Boris Volynov facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Boris Volynov
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|---|---|
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| Born |
Boris Valentinovich Volynov
18 December 1934 |
| Status | Retired |
| Nationality | Soviet |
| Occupation | Electrical Engineer |
| Space career | |
| Cosmonaut | |
| Rank | Colonel, Soviet Air Force |
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Time in space
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52d 07h 17m |
| Selection | Air Force Group 1 |
| Missions | Soyuz 5, Soyuz 21 |
Boris Valentinovich Volynov (born December 18, 1934) is a famous Soviet cosmonaut. He flew two exciting space missions as part of the Soyuz programme. These missions were called Soyuz 5 and Soyuz 21. After Alexei Leonov passed away in 2019, Boris Volynov became the last living member of the very first group of cosmonauts. He is also known as the first person of Jewish heritage to travel into space.
Contents
Biography of a Space Pioneer
Boris Volynov was born in Irkutsk, a city in Siberia. His family later moved, and he finished high school in Prokopyevsk in 1952. The next year, he completed his basic pilot training in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. In 1955, he graduated from an aviation school in Novosibirsk.
From 1961 to 1968, he studied engineering at the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. He earned a special diploma as a pilot-engineer-cosmonaut. Later, in 1980, he earned his PhD from the same academy. After leaving the space program in 1982, he worked for eight years. He was a senior manager at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. In 1990, after 30 years of service, he retired as a colonel.
Volynov's Space Career
Voskhod 1 Mission Training
Boris Volynov was chosen to train as a possible commander for the Voskhod 1 mission in 1964. He trained with his teammates, Georgi Katys and Boris Yegorov. However, just three days before the launch, they were replaced by another crew. Sergey Korolyov, a very important person in the space program, was reportedly upset by this decision. But he was told by Nikita Khrushchev to accept it.
Voskhod 3 Mission Cancellation
After missing out on Voskhod 1, Volynov spent a year training for Voskhod 3. He first trained with Georgi Katys. However, Katys was removed from the active list. This happened because his father had been executed during Stalin's purges. Volynov then trained with Viktor Gorbatko and later Georgi Shonin.
Sadly, the Voskhod 3 flight was cancelled. This happened just 10 days before it was supposed to launch. The cancellation followed the death of Sergey Korolyov in January 1966. Korolyov's replacement, Vasily Mishin, wanted to focus on the Soyuz program instead. Volynov was then moved to the Soyuz group. He later became a backup for the Soyuz 3 mission.
Soyuz 5: A Challenging Flight
The Soyuz 5 mission launched on January 15, 1969. The crew included Volynov, Aleksei Yeliseyev, and Yevgeny Khrunov. The next day, Yeliseyev and Khrunov transferred to Soyuz 4. This happened after the two spacecraft met and docked in orbit. Soyuz 4 then undocked from Soyuz 5. Volynov prepared for his solo return to Earth.
During re-entry, Soyuz 5 faced a serious problem. The equipment module did not separate correctly. This was due to explosive bolts not firing properly. This module blocked the heat shield on the descent module. Because of the extra weight, Volynov lost control of Soyuz 5. The spacecraft began to tumble. Luckily, it eventually stabilized with the thinnest part facing forward.
As the spacecraft entered the atmosphere, the heat and stress caused the connecting parts to burn through. The equipment module finally broke away and burned up. Volynov had to wait as the descent module's automatic system tried to regain control. Fortunately, it succeeded, and the heat shield faced forward.
After re-entry, the parachutes only opened partly. Also, the soft-landing rockets failed. This caused a very hard landing. The module was almost destroyed, and Volynov broke some of his teeth.
Soyuz 21: Another Difficult Return
On July 6, 1976, Volynov and Flight Engineer Vitaliy Zholobov launched aboard Soyuz 21. Their mission was to spend about two months on the Salyut 5 space station. However, Zholobov, who was on his first spaceflight, became unwell. The decision was made to bring the crew back to Earth as soon as possible. They boarded their Soyuz spacecraft on August 24.
As Volynov tried to undock from Salyut, the latch did not release correctly. When he fired the jets to move away, the docking mechanism got stuck. The Soyuz was undocked but still connected to Salyut. As the two spacecraft moved out of communication range, they only received the first set of emergency steps. Volynov tried again to undock, but only managed to loosen the latches a little. This situation lasted for a whole orbit, about 90 minutes. Finally, the last emergency steps were received, and the latches fully disengaged.
Because Soyuz 21 was returning early, it landed outside the usual recovery area. It met strong winds during descent. This caused the retrorockets to fire unevenly. The spacecraft made a hard landing around midnight. It landed about 200 kilometers southwest of Kokchetav, Kazakhstan. Zholobov's illness was thought to be from nitric acid fumes leaking from Salyut's fuel tanks. Other reports suggest the crew did not follow their exercise program and lacked sleep.
Awards and Recognition
Boris Volynov has received many important awards for his bravery and service:
- Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1969, 1976)
- Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR
- Order For Merit to the Fatherland 4th class
- Order of Friendship
- Two Orders of Lenin (1969, 1976)
- Order of the Red Star (1961)
- Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR 3rd class
- Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"
- Order of the Banner of the People's Republic of Bulgaria
- Medal "Brotherhood in Arms" (Polish People's Republic)
- Honorary Citizen of Prokopyevsk
Volynov's Family Life
Boris Volynov's mother was Yevgenia Izrailevna Volynova (1910–1991). She was a pediatrician, a doctor who treats children. She was honored with the title of "Honored Doctor of Russia." During World War II, she worked as a surgeon. Her Jewish background made it a bit harder for Boris to be chosen for space missions at first.
His wife is Tamara Fyodorovna Savinova (born 1935). She has a PhD in metallurgy, which is the study of metals. She is also a member of the New York Academy of Sciences. Boris and Tamara have two children: a son named Andrei (born 1958) and a daughter named Tatyana (born 1965).
See also
In Spanish: Borís Volynov para niños
