Bulgarian cosmonauts. Prisoners of Orbit
Georgi Ivanov Ivanov Bulgarian officer, lieutenant general. The first Bulgarian cosmonaut. People's Representative in the 7th Great People's Assembly (1990-1991).
Biography
Georgi Ivanov was born in Lovech on July 2, 1940 in the family of Anastasia Kakalova and Ivan Ivanov Kakalov (electrical engineer). His home is located in the architectural and historical zone of Varosha. His surname at birth was Kakalov. While I was a student I was involved in parachuting. Graduates from the mixed secondary school “Todor Kirkov” in Lovech (1958).
Drafted into the Bulgarian Army in 1958. He graduated from the Military School in Dolna Mitropolia (1964) with a degree in pilot engineering and a qualification as a 1st class pilot. Serves in the BNA as a pilot, senior pilot, flight commander and squadron commander. Member of the BCP since 1968. Defends his dissertation and receives the scientific degree of Candidate of Physical Sciences (1984). His scientific supervisor is Dimitar Mishev.
A space flight
On March 1, 1978, he was selected as a cosmonaut in the second group of the Intercosmos program. He studies at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. On April 10, 1979, at 20:34 Moscow time, the Soyuz-33 spacecraft was released into low-Earth orbit, with an international crew: flight commander Nikolai Rukavishnikov and cosmonaut-researcher Georgi Ivanov.
Due to a technical malfunction, the ship does not have time to connect with the Salyut-6 orbital station: the rapprochement between the ship and the orbital station proceeds at a speed higher than the calculated speed, which is why the control system includes a speed correction. During correction, one side of the main engine fuel chamber burns out. The connection turns out to be impossible. Throughout the entire path of the bullets, Georgi Ivanov remains normal and does not change. When they land, they are 320 km southeast of Dzhezkazgan after 31 complete circles around the Earth. They spend 1 day, 23 hours and 1 minute in Space.
The descent module of the Soyuz-33 spacecraft is kept in the Aviation Museum at the Krumovo airbase on the outskirts of Plovdiv.
After the flight
With the beginning of changes in Bulgaria in 1989, he went into business. Founds the mixed Bulgarian-Italian airline "Sigi Er Cargo", which begins its activities with the rental of an aircraft in Yakutia (October 1990). Leasing a plane from the Yugoslav “Museum on Aviation” (1991).
After the termination of Italian participation, he created the Er Sofia airline together with Lilyan Todorov (1991). The company is developing and has six AN-12 aircraft, one AN-26 and one AN-24 each. IL-76 and AN-124 Ruslan were leased (1998).
Er Sofia is engaged in the construction of golf courses and hotels (1999). Playgrounds were built in Ihtiman and Sliven. They are included in the Bulgarian Golf Federation.
In 1990-1991 he became a people's representative in the 7th Great People's Assembly. Member of the management board of the Association of Space Flight Participants (1985) and the Bulgarian Astronautical Society (1988).
Awards
– Title of Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria and the Order of Georgi Dimitrov (1979)
– Title Hero of the Soviet Union and Order of Lenin (1979)
– Order of Stara Planina, 1st class. with swords (2004)
– Title of Honorary Citizen of Lovech on April 29, 1979 “For flights from the Soyuz 33 spacecraft.”
May 15th, 2012
Hello dears.
While working on some posts, I touched a little on such an interesting topic, in my opinion, as foreign cosmonauts participating in the Soviet space program. I decided to remember these people by name.
Intercosmos program from 1978 to 1988. 14 people were sent into space, and these were the first people of the Earth, the cosmonauts were not citizens of the USSR and the USA. All of them became real national heroes in their countries; such a program strengthened the interaction between our countries and influenced the creation of a beneficial image of the Soviet Union, which was somewhat shaken after the events of 1968.
Emblem of the Intercosmos program
I think it was an excellent PR campaign that paid off, despite its high cost. And the foreign cosmonauts themselves (at least most of them), despite numerous anecdotes, showed themselves to be great guys and did not participate in the flight and research as ordinary “space tourists.” I don’t know about you, but for me they are real Heroes (both in the literal and figurative sense of the word, since they were all awarded the Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union), worthy of good memory and all respect. Fortunately, they are all still alive, although their fates turned out differently. Let's talk about each one.
The crew of Salyut-6
The first foreign cosmonaut in the Intercosmos program was a major in the Czechoslovak National Army Vladimir Remek. From March 2 to March 10, 1978, he, together with Alexey Gubarev made a space flight on the Soyuz-28 ship, docked with the Salyut-6 station, where, together with the station crew, cosmonauts Yuri Romanenko and Georgy Grechko carried out a number of experiments and completely completed the flight mission. The Motherland highly appreciated the merits of its first cosmonaut - he was awarded the star of the Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Order of Klement Gottwald. His further fate was not easy, but at the moment Vladimir is a member of the European Parliament from the Communist Party of the Czech Republic and Moravia, deputy head of the EU Cooperation Committee with the Russian Federation. Vladimir had to prove all his life that he, and not his backup Oldrich Pelcak, was allowed into space not because of his father. The fact is that his father at that time became the commander of the Czechoslovak Air Force and some ill-wishers said that this could not have happened without his influence. I think this is unfair. If something played in favor of Vladimir Remek, it was that his father was Slovak and his mother was Czech. And in all other respects, he achieved the flight through his work, his determination and good health. Asteroid genus number 2552 was named in honor of Remek.
Member of the European Parliament V. Remek
The second pilot for Intercosmos was a man of difficult fate - Miroslav Germashevsky (Hermashevsky). Born in the Rivne region into a Polish family, he lost his grandfather and father as a result of the so-called Volyn massacre perpetrated by the UPA, and he himself almost died when he was thrown into the snow at the age of one and a half years. However, the boy survived, grew up and became a military pilot. June 27, 1978, as part of the Soyuz-30 expedition, together with the ship commander Peter Klimuk spent almost 8 days in space. After the flight, he remained to serve in the Polish army and rose to the rank of Brigadier General (Major General), and was deputy commander of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Polish Army. By the way, his brother Vladislav also became a brigadier general in the Air Force. In the mid-90s, Miroslav had some problems with the authorities, there was even a shameful moment when they stopped paying him, the first Pole in space, a pension, but fortunately all passions subsided and now he lives in Warsaw and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Cosmonaut Association and astronauts of the world, is engaged in the popularization of astronautics in his native Poland.
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P. Klimuk and M. Germashevsky
His latest and most passionate hobby is a small flying club, similar to the one in which he once began to fly himself. Miroslav dreams that the boys who visit him will someday become astronauts themselves.
Among his awards there is one very interesting one. This is the so-called Order of the Smile. This is an international award given to famous people who bring joy to children. When rewarding her, you need to drink a glass of lemon juice and smile. It only remains to add that Germashevsky’s understudy was Zenon Yankovsky.
Order of the Smile
Number 3 was the first German in space (and the only citizen of the fallen German Democratic Republic) Sigmund Jen. August 26, 1978 together in Valery Bykovsky they made up the crew of the Soyuz-31 spacecraft. Their joint flight lasted 7 days and 20 hours. Interestingly, in his memoirs, Sigmund said that when docking with the Salyut-6 space station, they were all together with the station crew Vladimir Kovalenko and Alexander Ivanchenkov drank some cognac in orbit, which the crew of Soyuz-31 smuggled with them in tubes of currant juice.
Sigmund Jen
The landing of the descent module on Earth did not go entirely smoothly and Sigmund received minor injuries to his spine, which, however, did not prevent him from remaining in aviation. He was so popular in the GDR that he was offered to become the head of state, instead of Eric Honecker. But Jen was always alien to politics and refused, remaining in the army, where he rose to the rank of major general in the GDR Air Force. Then, by the way, he helped raise funds for the treatment of the former leader of the GDR in Chile just before Honecker’s death. Contrary to the opinion expressed in the popular film "Good Bye Lenin!" Herr Jen never worked as a taxi driver, but was always connected with space. He first worked as a representative of the German space agency DLR, then moved to the European Space Agency. Now retired, but vigorous, he participates in the Living Belt of the Planet movement, grows gardens and babysits his grandchildren. He and his wife have lived together for more than 50 years. The asteroid 17737 Zygmundia is named after him. The backup for the first German cosmonaut was Eberhard Köllner, with whom Ian still has a good and warm relationship.
Z. Yen and E. Honecker
The next cosmonaut from the socialist countries to be in low-Earth orbit was a Bulgarian Georgy Ivanov. In fact, the surname of this man was different - Kakkalov, and because of his cacophony, he was supposed to become the first Bulgarian in space Alexander Alexandrov. But the latter had some health problems and it was decided to approve Kakkalov. True, the latter had to sacrifice his last name (by the way, at the insistence of the Bulgarian side) and for the media he became Georgiy Ivanov. Georgy joined the Soyuz-33 crew under the leadership Nikolai Rukavishnikov. However, the flight of this crew was very unsuccessful.
The first Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgiy Ivanov (Kakkalov)
They launched from Baikonur on April 10, 1979, but due to engine failure, it was decided to refuse docking with the Salyut-6 station. In this regard, it was decided to land the ship on Earth, not using the main engine, but through the backup engine. However, the backup engine worked longer than expected, which led to the entry into the atmosphere along a steep trajectory and the astronauts had to experience enormous overloads. However, on April 12, 1979, they landed successfully. After the flight, Ivanov continued to serve in the NRB aviation and received the rank of lieutenant general. In 1986, Georgy Ivanov once again tried to pass the commission for space flight, but did not pass the selection. In the early 90s, he was the founder and director of the first non-state Bulgarian airline, Air Bulgaria. However, the business did not take off and in recent years Georgy has been seriously involved in popularizing Golf in the country, and also participates in charity programs. In 1984 he defended his PhD in physical sciences.
G. Ivanov now
On May 26, 1980, the manned spacecraft Soyuz-36 was launched with 2 earthlings - the ship commander Valery Kubasov and citizen of the Hungarian People's Republic Bertalan Farkas. A passionate football fan and no less enthusiastic apologist for the spread of Esperanto, he also fell in love with aviation with all his heart. Apparently the person was like that, if he loved, then with all his heart and selflessly. Apparently the pilot was not bad, since he ended up with White Magyari to the cosmonaut corps. It was Farkas who was allowed to fly, and Magyari remained his backup. For seven days, the cosmonauts worked on board the Salyut-6 orbital complex together with cosmonauts L Eonid Popov and Valery Ryumin, and then returned safely to Earth.
crew of Soyuz-36
After the flight, Bertalan became, naturally, very popular in his homeland, but after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, he was also quickly forgotten. However, already in 1994, the Socialist government that came to power remembered the first Hungarian in space and awarded Farkas the rank of brigadier general. Now he was to serve his country as an air attaché at the Hungarian Embassy in the United States. However, three months later, local police revoked Farkas' driver's license for driving while intoxicated. The astronaut was immediately recalled to Hungary for “official proceedings” and never returned to the United States, and was retired from the army in 1997. After which he tried to engage in entrepreneurial activity for a couple of years, after which he again decided to return to politics. Apparently Bartalan fell in love with it, just like football, Esperanto and aviation had previously. He is now a member of the conservative political party Hungarian Democratic Forum, but does not forget his space friends.
Bertalan Farkas
The first and only astronaut of Vietnam had the honor of becoming Pham Thuanou. It so happened that he was famous and popular in his country long before space flight. And this is how it happened: an 18-year-old boy was drafted into the Vietnamese People's Army. He grew up in a peasant family and was so weak and physically exhausted that the military registration and enlistment office didn’t really know what to do with him. But they noticed his sharp mind, love of technology and good theoretical knowledge and assigned him to aviation technology. At the airfield they decided that the guy would be good and sent him to study in the Soviet Union. In the USSR, he became so physically strong, and most importantly, he showed himself to be such an aviation enthusiast that it was decided to try to make him a pilot. This decision turned out to be correct. Despite the fact that Pham Tuan did not finish his studies due to the war, he eventually became the best pilot in Vietnam. He fought first on the MiG-17, then on the MiG-21 in the most famous air regiment of the Vietnamese Republic “Sao Do” (“Red Star”) and was one of 5 Vietnamese Air Force pilots who were allowed to land and take off from absolutely all airfields in North Vietnam.
best Vietnamese fighter Pham Tuam
Real fame came to Tuam in 1972 when he shot down an American B-52 bomber. This victory turned out to be the only time in the entire war that this strategic bomber was shot down by a Vietnamese fighter pilot.
He became a true hero of the Vietnamese nation.
It is not surprising that after the war his career took off. When the decision was made to send a Vietnamese cosmonaut into space, the country’s leadership had no doubts - only Pham Tuan should have become him. He was assigned as an understudy Bui Thanh Liem, but the latter had practically no chance.
On July 23, 1980, together with Viktor Gorbatko, they made up the crew of Soyuz 37, and 7 days later Tuan landed along with Leonid Popov and Valery Ryumin.
the first Vietnamese in space!
After the flight, the first and last Vietnamese in space returned to his homeland for a short time, and then returned to the Soviet Union and studied at the Yu. A. Gagarin Air Force Academy. Graduated from the academy in 1982. Subsequently, he served as the head of the political department of the Vietnamese Air Force. At the moment, Tuan is still in service and heads the General Directorate of Defense Industry of the Ministry of Defense. He is a Lieutenant General of the Air Force, winner of all the highest orders of the country, still cheerful and full of strength
Mendes and Rukavishnikov training in Star City
The first Latin American in space, the only Cuban cosmonaut was Lieutenant Colonel Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez.
The boy grew up an orphan and had to work from the age of 13. He mastered several professions and became a good carpenter. When the time came to join the army, he was assigned to aviation and he made his way to the very top thanks to hard work, good training and a passion for flying. He has more than 20 combat missions and about 1,400 flight hours. As one of the most experienced pilots of the Cuban Air Force, especially having proven himself well while studying at the Yeisk Aviation School, he, together with Jose Armando Lopez Falcon was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps. On September 18, 1980, Mendes launched with Yuri Romanenko on the Soyuz-38 spacecraft. The flight lasted 7 days 20 hours.
The first Cuban space explorer.
From 1981 to 1992, he headed the analogue of the Soviet DOSAAF - the Society for Military Patriotic Education (SEPMI - Sociedad de Educacion Patriotico Militar). Deputy of the National Assembly (four convocations), chairman of the Cuba-Russia deputy friendship group. Chairman of the Cuba-Russia Friendship Association. Despite his 70s, he is cheerful, fit and energetic. All his colleagues respect his human qualities. In Cuba he is still a real Hero.
To be continued...
Have a nice time of day.
Georgy Ivanov Ivanov(Bulgarian Georgi Ivanov Ivanov, real name Kakalov; born July 2, 1940, Lovech, Bulgaria) - the first Bulgarian cosmonaut. Lieutenant General (2004). Hero of the Soviet Union. Knight of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (1979). Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, Knight of the Order of Georgiy Dimitrov (1979), Candidate of Physical Sciences (1984).
Biography
In 1964 he graduated from the Higher People's Air Force School named after. Georgy Benkovsky with the rank of lieutenant, after which he served as a pilot instructor at the school. From 1968 to 1975 he served as commander of an air defense squadron. From 1975 to 1978 he served as commander of a fighter squadron (1st class fighter pilot). In 1977, he took part in the selection of candidates from Bulgaria for the Soviet-Bulgarian space flight under the Intercosmos program. In January 1978, he was sent along with three other representatives of the NRB to obtain the final conclusion of the Main Medical Commission in the USSR. He was later selected as one of two candidates from Bulgaria for space flight training. Since March 1978, he underwent general space training at the Cosmonaut Training Center named after. Yu. A. Gagarin.
After the space flight, he continued to perform military service and was an inspector for the Bulgarian Air Force. He was elected to the Great People's Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. In the early 1990s. took part in the creation of the private airline Air Sofia, and was managing director.
Space flight
Two applicants were selected to carry out a joint Soviet-Bulgarian space flight under the Intercosmos program - Alexander Alexandrov and Georgiy Kakalov. Kakalov was appointed to the main crew of the Soyuz-33 spacecraft; at the insistence of the Soviet side, due to dissonance, he took the surname Ivanov. The commander of the ship was the Soviet cosmonaut Nikolai Rukavishnikov, for whom this flight was the third. The launch took place on April 10, 1979. A docking with the Salyut-6 station was planned, but the docking failed due to a breakdown in the ship's engine. The decision was made to return. During an emergency descent to Earth, experiencing multiple overloads (up to 10 g), on the 31st orbit on April 12, the crew landed 320 km southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan. The flight duration was 1 day 23 hours 1 minute. On April 13, 1979, Georgy Ivanov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In 1986, Georgy Ivanov was also a candidate for the flight, but did not pass the selection.
Awards
- Medal “For Merit in Space Exploration” (April 12, 2011) - for his great contribution to the development of international cooperation in the field of manned space exploration.
Personal life
Was married twice. From his first marriage (with Natalya Rusanova) there is a daughter, Anya, from the second (with Lydia) - a son, Ivan.
April 8, 2016 marks one year since Eric Morel, a representative of ESA (European Space Agency) and Minister of Economy Bozidar Lukarski signed an agreement on Bulgaria's accession to ESA.
Bulgaria is very proud of its space achievements. And indeed, this is a lot for such a small country.
The first Bulgarian equipment flew into space on December 1, 1972 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. The device was called " P1"and was intended to measure the parameters of ionospheric plasma. In 1974, the Bulgarian "P2" flew on Intercosmos 12, and in 75, respectively, "P3" flew on Intercosmos 14.
In 1979, the most important event in Bulgarian cosmonautics took place - on April 10, the first Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgi Ivanov went into space aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 33. He spent 1 day, 23 hours and 1 minute in space.
Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgi Ivanov (Kakalov)
Many people know the story of the change of name of the first Bulgarian cosmonaut. The fact is that members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee decided that the name Kakalov would sound dissonant and could cause inappropriate jokes among the population. Thus, Kakalov became Ivanov by his patronymic. True, they say that upon returning to Bulgaria he again became Kakalov. By the way, the first Bulgarian cosmonaut was from Lovech; his parents’ house is located in an architectural reserve.
Throughout the 80s, Bulgaria sent its equipment into space.
In 1982, the largest projects "Interball" and the space greenhouse "Svet" began their work in space - a fully automated system for conducting a ten-year experiment with plants, in which international crews participated with various types of plant crops. Thanks to this, unique experience in the field of gravitational biology was obtained. The Bulgarians have proven that weightlessness does not interfere with the full cycle of plant development: from seed to seed. Thus, a cosmic menu was developed: with oatmeal, several types of nuts, a set of freeze-dried (dried in a special way) fruits - strawberries, apples, apricots, peaches, melons and others. The Bulgarian menu is adapted for four daily meals - two breakfasts, lunch and dinner. This system provides the human body with an average of 3000 - 3200 kcal.
Bulgarian cosmonaut Alexander Alexandrov
In 1988, the second Bulgarian cosmonaut Alexander Alexandrov flew on Soyuz TM-5 to the MIR orbital station (9 days 20 hours 10 minutes).
In 1997, the second Bulgarian greenhouse “Svet 2” operated at the MIR station.
In 2008, with the Indian mission Chandrayaan-1, the Bulgarians sent their Radom 7 instrument to the Moon.
These are not curse words, but the names of famous astronauts
The history of our cosmonautics has many glorious, tragic and victorious pages. But there are moments in space exploration that today can only be called funny. This is, for example, the story of how responsible comrades from the CPSU Central Committee “renamed” cosmonauts from fraternal socialist countries.
Before sending a Bulgarian citizen into space, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee considered the issue of changing his last name. The real one was Kakalov. There are many of them in Bulgaria, like our Petrovs. And he did not foresee that someone might not like it. But in the Central Committee of the Party the people were vigilant.
Became Ivanov
They decided that his surname was too dissonant and could cause a lot of common jokes.
And Grigory was offered to take the surname Ivanov. His father was against it - they say, the surname is ancient, almost of a princely family, as possible. They politely explained to him that his son could remain Kakalov, but then another cosmonaut would fly from Bulgaria.
But Georgy Kakalov-Ivanov is not the only one who was once forced by Soviet leaders through the space authorities to change their names.
The Poles selected an experienced pilot with the surname Hermashevsky. “It doesn’t sound right,” decided the plainclothes autocrats. And the Polish cosmonaut appeared in our newspapers with a new first syllable - Germaszewski. It is not known whether this was coordinated with the Polish government. They say that the chief political officer of the space department put the finishing touches on the poor Pole.
Long tradition
The surname of a citizen of Mongolia was also considered dissonant. When the participant from the fraternal country was preparing, cosmonaut Ganzorik was Zhugderdamidiin Gurragchaa’s understudy. His real name was Gankhuyak. “Khuyak” in Mongolian means shell.
In the memoirs of Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General Alexei Zhadov, whose last name was originally Zhidov, there is such an episode. The commander of the Stalingrad Front, Konstantin Rokossovsky, told him that Stalin was pleased with the actions of the army: “However, he did not like your last name. He asked me to convey to you his wish to change it. Report your decision by morning." Colleagues suggested a way out. Keep the last name as the base, but change the letter “i” to the letter “a”. So Zhidov became Zhadov. A few days later, the general was presented with a resolution from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief: “Very good. I. Stalin."
