Pavel Popovich is the fourth cosmonaut in the Soviet Union. He was twice a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was the pilot of the Vostok-4 spacecraft and the commander of the Soyuz-14.
The first Ukrainian cosmonaut received the call sign "Berkut". Pavel (Pavlo) Romanovich was born into an ordinary Uzin family in 1929 (1930) on October 5. Then hardly anyone could even think that this child would fly into space twice and end up in the cosmonaut corps together with Gagarin.
Preparation time
The family had five children. Childhood fell on the post-war years. From an early age, the boy worked helping his parents. He was both a shepherd and a nanny. He studied well at school, because when it was decided to pick up his son, the teachers stood up for the talented student. The boy found work at night.
He worked as a weigher at a local factory. A friend's offer to enter a vocational school was accepted with gratitude. The guy was immediately enrolled in the second year. At the same time, the student continued his studies at the evening school.
Completed his education Popovich in 1947, becoming a cabinet maker. Wishing to continue his studies, Pave Romanovich became a student of the Faculty of Construction of the Industrial College. There he began to play sports. The young man was interested in boxing, athletics. By the end of his studies he was already a discharger.
Since wartime, Popovich has been interested in airplanes. In the fourth year, the student came to the flying club. There he first took to the skies at the helm of the UT-2. After completing his studies, an excellent athlete and a member of the flying club was sent to the Military Aviation School near Novosibirsk.
After 1952, Pavel Romanovich was sent to a special purpose airfield in the Amur Region. He quickly became the squadron's sergeant major. From 1954 he studied at the Air Force Military Officer School. The graduate became a pilot in a fighter regiment, and then a senior pilot. A year later, he was appointed adjutant of the squadron.
Cosmic present
The turning point of his biography was 1959. In the USSR, a special medical commission was created, robbing candidates for a flight into space. Popovich was also selected among the first twelve. By 1960, by order of the Air Force Commander-in-Chief, along with other cosmonauts, he was preparing for flights. After Gagarin in 1962, the task of a group flight of ships was set.
The first part was implemented in early May 1962 with the launch of Vostok-3 piloted by Nikolayev. On August 13, Vostok-4 was launched under the control of Popovich. For the first time, research was carried out on the possibilities of radio communication between two spaceships. Pavel Romanovich for the first time in history carried out the orientation of the ship with the help of manual control. The meeting of the pilot went like a hero.
The family met Popovich at the stands of honor. Popovich graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy, defended his diploma in early 1968 on the topic of the power plant of a single aircraft. Its project was developed by the audience-cosmonauts together with Titov and Gagarin. For his courage and personal participation in the first group flight into orbit, Pavel Romanovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The cosmonaut was re-recognized in 1974. As the commander of the first crew of the Soyuz-14 spacecraft, he made his second flight. The ship docked with the space station in orbit "Salyut-3". The joint flight lasted fifteen days. The cosmonauts examined the earth's surface, determined the given characteristics. They conducted the most important experiments on the effects on the body during the flight of various factors.
In 1965, the world's first mixed crew flight was being prepared. However, the planned departure with Valentina Ponomareva was changed to the departure of two women in 1966. It also did not take place.
Family earthly affairs
From 1965 to 1969 Popovich was a member of a group of cosmonauts under the program of flying around the moon and landing on its surface. The preliminary start date was set for December 8, 1968. Pavel Romanovich was appointed commander of one of the crews. Due to previously unsuccessful trials, the program was terminated.
The pilot was supposed to command the crew for the flight and landing on the Earth satellite as a commander. The flight was canceled after the successful launch of the American Apollo 11. In 1968, the flight of Soyuz-3 was planned, followed by docking with Soyuz-4. However, the failure at the first docking due to the Soyuz-1 disaster led to further development of the operation.
For this reason, the second pair of ships was launched unmanned. In his personal life, Pavel Romanovich had two marriages. His first wife was Marina Vasilieva, his colleague. The chosen one's specialty turned out to be very rare for that time. She was a test pilot. The young people became husband and wife in 1955.
They lived together for three decades. The family had two children, Natalia and Oksana. Both daughters graduated from MGIMO. The character of both spouses turned out to be difficult. By the nature of their activities, everyone was required to be stubborn and firm. Living together ended in parting. However, the ex-spouses kept friendly relations.
The personal life of each was then arranged quite happily. Marina Lavrentievna again married a person connected with the sky, Major General of Aviation Boris Zhikhorev.
Popovich also remarried. His wife was the economist Alevtina Fedorovna, with whom he lived until the end of his life. Pavel Romanovich died in 2009. For his contribution to the development of science, he was awarded orders and medals, is an honorary citizen of several cities.
