Pavel Romanovich, Andriyan Grigorievich died, they say, suddenly, literally on the move. Hence the misunderstanding about the burial place. You've been friends all your life. Do you know his will?
He and I never talked about our own funeral. But to cosmonaut Pyotr Kolodin (you may not know him, because he is one of those who prepared for the flight, but never took off), so he told Pyotr Kolodin that he wanted to be buried in Shorshel. This translates to "Clean Keys". He said this literally a week before his death. I believe Peter.
- Did Andriyan Grigorievich feel bad?
No, by the way, I had to. They discussed Peter's family problems. And he felt fine. You see, I went to judge these all-Russian games. In addition to everything else, he was a master of sports. And in general, I never severed my small connection with my homeland.
- I heard he was a deputy?
Yes, in Soviet times he was a deputy of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR from Chuvashia. And until the last day of his life he represented Chuvashia in Moscow.
People in Chuvashia loved him very much. He is a national hero there, as throughout the country. He was supposed to turn seventy-five years old in September, so they had already released a calendar for this date. You see, you can’t do such things in advance.
Did you fly to Cheboksary right away? Was there an opportunity to influence the course of events? After all, the cosmonauts, like those closest to them, believe that it was necessary to bury Andriyan Nikolaev where his colleagues are buried?
Andrian died on the third of July. They called me on the fourth. This news caught me, let’s say, not at the best moment. I just buried my sister and went to Crimea to come to my senses. Of course, I returned immediately. At night Alexey Leonov calls me and says: “The authorities of Chuvashia have decided to bury Andriyan in Shorshely. We wrote a letter to the president. Should I put your signature?” I say: “Put your signature, but I’ll still fly to Cheboksary.” Then Leonov said that he had made a mistake and he should have flown. But he did not believe that Andriyan Nikolaev would be buried in Chuvashia.
The first thing the commission began was to find out Andriyan’s last will. And you know, there was also enough evidence that he wanted to be buried in his homeland.
- And yet, so many who knew and loved Nikolaev did not have the opportunity to say goodbye to him.
I absolutely agree with you. I’ll tell you now how we see it - those who finally came to Cheboksary in those days.
-Who came?
Firstly, Viktor Gorbatko was there. He was there before all of us - he and Andriyan came to these All-Russian games. Vitaly Sevastyanov was also there from the first detachment - remember, they flew together on Soyuz-9 in 1970. There was Boris Volynov. The astronauts arrived from Star City.
So we, who flew to Andriyan’s funeral, believe that since a conflict arose, the coffin with Andriyan’s body should have been brought to Moscow and people should have been allowed to say goodbye to him. And then make a decision. We see that it could be like this: to bury twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General of Aviation, pilot-cosmonaut Andriyan Grigorievich Nikolaev at the Novodevichy cemetery. The option is a compromise and fair. Well, if they had decided to bury him at home, they could have taken him back. But there would be no hard feelings.
-Are you offended too?
Those who have seen how the people of Chuvashia honor Andriyan are unlikely to be offended. Shorshely from Cheboksary is only 35 kilometers away. They are connected by a magnificent road. And he was not buried in a rural cemetery, as they sometimes write now - there is a magnificent memorial complex with a museum there. You can be sure that the folk trail will not be overgrown here.
- But it’s unlikely that it would have become overgrown in a cemetery near Moscow?
Undoubtedly. Although the cemetery in Leonikha is just a rural one. Yes, both cosmonauts and test pilots are buried there. But there must be a memorial. Alexey Leonov and I have been making efforts for a long time to create a memorial in the center of Star City.
- Pavel Romanovich, let's talk about the living. What are your colleagues from the first cosmonaut squad doing now?
The first detachment slowly goes into the sky. There were twenty of us. However, only twelve flew into space. Seven of them have already left for various reasons. Yura Gagarin crashed on a plane while flying with Seryogin. Volodya Komarov crashed on the Soyuz, Valya Bondarenko (he, however, never flew) died during training in the soundproofing chamber. Pasha Belyaev died due to a doctor’s mistake: peritonitis after stomach surgery. This is in our days! German Titov, Georgy Shonin, Evgeny Khrunov passed away. Now here is another, very difficult loss for me - Andriyan Nikolaev.
So out of the twelve cosmonauts of the first detachment that flew into space, five of us remained: me, Valery Bykovsky, Alexey Leonov, Boris Volynov, Viktor Gorbatko.
- What was your personal fate after you completed your space career?
Well, it’s impossible to end a space career. All the same, we are in the ranks - we do a lot of social work, we try to help people. And I was drawn to the land even when Mikhail Gorbachev was in charge of agriculture in the Soviet Union. He asked the Minister of Defense to recommend him a more experienced astronaut to head the newly organized Institute for Land Monitoring. He proposed my candidacy.
- Did you agree right away?
In general, yes. After all, this monitoring - it is clear to a non-specialist - can only be carried out from above. And the larger it is, the more accurate the monitoring.
- So you haven’t changed your job since then?
How is this possible in our time? There’s no such thing as an institute. But monitoring remained. Now I am not called a director, but the chairman of the board of directors. But the organization of the same profile is the Federal State Enterprise “Goszemcadastresemka”.
- Do your colleagues also only dream of peace?
To most - yes. Alexey Leonov is vice president of Alfa Bank. Boris Volynov and Viktor Gorbatko are also in commercial structures. Valera Bykovsky is raising her grandchildren only at our dacha. But I think he also would not have retired if his son had not died in a plane crash. It’s difficult to survive this... And, of course, all of us, “regardless of our profile,” carry out great social work, helping people.
Probably the best monument to the departed astronauts would be the growing space power of our country. But here we seem to be seriously behind today.
We won't have to talk about the lag for a long time. We have a good start. Although, of course, I consider the flooding of the Mir station a very serious mistake. But the ISS is working and will continue to work for another fifteen years. And this station is Russian. The main functional blocks are ours. All modules that are docked are made using Russian technologies. We fly there on our ships. No one has as much experience in the construction and operation of orbital stations as we do.
Yes, it’s bad that they delayed the financing of Soyuz and Progress. After all, this is so far the only means of communication with the ISS. But it cannot be preserved - this will cost much more than maintaining it in working condition. But now the government has found the money. In general, I believe that the future lies in joint projects. And we need to involve as many countries as possible. Yes, this is already happening. The ISS is currently operated by the entire world. And if we talk about programs like the Mars program, they are also very expensive. And even a rich country like America can’t afford it.
So humanity is simply doomed to explore space together. This way we will put it at the service of people much faster.
From the editor
The wish of cosmonaut number three to be buried in his homeland caused bewilderment and surprise among many. Although, if you look at it, what’s unusual about this? Remember our history: how many great graves are scattered throughout the country! Pushkin - in the Svyatogorsk Monastery, Lermontov - in Tarkhany, Derzhavin - in Bronnitsy, Tolstoy - in Yasnaya Polyana, Poddubny - in Yeisk, Tsiolkovsky - in Kaluga... People who constituted the pride and glory of Russia have always strived to find eternal peace in their native land , in his small homeland. And how these graves raised the status of the Russian province!
The custom of bringing famous dead people to the Kremlin wall arose in Soviet times. Funerals have turned from a solemn and sad rite of farewell to a loved one into an ideological event. When the “wall” ended, it became prestigious to be buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, then also at Troekurovsky. However, the relatives and friends of the famous deceased - people from the Russian outback - can also be understood: most rural cemeteries are in an extremely neglected state.
So, maybe this is where we need to start - by bringing them into divine form, restoring destroyed crosses and fences, laying demolition roads? This is exactly what the authorities of Chuvashia did, creating a memorial in Andriyan Nikolaev’s small homeland worthy of the memory of the great countryman. And for some reason I believe that the path to it will no longer be overgrown.
In the history of astronautics there are many names of people who risked their health for the sake of the prosperity of science and made great discoveries. These were people who conquered outer space. Among them is cosmonaut Andrian Grigorievich Nikolaev. What his life was like on Earth and in space, read in this article.
G. in childhood
In the family of simple peasants - milkmaid Anna and groom Grigory, a son was born in 1929, who was named Andrian. They then lived in a small village called Shorshely (Chuvash Republic).
Until Andrian said goodbye to school, he bore the surname Grigoriev (from his father’s name - Grigory, this was the custom at that time).
In addition to Andrian, there were three more children in the family; they lived very poorly. The future cosmonaut dreamed of becoming a paramedic, but his parents could not give their son a medical education. Therefore, on the recommendation of his older brother, Andrian entered the forestry technical school and moved to Mariinsky Posad. In 1947, he successfully graduated from technical school and was assigned to the Yuzhkarelles trust as a foreman, where he worked in logging until 1950. Then he joined the army and forever connected his life with aviation. In 1951 he entered the aviation school, and then from 1954 he served in military units near Moscow.
Biography: cosmonaut G. - first flight
In 1960, the first group was formed, which included Nikolaev. During flight training, he always worked at full strength, never finishing training until he realized that he had mastered that part of the program 100%. He understood that there was nothing important or not very important here - any omission could lead to dire consequences.
The 1962 flight, in which Andrian Grigorievich took part, was very productive.
The first group flight in the history of astronautics with the participation of the Vostok-3 and Vostok-4 spacecraft made it possible to draw conclusions about the quality of radio communications beyond the Earth. During the flight, the results of many scientific, technical and medical experiments were obtained. The first person who was in the ship without a spacesuit was cosmonaut Nikolaev.
His biography indicates that the books “Space - a road without end” and “Meet me in orbit,” which many space enthusiasts read at one time, are a description of his own impressions and experiences.
Biography: cosmonaut A. G. Nikolaev - second journey into space
In 1970, the longest (at that time) space flight was carried out, the commander of the ship was Andrian Grigorievich. The journey lasted more than 17 days. After landing, a phenomenon called the “Nikolaev effect” was discovered. The astronauts were unable to move for some time and felt very unwell as a result of the fact that they did virtually no physical exercise throughout the flight. Nikolaev supplemented the flight training program with the information that sports simulators must be installed on the ship.
Biography: cosmonaut A. G. Nikolaev - personal life
In 1963, the first woman in the world to choose Valentina Tereshkova became the wife of Andrian Grigorievich. After 18 years of marriage, they separated. Daughter (the only child in the world whose parents are astronauts) Elena chose the profession of a doctor.
In 2004 (July 3), the great cosmonaut, twice Hero of the USSR, suffered a heart attack, as a result of which he died at the age of 74.
Chavash kaycare
(Chuvash falcon)
Chuvash with a mighty heart, the abode of a new era,
Shoulders propping up the sky
He will step into the open space, his sunny clothes sparkling,
The New Day will embrace him with love, faith,
And the path ahead will be filled with flowers
International rainbow is alive.
Mikhail Sespel.
Major General of Aviation, Candidate of Technical Sciences, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, graduate of the technical school in 1947.
Andriyan Grigorievich Nikolaev was born on September 5, 1929 in the village of Shorshely, Mariinsko-Posad district of the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic into a peasant family. Since childhood, he loved the forest and nature, and with his older sister he went to distant forests to pick mushrooms and berries. I was not afraid of the thicket or the wilderness, I never got lost in the forest. Perhaps for this reason he entered the forestry technical school. And in 1944-1947 he studied at our technical school. Assigned to work in Karelia, he worked as a logging foreman until 1950. He served in the ranks of the Soviet Army, then went to study at the Frunze Military Aviation School, after which he served as a fighter pilot in air defense units of the Moscow Military District. In 1960, together with Yu.A. Gagarin, G.S. Titov and others, A.G. Nikolaev was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps.
August 11, 1962 A.G. Nikolaev and P.R. Popovich, for the first time in the world, carried out a heroic group flight on the Vostok-3 and Vostok-4 satellites, unprecedented in its complexity and duration, which marked a new stage in space exploration. This news caused a wide resonance and an indescribable feeling of pride for the son of the Chuvash people and a graduate of the technical school. The day after the start of the flight, the famous Chuvash poet Alexander Kalgan published a poem in the newspaper “Sovetskaya Chuvashia” dedicated to his fellow countryman and ending with the words:
In the name of peace on our planet
You have made your immortal flight.
All Chuvash are proud of you, fellow countryman,
The Motherland is proud of you.
In honor of the outstanding event, rallies and meetings were held in the hero’s homeland - in the village of Shorshely, the city of Mariinsky Posad, at the Forestry College, in the city of Cheboksary, and in other cities and towns of Chuvashia and the Soviet Union. On August 13, 1962, a solemn meeting was held at the technical school dedicated to the flight of the Vostok-3 spacecraft, piloted by a citizen of the Soviet Union, cosmonaut Nikolaev Andriyan Grigorievich. The resolution of the meeting states: “...We are proud that a student of our technical school, Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolaev...glorified the Soviet Motherland, as well as our famous Soviet science and technology. The courage and heroism of Andriyan Grigorievich Nikolaev inspires the staff of our technical school to further improve the quality of the graduates, worthy sons of our happy Motherland. We wish our dear fellow cosmonaut all the best, good health and a safe return to his native land...” The text of the resolution of this meeting is kept in the museum of our educational institution.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 18, 1962, A.G. Nikolaev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal, as well as the title of “Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR”. On August 29, 1962, his name was the first to be included in the Honorary Book of Labor Glory and Heroism of the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The eminent graduate never forgot his “alma mater.” He always came and met with the staff and students. This was a significant event for everyone. During one of his visits to the technical school, Andriyan Grigorievich planted a blue spruce in the park in front of the main building, which has now grown and also reaches out to the sky, to the stars, to its owner.
A.G. Nikolaev among students and teachers of the technical school
February 1963
From 1963 to 1968 A.G. Nikolaev was the commander of the cosmonaut corps, and in 1968-1974 he was the deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center and at the same time was preparing for flights to the Moon as part of the “Lunar Program”. The second time, as commander of the Soyuz-9 spacecraft, together with V.I. Sevastyanov, he visited orbit on June 1-19, 1970. As a result of this expedition, the longest at that time, the concept of the “Nikolaev effect” appeared in space medicine - the body’s reaction to earth’s gravity after a long stay in space. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 3, 1970, A.G. Nikolaev was awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
From 1974 to 1992, A.G. Nikolaev was the first deputy head of the Yu.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
For services to the Motherland, A.G. Nikolaev was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, the Red Star and many medals, as well as medals and orders from different countries of the world.
He was an honorary citizen of 16 cities in Russia and a number of states near and far abroad. Ships, streets, schools, and a children's park in the city of Cheboksary bear the name of A.G. Nikolaev. A crater on the Moon is named after him. He is the author of the books “Meet me in orbit”, “Space is a road without end”, “Earth’s gravity”.
As a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation from the Chuvash Republic in 1963-1993, he made a great contribution to resolving issues of the socio-economic development of the republic.
By decree of the President of the Chechen Republic of June 20, 1997, he was awarded the highest honorary title of Chuvashia - Honorary Citizen of the Chuvash Republic.
On November 2, 2001, a new building of the Cosmonautics Museum was opened in the village of Shorshely. Those present at the opening were, in addition to Nikolaev A.G. our fellow cosmonauts Musa Manarov and Nikolai Budarin, as well as pilot-cosmonauts Viktor Gorbatko, Yuri Baturin and the head of the cosmonaut training center, Colonel General Pyotr Klimuk.
The heart of Major General of Aviation, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Andriyan Grigorievich Nikolaev stopped beating on July 3, 2004, in the city of Cheboksary during the V All-Russian Summer Rural Sports Games, where he was the chief judge.
According to the Ministry of Health of the Chuvash Republic, death occurred from extensive repeated myocardial infarction, complicated by cardiogenic shock and severe cardiac arrhythmias.
On the territory of the Cosmonautics Museum in Shorshely, a chapel was built in which the grave of A.G. Nikolaev is located.
On September 4, 2009, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the building of the Mariinsky Posad branch of the Mari State Technical University with the inscription: “A.G. Nikolaev studied here in 1944-1947.” The author of the memorial plate is sculptor V.P. Nagornov is an Honored Artist of Russia, laureate of the State Prize of the Chuvash Republic.
Literature and sources.
1. Nikolaev S.I. Andriyan Grigorievich Nikolaev. Memory. Memories. - Cheboksary, “New Time”, 2006.
2. Personal file from the archives of the educational institution.
In the homeland of the astronaut in the village of Shoshely
Sculptor V.P. Nagornov and director of the branch A.N. Avtonomov
Sculptor V.P. Nagornov among students, teachers and staff
Modern photos: T.N. Samylova
Andriyan Nikolaev - Major General of Soviet Aviation, writer, candidate of technical sciences, was the third citizen of the USSR to travel into space. A participant in an unprecedented military experiment in airless space, he was the first person to work in orbit without a spacesuit.
For services to the fatherland, Nikolaev was twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and was awarded many orders and medals.
Childhood and youth
Andriyan Grigorievich Nikolaev, a native of the village of Shorshely, Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, was born on September 5, 1929 in the family of a collective farm groom Grigory Nikolaevich Nikolaev and milkmaid Anna Alekseevna Alekseeva and was the middle of four children.
After graduating from high school in 1944, Nikolaev entered the Mariino-Posad Forestry Technical School. Then the young specialist with a diploma in forestry technician was assigned to work in Karelia. Admired by the vast northern expanses, the young man thought that he had found his calling, but the time came for military service, and Andriyan’s fate changed dramatically.
Nikolaev ended up in the aviation troops, and then, after finishing his military service, he entered the air gunners school at the Chernigov Military School. Having become a disciplined and competent pilot, Andriyan continued to serve in the Moscow region, where he fell under the command of the legendary aviator Alexander Pokryshkin.
Taking on the experience of his great mentor, Nikolaev demonstrated miracles of aerobatics in a variety of conditions. Once, during a training flight, when the engines of the MiG-17 fighter failed, Andriyan landed the car in a field, avoiding the crash of expensive equipment and saving his own life. For self-control and courage in a difficult situation, Nikolaev was awarded a watch with a personalized engraving and accepted into the Communist Party of the USSR.
Cosmonautics
March 7, 1960 became a key date in the biography of pilot Nikolaev. Thanks to his positive characteristics from his place of service, Andriyan was accepted as a student into the group of astronauts, which was later named Gagarin.
In Star City, the pilot completed an experimental training course developed by Soviet scientists, physiotherapists and biologists, and, having successfully passed a medical examination at the Central Aviation Hospital, ended up in the 1st Cosmonaut Detachment of the USSR.
Six pilots with excellent physical and professional skills and the same level of training were equally vying for the place of the first man in space. The flight directors, faced with a difficult choice, asked the pilots to choose their own candidate. Andriyan and his comrades decided that the most worthy among them was.
On April 12, 1962, friends accompanied the hero to the Baikonur Cosmodrome and watched with bated breath the 108-minute flight of the legend of Soviet space, and when the control center reported that the capsule with Gagarin had landed, their joy knew no bounds.
On the wave of success, the management of the Mission Control Center began preparations for the second launch of the Vostok-2 rocket. He was appointed commander of the ship, and Nikolaev was ordered to perform the duties of an understudy. The pilots trained hard, because they had to spend a whole day in space and experience the state of weightlessness for the first time.
The second flight again took place without Nikolaev’s participation, but the pilot did not stop his planned training. Having assessed the calmness, composure, quick reaction and strict adherence to instructions, the Mission Control Center appointed Andriyan Grigorievich as the combat commander of Vostok-3.
The expedition, launched on August 11, 1962, became the first multi-day space flight in which 2 rockets took part - Major Nikolaev’s ship was accompanied by Vostok-4, controlled by Pavel Popovich. In addition, the astronauts' mission was an experiment to be in orbit without a protective suit in a state of weightlessness, successfully carried out by a fearless pilot.
And years later, the public learned about the secret side of the Vostok space expedition, which simulated a situation in which one ship acted as an interceptor, and the other was a potential target.
During the first expedition, Andriyan Grigorievich flew around his home planet 64 times and was in low-Earth orbit for 94 hours and 22 minutes, setting a record for flight duration. He became the pioneer of “space meals” by taking specially prepared canned food and brewing coffee three times a day. At the end of the flight, the pilot’s name became the first in the Honorary Book of Labor Glory and Heroism of the Chuvash Republic, and the country awarded the cosmonaut an order of the highest degree of distinction.
Returning to Earth, Nikolaev entered the Moscow Air Force Academy named after Nikolai Zhukovsky, where he expanded and strengthened his technical knowledge and in 1968 received the specialization “pilot-engineer-cosmonaut”. Andriyan Grigorievich became the commander of the Star City detachment, and in 1965 he participated in preparations for a flight into lunar orbit on Soyuz spacecraft. The planned expedition did not take place, and Nikolaev took the post of deputy head of the Yuri Gagarin Space Training Center and received the rank of aviation colonel.
Documentary film “Legends of Space. Andriyan Nikolaev"In 1970, Andriyan Grigorievich became the commander of the Soyuz-9 crew, and Vitaly Sevastyanov became his partner on the upcoming flight. The pilots made 286 orbits around the Earth and stayed in space for 17 days, 16 hours and 58 minutes, breaking all imaginable and inconceivable records.
Thanks to their coordinated work, Nikolaev and his colleague conducted a number of scientific and medical studies, mapped the airfields of the supposed enemy and played the first space chess game in history against the Mission Control Center team. Upon return, based on data on the physical condition of the pilots, doctors developed a program of preparation for conditions of weightlessness and subsequent adaptation to earthly conditions.
For this expedition, which is described in the documentary “Earth Gravity,” Andriyan Grigorievich received an award - the 2nd Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the rank of Major General of Aviation.
After the flight, Nikolaev continued to work as the first deputy head of the Space Training Center, was elected as a deputy to the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, and since 1994, the famous pilot worked in the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Having written about 70 scientific papers and works of art about space, Andriyan Grigorievich defended his dissertation in 1975 and received the title of Candidate of Technical Sciences.
Personal life
In 1963, Nikolaev, the last bachelor of Star City, married the first female cosmonaut. The wedding took place in the Government House with the participation of the Secretary General of the USSR.
Friends considered this union useful for science and society and did not believe in the happiness of the newly made husband and wife. Andriyan Grigorievich refuted these speculations in the book “Meet Me in Orbit,” where, while fleetingly mentioning his personal life, he spoke with warmth and love about his soul mate.
A year later, a daughter, Elena, was born into the “space family,” who had a number of physical disabilities. This did not stop the girl from graduating from school and medical school with honors, getting married twice and becoming the mother of two children.
Valentina Tereshkova and Andriyan Nikolaev with their daughter Details of the relationship in the Nikolaev family were kept secret. In public, the spouses showed signs of attention to each other and constantly smiled, but something was going wrong in their marriage, and after spending almost 19 years together, Andriyan Grigorievich and Valentina Vladimirovna divorced.
Valentina Tereshkova and Andriyan Nikolaev broke up Tereshkova married Yuli Shaposhnikov, and Nikolaev remained alone until his death.
Death
Andriyan Nikolaev, who enjoyed excellent health in his young and mature years, began to experience heart problems at the end of his life.
In the summer of 2004, the cosmonaut was invited to Cheboksary as a judge of the All-Russian rural competitions. On July 3, after the end of the events and the press conference at which the last photo of the famous pilot was taken, Nikolaev lost consciousness and died. Doctors determined that the cause of death of the aviation major general was a heart attack.
Andriyan Grigorievich was buried in his native Chuvash land against the will of his wife and daughter. The image of the cosmonaut is immortalized in a museum located in the village of Shorshely, which since 2006 has been called the Nikolaev Memorial Complex, monuments erected in Chernigov, Smolensk and Cheboksary, as well as in the names of streets and public gardens in Russian cities.
Titles and awards
- 1961 – “Order of the Red Star”
- 1962 – Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR
- 1962, 1970 – Hero of the Soviet Union
- 1962, 1970 – Gold Star Medal
- 1962 – “Order of Lenin”
- 1970 – “Gold Medal named after Yu.A. Gagarin”
- 1976 – “Order of the Red Banner of Labor”
- 1981 – USSR State Prize
- 1988 - Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree
- 1991 - Medal “For Strengthening the Military Commonwealth”
Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General of Aviation... Andriyan Nikolaev's first launch, on Vostok-3, took place in August 1962, the second, on Soyuz-9, in June 1970 . The first time he stayed in space for four days, the second - eighteen...
At first we didn't know his name. They only knew that he was German Titov’s understudy. Then they began to call him Cosmonaut-3. Then, in 1961, this “mysterious” person was invariably present in the stories of Yuri Gagarin and German Titov. In his book “Seventeen Cosmic Dawns” Titov wrote:
“One of the traits absolutely necessary for an astronaut is composure and calmness in all possible situations of a complex space flight.”
He was already an experienced pilot when he made an emergency landing in a fighter jet during a training flight. As the pilots say, he “sat on his belly” outside the airfield. He remained alive and unharmed. And I saved the car. Rare case...
Even in very difficult moments, he did not lose his composure, analyzed, forced himself to weigh all the pros and cons before doing or deciding anything.
Not new to the cockpit. Andriyan Nikolaev did not stay long at the first career step. After a year in the unit, he became a senior pilot, then a squadron adjutant.
He went to launch in August 1962 and was the first earthling to spend four days in space. And all these long days his unhurried, calm voice sounded from orbit:
- “Zarya”, I am “Falcon”. The flight is going well. But the mother did not leave the radio, did not close her eyes. After the night she waited for the morning, after the morning for the night.
Best of the day
That August launch marked the beginning of multi-day group space flights. Following Vostok-3, Vostok-4 entered orbit.
In the years that have passed since the Vostok 3 flight, many events have happened in the life of the astronaut. He graduated from the N. E. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation. He traveled a lot around the world, telling people about space, about the flights of Soviet cosmonauts, about his Motherland, about the Soviet people - great workers and creators. He visited Bulgaria and Hungary, Yugoslavia and France, Mongolia and India, Indonesia and Burma, Nepal and Ceylon, Algeria and Japan, Guinea and Brazil. Fame and popularity did not change him. Still the same calm and modest, kind and sensitive person, confident in himself, in his abilities, in his knowledge.
His efficiency and perseverance can be the envy of many. He did not leave the simulator until he felt that he had done everything he could for today, that this part of the program had been sorted out and mastered, that he had given his all. He immediately realized that in cosmic affairs there is no main and secondary. Any omission can be costly. He once called his stay in Zvezdny a man's work.
When asked what he meant by this, he replied:
Constant, unrelenting overcoming of resistance. Like in a fight...
A new flight is a new step into big space. There were a lot of “whys” and “hows”. For example, it was known that a person quickly adapts to conditions of weightlessness. The “position illusions” that initially appear and unpleasant sensations during sudden movements soon disappear, the functioning of the circulatory system and gas exchange return to normal, but during a long flight sluggishness of movements, decreased reaction may appear, irritation of the vestibular apparatus may accumulate, and with them symptoms of seasickness. A new test flight was supposed to clarify the picture.
Soyuz 9 launched on June 1, 1970. Before this flight, the maximum duration of a person's stay in space ranged from 5 (Vostok, Soyuz) to 14 days (Gemini 7). Aidrian Nikolaev and Vitaly Sevastyanov had to stay in orbit for 18 days. And at the same time, carry out a large program of work, which included both medical and biological research and testing of on-board systems, testing manual control, conducting scientific observations and experiments.
It took longer to prepare for this flight than for the previous ones. There was enough time. Andrian even thought it was too much. (“We are not iron men, and to some extent we also have impatience.”) Sometimes he lacked endurance, and he asked himself and others: “When will we fly?” Doctors carried out endless examinations and special work. But tests are tests, and the main examiner is the space flight itself.
Day... third... fifth... Soyuz-9 was counting its orbital orbits. There are slight overloads and starting vibrations behind. Ahead, it seems, there is nothing but a weightless body, weightless objects, the blackness of space and the excessively bright Sun.
When we passed the 14-day mark, my mood lifted. But he did not relax himself, nor did he allow his comrade to relax. Even before the start, he “charged” himself for the entire 18 days, for a decisive and difficult test of will. Self-hypnosis, as he himself said, is the greatest battery of mental balance.
The day began with physical exercise. Then breakfast, cleaning the room, photographing atmospheric formations, studying the physical characteristics of phenomena and processes in space, testing the orientation system... And all this in zero gravity.
Everything comes to an end. The 18-day flight was over. The braking device was activated and the descent began.
They had already gotten a little used to it, from its warmth, tart smells, from its hardness and brightness of colors... Their hands were shaking from tension, their heads were spinning, it was hard to breathe. It seemed as if everything around him suddenly slowed down. But the clock was already counting down earthly time. The task was completed.
"...Valuable medical and biological data obtained during the research on the influence of the factors of a multi-day space flight on the human body and performance, long-term and comprehensive testing of the technical systems of the spacecraft and ground support facilities, the implementation of a wide program of scientific and national economic research and observations provide the necessary practical" ! material that will form the basis for future space flights is bringing the time of creating permanent orbital stations closer..."
These are lines from the greetings of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Council of Ministers of the USSR to those who participated in the preparation and implementation of the Soyuz-9 flight.
The Motherland awarded Andriyan Nikolaev the second Gold Star. He was awarded the rank of general. He has been appointed to a new position. Now Andriyan Grigorievich Nikolaev is the deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu. A. Gagarin. But what has changed in him? There are more wrinkles and more gray hair. But the same thoughtful, calm and extremely young eyes. The movements became a little more restrained and measured. But the same lightness, the same swiftness in gait.
Yes, he is an optimist. Not because optimism, as they say, is directly proportional to the number of successes in a person's life. It’s just that he not only wants, but also knows how to be an optimist. Such a character. Well, he did write a book. A good book. He called it "Space - a road without end."
And this name also contains his character.