Portal:Space exploration/Biography/Week 20 2007

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Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin (No picture available) (October 18, 1908 - March 11, 1982) was a Soviet aviator, awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1934 for the rescue of SS Chelyuskin crew. In War World II he successfully commanded air brigade, air division and an air corps, reaching the rank of Airforce Colonel General and Air Army commander role after the war.

In 1960-1971, General Kamanin was head of cosmonaut training in Soviet space program. He recruited and trained the first generation of cosmonauts, including Yuri Gagarin, Gherman Titov and Alexei Leonov. Kamanin was the Airforce representative in space program, a proponent of manned orbital flight and Airforce influence over the space race. His diaries (1960-1971), published in 1995-2001, are among the most important sources documenting the progress of Soviet space program.