1981)
• Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
• Medal "For the Capture of Budapest"
• Medal "For the Capture of Vienna"
• Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"
• Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
• Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
• Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Gold medal of the Tsiolkovsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR

Foreign awards:

Bulgaria

• Hero of Socialist Labour (1970)
• Order of Georgi Dimitrov (1970)
• Order of the Banner of the People's Republic of Bulgaria
• Medal "25 Years of People's Power"
• Medal "100th anniversary of the fall of the Ottoman yoke" (1979)
• Medal "100th Anniversary of Birth of Georgi Dimitrov" (1983)

Hungary

• Order of the National Flag (1985)
• Order of the Red Banner, with Diamonds
• Gold Medal "for military cooperation" (1980)

Other

• Cross of Grunwald, 3rd class (People's Republic of Poland)
• Order of the Tudor Vladimirescu, 5th class (CPP)
• Yuri Gagarin Gold Medal (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale)

Among many other Russian commemorations, Beregovoy is memorialized in Moscow with a statue on Cosmonauts Alley. Beregovoy was celebrated internationally and received a unique award from the International Aeronautical Federation. At the Federation's 62nd general conference held in Helsinki, Finland, Beregovoy was awarded the first Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal for achievements in space; Finnish President Urho Kekkonen was the honorary presenter on July 14, 1968.<ref>New York Times; July 15, 1969; "Borman wins medal for Apollo 8 voyage": "Major General Georgi T. Beregevoi was awarded the Yuri Gagarin gold space medal for his flight in Soyuz 3 on October 26–30, 1968, in which he carried out docking maneuvers with Soyuz 2."</ref> The award was a new design created in memory of Gagarin who had died the previous March, and it continues to be awarded to this day.<ref>FAI: Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Template:Webarchive (2010): see The Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal Template:Webarchive (retrieves Sept. 2010).</ref>

See also

• Soyuz programme
• Soviet space program
• the official website of the city administration Baikonur - Honorary citizens of Baikonur

Further reading

• Georgy A. Somov, "Four Days & a Lifetime," 1972, publishing house Political Literature, "Heroes of USSR" series
• J. K. Golovanov, M., "Korolev: Facts and myths", Nauka, 1994, Template:ISBN;
• «Rockets and people» - B. E. Chertok, M: "mechanical engineering", 1999, - Template:ISBN;
• "Bank of the Universe" - edited by Boltenko A. C., Kiev, 2014., publishing house "Phoenix", Template:ISBN