Nikolai Nikolayevich Rukavishnikov (Russian:Никола́й Никола́евич Рукави́шников; 18 September 1932 – 19 October 2002[1]) was aSovietcosmonaut who flew threespace missions of theSoyuz programme:Soyuz 10,Soyuz 16, andSoyuz 33. Two of these missions, Soyuz 10 and Soyuz 33, were intended to dock withSalyutspace stations, but failed to do so.
Nikolai Rukavishnikov | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1932-09-18)September 18, 1932 |
| Died | 19 October 2002(2002-10-19) (aged 70) Moscow, Russia |
| Nationality | Soviet |
| Occupation | Physicist |
| Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union (twice) |
| Space career | |
| Cosmonaut | |
Time in space | 9d 21h 09m |
| Selection | Civilian Specialist Group 2 |
| Missions | Soyuz 10,Soyuz 16,Soyuz 33 |
Mission insignia |    |
Biography
editRukavishnikov studied at theMoscow Engineering and Physics Institute and after graduation worked forSergey Korolev's design bureau. He was selected for cosmonaut training in 1967.
Rukavishnikov became the 50th human to fly in space on 23 April 1971, the launch date ofSoyuz 10. The mission, along withVladimir Shatalov andAleksei Yeliseyev, was intended to dock with theSalyut 1 space station. They were unable to dock, and returned to Earth two days later.
He began his second flight,Soyuz 16, on 2 December 1974, withAnatoly Filipchenko. The mission was a test of the Soyuz 7K-TM hardware being used in theApollo–Soyuz Test Project. The mission lasted six days, and was a complete success.
His third flight,Soyuz 33, was anIntercosmos flight to theSalyut 6 space station on 10 April 1979 withBulgarian cosmonautGeorgi Ivanov. On its final approach, the spacecraft's main engine failed, and the docking was aborted. They were able to return to Earth with the backup engine, but an overly-long re-entry burn led to a 10-g ballistic re-entry. The crew was recovered safely.
Rukavishnikov resigned from the space programme in 1987, and returned to work for the same bureau he started with, by then known as Energia.
He died of a heart attack on 19 October 2002.[1]
He was awarded:
- TwiceHero of the Soviet Union
- Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR
- FourOrders of Lenin
- Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic
- Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria
- Order of Sukhbaatar (People's Republic of Mongolia)
- Order of Georgi Dimitrov (People's Republic of Bulgaria)
References
edit
- ^ab"Nikolai Rukavishnikov, Russian Astronaut, Dies at 70".The New York Times. 27 October 2002. Retrieved15 July 2022.
 | This biographicalHero of the Soviet Union article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |