View source for Georgy Shonin

{{Short description|Soviet cosmonaut (1935–1997)}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox astronaut
| name =Georgy Stepanovich Shonin
| image = Georgy Stepanovich Shonin.jpg<!---do not replace with postage stamp, see file description-->
| type =Cosmonaut
| nationality =[[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]]
|birth_date    ={{Birth date|1935|8|3|df=y}}
|death_date    ={{Death date and age|1997|4|7|1935|8|3|df=y}}
| birth_place =[[Rovenky]], [[Soviet Union]] (now [[Ukraine]])
| death_place =[[Zvyozdny gorodok (urban-type settlement)|Zvyozdny]], Russia
| occupation =[[Aviator|Pilot]]
| rank =[[Lieutenant General]], [[Soviet Air Force]]
| selection =[[List of astronauts by selection#1960|Air Force Group 1]]
| time =4d 22h 42m
| mission =[[Soyuz 6]]
| insignia =
||awards=[[Hero of the Soviet Union]]}}
'''Georgy Stepanovich Shonin''' ({{Langx|uk|Гео́ргій Степа́нович Шо́нін}}; 3 August 1935 – 7 April 1997) was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[cosmonaut]], who flew on the [[Soyuz 6]] [[manned space mission|space mission]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1969-085A|title=Soyuz 6 - 1969-085A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=18 October 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

Shonin was  born in [[Rovenky]], [[Luhansk Oblast]], (now [[Ukraine]]) but grew up in [[Balta, Ukraine|Balta]] in the [[Ukrainian SSR]]. His family hid a [[Jewish]] family from the [[Nazi]]s during WWII.<ref name="burgess">{{cite book|title=The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team: Their Lives and Legacies|author1=Colin Burgess|author2=Rex Hall|year=2009 |publisher=Springer Praxis Books|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-84824-2 |bibcode=2009fsct.book.....B |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-84824-2|isbn=978-0-387-84824-2|access-date=March 18, 2023}}</ref>{{rp|66|quote=For a time, they also shared the house with a Jewish family that the sympathetic grandmother wsa hiding, at great personal risk}}

In February 1957, Shonin graduated Naval Aviation School as was awarded his lieutenant's wings. He was then posted to the 935th Fighter Regiment of the Baltic Fleet which was the naval element of the Soviet Air Force.<ref name="burgess"/>{{rp|66}} In 1958, he was transferred to the 768th Fighter Regiment of the Northern Fleet based in the Murmansk region. During this time, he would befriend another young flying officer named Yuri Gagarin.<ref name="burgess"/>{{rp|67}}

Shonin was part of the original group of cosmonauts selected in 1960.<ref>{{cite web|title=NASA History - 60 Years Ago: Soviets Select Their First Cosmonauts|date=February 25, 2020|url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/60-years-ago-soviets-select-their-first-cosmonauts|website=NASA|access-date=March 18, 2023}}</ref> Shonin would fly on Soyuz 6 in October 1969. He left the space program in 1979 for medical reasons. He was then promoted to major general. Shonin later worked as the director of the [[30th Central Scientific Research Institute, Ministry of Defence (Russia)]] where he had management responsibilities for the development of the Buran space shuttle.<ref name="burgess"/>{{rp|300}}

He died of a heart attack in 1997.<ref name="burgess"/>{{rp|300}}

== Awards and honors ==

* [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]
* [[Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR]]
* [[Order of Lenin]]
* [[Order of the October Revolution]]
* [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]]
* [[Order of the Red Star]]
* Ten commemorative medals
* Medal "25 Years of People's Power" (Bulgaria)
* Three medals from the Mongolian People's Republic
* Five medals from the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shonin, Georgi}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Rovenky]]
[[Category:Soviet cosmonauts]]
[[Category:1969 in spaceflight]]
[[Category:Heroes of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]]
[[Category:Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni]]
[[Category:Soviet Air Force generals]]
[[Category:Soviet lieutenant generals]]


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