| Georgy Beregovoy | |
|---|---|
Georgy Beregovoy (left) with Viktor Yanukovych (right) |
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| Cosmonaut | |
| Status | Deceased |
| Born | April 15, 1921 Fedorivka, Poltava Oblast, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) |
| Died | June 30, 1995 (aged 74) Moscow, Russia |
| Other occupation | Pilot |
| Rank | Lieutenant General (Soviet Air Forces) |
| Time in space | 3d 22h 50m |
| Selection | 1962 |
| Missions | Soyuz 3 |
| Mission insignia | |
Georgy Timofeyevich Beregovoy (Russian: Георгий Тимофеевич Береговой, Ukrainian: Гео́ргій Тимофі́йович Берегови́й; April 15, 1921 - June 30, 1995) was a Soviet cosmonaut who commanded the space mission Soyuz 3 in 1968.[1] At the time of his flight, Beregovoy was 47 years of age: he was the oldest human to go into space (by date of birth, not by age during flight), three months and three days older than the second earliest-born astronaut, American John Glenn.
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Beregovoy was born on April 15, 1921, in Fedorivka, Poltava Oblast, Soviet Union (now Ukraine). He joined the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) in 1941, and was soon assigned to a ground-attack unit flying the Ilyushin Il-2 "Shturmovik". He flew some 185 combat sorties during the course of World War II and rose quickly through the ranks, finishing the war as a captain and squadron commander.
Following the war, he became a test pilot, and over the next sixteen years test-flew some sixty different aircraft, rising to the rank of colonel and the position of deputy chief of the air force's flight-testing department. In 1962, he applied and was accepted for cosmonaut training.
In 1956 graduated from the Air Force Academy.
In 1965, Colonel Beregovoy was scheduled to fly the following year in Voskhod 3, but the mission was never launched.[2]
On October 25, 1968, Beregovoy took the Soyuz 3 into outer space: he orbited the earth for slightly more than four days at altitudes reaching 252 km. As part of his mission, Beregovoy twice maneuvered his craft into rendezvous positions with the unmanned Soyuz 2 satellite[3] but was unable to establish a direct physical link to the craft[4] before returning on October 30, 1968.
Nonetheless, Beregovoy's flight was in some ways an encouraging success for the Soviet manned space program,[5] and the colonel was celebrated as a hero upon his return. Soyuz 3 was Beregovoy's last spaceflight and soon after its return he retired from active duty, having been promoted to Major General.
At a public ceremony in honor of the Soviet cosmonaut team, Beregovoy was lightly wounded during a 1969 assassination attempt upon Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.[6]
Beregovoy took up a position at the Centre for Cosmonaut Training, and in 1972 was made Director of that facility.
After retirement, Beregovoy became a Soviet parliament member representing the Donbas region of the Ukrainian SSR. In this capacity, he reportedly helped Viktor Yanukovych to start a new life, getting his two criminal convictions expunged from the court records. Many years later, Yanukovych became prime minister and then president of modern independent Ukraine.
Georgy Beregovoy died during heart surgery on June 30, 1995, and is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
Georgy Beregovoy was decorated as Hero of the Soviet Union twice, first time for his military service during World War II, the second time for his space flight in 1968, making him the only Soviet cosmonaut who had flown into space already being the holder of the highest Soviet distinction for a previous achievement unrelated to space travel. He was also awarded two Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, Order of Alexander Nevsky, Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (3rd Class), Order of the Patriotic War (1st Class), two Orders of the Red Star, and numerous other medals. Among many other Russian commemorations Beregovoy is memorialized in Moscow with a statue on Cosmonauts Alley.
Beregovoy was celebrated internationally, and received a unique award from the Internation Aeronautical Federation. At the Federation's 62nd general conference held in Helsinki, Finland, Beregovoy was awarded the first Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal for achievements in space; Finnish President Urho Kekkonen was the honorary presenter on July 14, 1968.[7] The award was a new design created in memory of Gagarin who had died the previous March, and it continues to be awarded to this day.[8]