Stepikin Sergey Ivanovich Biography

Yuri Gagarin in the front row of the second musicians on the right is a trumpeter in an amateur orchestra of a craft school in the city of Lyubertsy near Moscow. Gagarin is a cadet of the Saratov Aviation School during independent training flights. In the first hours after landing. Joyful meetings on Saratov land. After returning from space, a meeting with Titov, the future Cosmonaut-2.

This year, the world celebrates the twenty -five of the first flight of a person into space, an outstanding event, which we rightfully call the beginning of the cosmic era in the life of human civilization. Since that time, the scale of manned space flights quickly expanded, and today almost two hundred people have already visited space. But in history, the day of April 12 will remain forever, when the young pilot, communist Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was the first to step into the open spaces of the universe, demonstrating his skill and courage, showing the whole world what heights were reached by Soviet science and technology.

Nowadays, with a rather distant distance of the first twenty -five years, with particular interest, the memories of those who were personally involved in the first exit of a person in unknown cosmos are read. In this collection, the memories of those who participated in the preparation of the first astronaut are published, who sent him on a space flight and met after returning to Earth.

The selection used the memoirs that the journalist, former military pilot Colonel N. Varvarov, as well as materials previously published in the press, collected and recorded. Doctor of Medical Sciences N. was instructed to head the selection department of astronauts and organize this work. In the process of selection, many medical books were viewed in the units, but only with part of the pilots preliminary medical examinations and individual conversations were conducted.

They were offered to actually start a new life path - flights on new equipment, and more specifically, on spaceships. They had to give their consent right there, in the process of conversation or immediately after it. Moreover, they should not consult with anyone and not postpone the decision of the next day. This was justified, as it characterized the human psyche, the ability to make an independent decision, which was very significant for future astronauts.

Most pilots agreed immediately. For a more in-depth medical examination, a person was sent to the Central Research Aviation Hospital, of which only 20 people successfully went all the way, all the stages of very careful medical selection. How to explain such a large screening of fighter pilots, like young people? The fact is that we selected people not just healthy, but those who have reserve opportunities for transferring various loads are quite high.

To the general requirements that were presented to the candidates, Korolev added a number of his personal, as he said, “technical parameters”. To them, he attributed curiosity, hard work, a pronounced desire to voluntarily devote himself to astronautics. He asked for the year in the summer of the year to take away young people not older than years and not to invite people of tall and large growth to centimeters, weight to kilograms.

First Head of the Cosmonauts Training Center, Candidate of Medical Sciences E. Some people think that Gagarin flew first because he was brilliant, he went through all the tests best. I must say that in medical indicators he did not differ from other astronauts, but in terms of all reactions to the samples, by the ability to analyze and describe the phenomena that he had to face, to contact in the process of training, he stood out abruptly among others.

Before starting my studies on March 7, N. Kamanin and I presented the formed group of candidates for the cosmonauts to the Commander -in -Chief of the Air Force, the chief marshal of aviation K. Konstantin Andreevich talked with each pilot, warned that the training program developed by the Academy of Sciences is very difficult, classes would be difficult to discipline.

The pilots assured the main marshal of aviation that they will justify trust. The astronauts had to study the theory of space flight, the foundations of celestial mechanics, missile and space technology, the design and structure of the Vostok spacecraft and its various systems - life support, orientation, management, etc. To study the basics of space medicine, astronomy and geophysics.

Work out for many hours in special simulators. Go through the heat of thermal tests in the thermal chamber, to know the loneliness and the absolute silence of the cheaplear, to test the pressure drops in the barorammer, shaking the trembling of vibration centers and the frantic carousel of the centrifuge - the "damn mill", as the astronauts christened it. Perform a lot of flights to weightlessness and parachute jumping day and night, in any weather conditions, for arable land, on ice platforms and sea swell.

Pass special training for survival in the conditions of taiga and deserts. Korolev, in order to introduce them to the Vostok spacecraft.In his manner, Korolev gave the guests a hand, while his handshake was very tangible. Young officers were presented alternately. Peering into the face of everyone, Sergei Pavlovich repeated his last name, name and patronymic and added: “We will be very happy.

We are familiar with. He carefully peered into their faces, as if studying, wanted to understand for himself: are those who he needed. In age and position, the senior of them was a thirty -fifty squadron commander Pavel Belyaev. Two years younger than him-captain Vladimir Komarov. His peer captain Pavel Popovich had the most solid flight training - he flew on the fighter of a moment other comrades - on the fighters of the moment and the instant of the senior lieutenants Valery Bykovsky, Yuri Gagarin and Lieutenant Alexei Leonov walked for the twenty -sixth year, the senior lieutenant German Titov - twenty -fifth.

At the age of twenty -five to thirty years there were other candidates. They were burning with the desire to do a new, truly unprecedented business. With a few playful phrases, discharging the natural tension of his guests, the chief designer spoke about the spacecraft and how it is planned to carry out the first person’s flight in the history of the earth's atmosphere. But one of you will fly.

On the go, the scientist began to explain: - I want you to immediately learn the truth. Your car was created not only by us. And it takes the beginning in many other places. We, in fact, have the simplest thing. Our mixers work, and we only collect. The astronauts immediately met their future teachers and headed for the ship itself. He stood on a small elevation and cast a novelty metal.

According to the sign of Sergei Pavlovich, a powerful crane slipped silently under the glass roof of the workshop - and a few minutes later the pilot’s chair was installed in the cabin of the spacecraft. A folding young man with a dazzling smile stepped forward. Everyone watched with interest how Gagarin quickly sat on a tarpaulin spread nearby, took off his shoes and cleverly climbed the step -on -line to the entrance hatch of the ship.

Grabbing the bracket and easily pulled up in his arms, Gagarin put his body on the hatch in a might and ended up in the pilot’s chair. It was evident in all - he is an athlete. Following him, the senior lieutenant Titov rose to the entrance hatch. The Soviet government approved the "Regulation on the Cosmonauts of the USSR", legitimizing a new profession, giving it the rights of citizenship.

They usually ask: why was Gagarin proposed for the first flight? After all, others could be proposed equally? Five more people were ready! The question is, of course, legal. For the first flight, a man was needed, in the personality of which the maximum number of the most positive qualities would openly show: selfless patriotism and adamant faith in the success of the flight, excellent health, flexibility and curiosity, courage, determination and inexhaustible optimism, accuracy, hard work, exposure, simplicity, modesty, including personal charm and ability to maintain these qualities in any conditions, especially in any conditions, especially in any conditions, especially in any conditions, especially In post -flight fame.

It was clear with the naked eye that Gagarin was just such a person. We were all extremely glad that we were not mistaken in our choice. The test pilot S. has long existed testers of aircraft. They help specialists of aviation and space medicine conduct research related to the performance of a person of functional duties on board the aircraft, by studying his survival when it enters extreme conditions caused, for example, by the refusal of technology.

As you know, the return of the astronaut to Earth is one of the most complex and responsible operations. The main difficulty is that the Vostok ship brought to orbit has a huge energy calculated by tens of thousands of million kilogramometers. This energy must be fully extinguished in the process of reduction. But in order for the ship to get off the orbit, it must first be inhibited using the rocket of the rocket engine.

But, let's say that for some reason the brake engine did not turn on, refused. What then? Should the astronaut stay in space forever? In case of refusal of the brake installation, the Vostok ship will still return to the ground. Its design and a given flight height allow the ground to carry out the ground due to natural inhibition in the upper atmosphere.

But for this, Gagarin will have to stay in space not for minutes, but about 10 days. Therefore, the reserves of food, water, regeneration substances, the capacity of power sources are designed for a flight of up to ten days. Now even many -month flights are the most common phenomenon. And then the question was sharply on the agenda: can a person in an artificial climate alone, in short, being as if in a real flight excluding only weightlessness, withstand a long cycle of life?

I had to answer this question. They also experienced me with a "margin". You can’t tell all the difficulties of “flight” - a long story.I will only mention that on the first day, the temperature was increased in the ship to forty degrees. It’s scary, the sensors glued to the body crushed, I didn’t want to eat.

Then the temperature was changed - it became cold. And even heavier is unforeseen all sorts of situations. For ten days of "flight" I lost twelve kilograms.