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Valery Bykovsky

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Valery Bykovsky
Валерий Быковский
Bykovsky in 2008
Born
Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky

(1934-08-02)2 August 1934
Pavlovsky Posad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died27 March 2019(2019-03-27) (aged 84)
NationalitySoviet Union
Russia
OccupationPilot
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin
Space career
Cosmonaut
RankMajor General
Soviet Air Force
Time in space
20d 17h 48m
Selection1960 Air Force Group 1
MissionsVostok 5, Soyuz 22, Soyuz 31/Soyuz 29
Mission insignia

Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky (Russian: Вале́рий Фёдорович Быко́вский; 2 August 1934 – 27 March 2019) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three space flights: Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, and Soyuz 31. He was also backup for Vostok 3 and Soyuz 37.

he's sucks

Cosmonaut career

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he's cool

Soyuz programme

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Bykovsky was assigned to be the commander of the original Soyuz 2 mission, which was planned to be launched soon after Soyuz 1. Two of the three crewmen from Soyuz 2 were to conduct an extravehicular activity (EVA) and enter Soyuz 1. During the Soyuz 1 flight, many concurrent problems forced mission control to command an early reentry of the spacecraft. This also caused them to cancel the Soyuz 2 flight as no rendezvous could occur. On Soyuz 1, tube holding the main parachute was too rough, which created enough friction that the drogue parachute was unable to pull it out. The spacecraft struck the ground at approximately 93 miles per hour, killing Vladimir Komarov. As the Soyuz 2 capsule was made with the same specifications as Soyuz 1, if the mission had flown Bykovsky and his crew would have been killed.[1]

He flew the Soyuz 22 mission with Vladimir Aksyonov. The mission launched on 15 September 1976. The capsule was originally a backup for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). The main purpose of the mission was studying and practising Earth observation techniques.[2]

Valery Bykovsky and East German astronaut Sigmund Jähn after the Soyuz 31 mission

He flew the Soyuz 31 mission to the Salyut 6 space station with the East German Sigmund Jähn. It was launched on 26 August 1978. They joined two other cosmonauts on the space station that had arrived on Soyuz 29. The four conducted biological experiments on themselves during their stay. Bykovsky and Jähn undocked from the station in the Soyuz 29 capsule on 3 September and landed back on Earth later that day.[3]: 111 

Post-cosmonaut career

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Much of his later career was devoted to promoting the Intercosmos programme amongst the world's Socialist nations. Due to his age, he was moved from active duty to the reserves in 1988.[4] He became the director of the Centre of Soviet Science and Culture in East Berlin after the Soyuz 31 mission.[5] He retired sometime in 1990.[6]

Valery Bykovsky established the Russian Federation of Cosmonautics (RFC) in 1998 with the objective of advancing the development of space exploration and science in Russia. The RFC's main goals included increasing public interest in space exploration, providing educational opportunities for young people, and supporting research and development initiatives in the space sector. Bykovsky was the president of the RFC until his death in 2019.[7]

Personal life

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Bykovsky was a keen sportsman:

Service in the Air Force made us strong, both physically and morally. All of us cosmonauts took up sports and PT seriously when we served in the Air Force. I know that Yuri Gagarin was fond of ice hockey. He liked to play goal keeper. Gherman Titov was a gymnastics enthusiast, Andriyan Nikolayev liked skiing, Pavel Popovich went in for weight lifting. I don't think I am wrong when I say that sports became a fixture in the life of the cosmonauts.[8]

Bykovsky was a proficient aesthete and photographer who evinced a particular penchant for the art of painting.[9] His extensive body of work, characterized by a predominantly figurative style, has been widely showcased in renowned galleries and museums throughout Russia. Additionally, he had an abiding passion for photography and had taken numerous photographs during his space missions, using both conventional and digital cameras to capture stunning images of the Earth's surface and the celestial bodies.[10]

He was married to Valentina Mikhailovna Sukhova; they had two sons.[11] In 1986, his first son died in an aviation incident.[6] Valery Bykovsky died on 27 March 2019.[12][11]

Honours and awards

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A 1963 Soviet postage stamp showing Valery Bykovsky and Vostok 5

Notes

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  1. ^ Reichl, Eugen (2019). The Soviet Space Program, The Lunar Mission Years: 1959–1976. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing. pp. 100–102. ISBN 978-0-7643-5675-9. LCCN 2017955750.
  2. ^ "Soyuz 22". Space Facts. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. ^ Clark, Phillip (1988). The Soviet Manned Space Program. New York: Orion Books, a division of Crown Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-517-56954-X.
  4. ^ "Ушёл из жизни Валерий Быковский" [Valery Bykovsky passed away]. Roscosmos. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  5. ^ Harvey, Brian (2007). Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration. Springer. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-387-21896-0. LCCN 2006935327.
  6. ^ a b "Who'll track them?". Spaceflight. 61 (6). British Interplanetary Society: 37. 2019.
  7. ^ "Vostok cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky, who flew three missions, dies at 84 | collectSPACE". collectSPACE.com. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  8. ^ Bykovsky quoted in Gavrilin, pp. 26–7
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :33 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Russia says cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky is dead at 84". Associated Press. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  11. ^ a b Paul Rincon (28 March 2019). "Russian space pioneer Valery Bykovsky dies aged 84". BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  12. ^ a b Korobatov, Yaroslav (27 March 2019). Ушёл Валерий Быковский — космонавт, на которого не действовала невесомость [Valery Bykovsky is gone - an astronaut who was not affected by weightlessness] (in Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda.
  13. ^ "Valery Bykovsky". warheroes.ru (in Russian).
  14. ^ a b "First Girl in Space Gets a Rousing Welcome from Communist Women". The Town Talk. Alexandria, Louisiana. UPI. 24 June 1953. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cite error: The named reference tassbio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Space Couple Wins Title". The Evening Sun. Associated Press. 20 June 1963. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Valery Feodorovich BYKOVSKY on Energia.ru
  18. ^ "FAI Awards". FÉDÉRATION AÉRONAUTIQUE INTERNATIONALE. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2019.

References

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