SERVICE PROFILE FOR COSMONAUT VOLYNOV, APPROVED AND SIGNED BY GENERAL KAMANIN

Description

SERVICE PROFILE FOR COSMONAUT VOLYNOV, APPROVED AND SIGNED BY GENERAL KAMANIN
Original typescript "Service profile for Lieutenant Colonel Boris Valentinovich Volynov, the cosmonaut of the first group of the First Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center", approved and signed by General Kamanin, also signed by cosmonaut Bykovsky and General Kuznetsov. In Russian, on two sheets of paper of A4 format (210x297 mm).
Boris Volynov is the only living member of the original first group of the USSR cosmonauts. Like many other candidates, he was selected for the first cosmonaut group among military pilots. As the first flights into space were associated with great risks, uncertainties and situations requiring quick decisions, the very best pilots were selected for the first cosmonaut team. After completing the training of candidates at the Cosmonaut Training Center, a special state commission headed by Airforce General Nikolai Kamanin was engaged in their final selection for space flights. General Kamanin was the head of cosmonaut training in the Soviet space program. He recruited and trained the first generation of cosmonauts, including Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, Gherman Titov and Alexei Leonov. Kamanin was the Airforce representative to the space program, a proponent of manned orbital flight and Airforce influence over the Space Race. That's why
General Kamanin approved and signed the presented service profile of cosmonaut Boris Volynov
for performing a space flight as the commander of the spacecraft Soyuz-5 (marked as 7K-OK in the document).
Translation
Service profile for Lieutenant Colonel Boris Valentinovich Volynov, the cosmonaut of the 1st group of the First Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
Born in 1943, Russian, member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union since 1958.
Education: general - 10 classes in 1952; military - the Volgograd military aviation school of pilots in 1955, Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy in 1968.
In the Soviet Army since 1952.
Personal number B-904320.
During the period of service in the Soviet Army, he has established himself on the positive side. He was admited to the First Cosmonaut Training Center from the post of a senior pilot of a fighter regiment. He is the military pilot of the 3rd class. He flies competently and confidently. Has a total flight time of 613 hours, of which 408 hours on jet aircraft. He performed 136 parachute jumps of varying difficulty, including the jumps in special equipment of cosmonaut to land and water. During the launches of the Vostok-3, 4, 5 and Voskhod-1 spacecraft, he was appointed as a backup for the crew commander. In May 1965, he was assigned to the direct flight preparation group on the "ZKV #6" spacecraft. He completed the training program in full.
Since May 1967 he has been a member of the group for immediate flight preparation on the "7K-OK" spacecraft. He completed the flight training completely. He acquired stable practical skills in working with spacecraft systems for manual execution of dynamic operations, including approaching and docking of spacecraft.
He mastered the methods of performing scientific experiments and research in accordance with the flight program.
MB No. 1248
He is physically healthy, hardy. By nature, he is calm, sociable. In dealing with comrades, he is polite. He is persistent in achieving the set goal. He takes an active part in public life. He knows the regulations of the Soviet Army and is correctly guided by them.
He is politically developed. He knows how to keep military and state secrets.
CONCLUSION: In terms of the level of training, business and political qualities, as well as the functional capabilities of the body, he is recommended to perform a space flight as the commander of the "7K-OK" spacecraft.
Colonel Bykovsky , Commander of the 1st group of cosmonauts of the First Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center [signature]
September 26, 1968
"Agreed"
Major General of Aviation Kuznetsov, Head of the First Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center [signature]
September 26, 1968
"Approved"
Colonel General of Aviation Kamanin, Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force for the preparation and support of space flights [signature]
September 27, 1968
[There is an accounting information on the back side of the second sheet of paper]
Printed 3 copies
Copies No. 1-3 of the file were performed by Titarev on September 25, 1968
printed by N.V.
MB No. 1248
Cosmonaut Boris Volynov space missions
On January 15, 1969, Boris Volynov crewed the
Soyuz-5
spacecraft together with Alexey Eliseev and Evgeny Hrunov. For the first time ever, one spacecraft Soyuz-5 docked with another spacecraft Soyuz-4, crewed by Vladimir Shatalov. While the two spacecraft were docked for 4 hours and 35 minutes, the cosmonauts Eliseev and Hrunov left Soyuz-5, went into open space and entered Soyuz-4. On January 18, 1969, Boris Volynov returned alone to Earth onboard the Soyuz-5 spacecraft, the other cosmonauts returned onboard Soyuz-4. During Soyuz-5 descent, there was no separation of the instrument module from the lander. For this reason, the descent was ballistic, with g-forces of about 10 g, not sliding, when the g-forces are about three times lower. In addition, due to the attached instrument module, the lander was incorrectly oriented, which led to the abnominal work of its thermal protection. The cosmonaut did not squeeze into the seat, but hung on the straps. The ship spun. The separation of the instrument module occurred later, when the descent module was already burning in the atmosphere. The rotating lander twisted the parachute lines, which could lead to a hard landing. Fortunately the parachute canopy did not collapse. Nevertheless the descent speed was significantly higher than the standard one. That's why Boris Volynov got several serious injuries upon landing, including a fracture of the teeth's roots of the upper jaw. Nevertheless, Volynov and the other three cosmonauts participated in report to the State Commission on the results of the space flight on the next day at 10 o'clock in the morning.
On July 6, 1976, Boris Volynov carried out his second space flight on the
Soyuz-21
spacecraft together with Vitaly Zholobov. This was the first expedition to the Salyut-5 orbital station. The flight lasted 49 days and was interrupted due to the poor health of cosmonaut Zholobov and they boarded their Soyuz on August 24. However, as Volynov tried to undock from Salyut, the latch failed to release properly. As he fired the jets to move the spacecraft away, the docking mechanism jammed, resulting in the Soyuz being undocked but still linked to Salyut. As the two spacecraft moved out of range of ground communications, only the first set of emergency procedures was received. Volynov tried a second time to undock but managed only to slightly loosen the latches. This situation persisted for an entire orbit (90 minutes), then the final set of emergency procedures were received and the latches finally disengaged. Because Soyuz 21 was returning early, it was outside the normal recovery window, and encountered strong winds as it descended, which caused uneven firing of the retrorockets. It made a hard landing around midnight 200 km southwest of Kokchetav, Kazakhstan. Zholobov's illness was apparently caused by nitric acid fumes leaking from the Salyut's propellant tanks. However, other reports indicate that the crew failed to properly follow their physical exercise program and suffered from lack of sleep.
CONDITION
Handsigned typescript, not a carbon copy. Well readable despite its age. The binder holes are torn. The paper leaves are not jammed either folded.
Unique collectible from the early Soviet space program signed by cosmonaut's trainer!
More unique Soviet space memorabilia collectibles are available!