Gennadi Strekalov
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Gennady Mikhailovich Strekalov (; 26 October 1940 – 25 December 2004) was an engineer,
cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
, and administrator at Russian aerospace firm
RSC Energia S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" () is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. Its name is derived from the Russian word for energy and is also named for Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the first chief o ...
. He flew into space five times and lived aboard the
Salyut 6 Salyut 6 () was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth station of the Salyut programme, and alternatively known DOS-5 as it was the fifth of the Durable Orbital Station series of civilian space stations. It was launched on 29 September 19 ...
,
Salyut 7 Salyut 7 (), also known as DOS-6 (Durable Orbital Station 6) was a space station in low Earth orbit from April 1982 to February 1991. It was first crewed in May 1982 with two crew via Soyuz T-5, and last visited in June 1986, by Soyuz T-15. Va ...
, and
Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...
space stations, spending over 268 days in space. The catastrophic explosion of a Soyuz rocket in 1983 led to him being one of only four people to use a
launch escape system A launch escape system (LES) or launch abort system (LAS) is a crew-safety system connected to a space capsule. It is used in the event of a critical emergency to quickly separate the capsule from its launch vehicle in case of an emergency requiri ...
. He was decorated twice as
Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...
and received the
Ashoka Chakra The Ashoka Chakra (Transl: Ashoka's wheel) is an Indian symbol which is a depiction of the dharmachakra (English: "wheel of dharma"). It is so-called because it appears on a number of edicts of Ashoka the Great, most prominent among which is ...
from India.


Personal life

Strekalov was born on 26 October 1940 in
Mytishchi Mytishchi ( rus, Мыти́щи, p=mɨˈtʲiɕːɪ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Mytishchinsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, which lies 19 km northeast of Russia's capital Moscow o ...
near
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, the son of Mikhail Strekalov and his wife Praskoyva. Mikhail Strekalov was killed in 1945 while fighting for the Red Army in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. Gennadi Strekalov graduated from N. E. Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School in 1965 with an
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
's
diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...
. He married Lydia Anatolievna Telezhina; the couple had two daughters, Tatiana and Natalia. He died in Moscow on 25 December 2004, from cancer, aged 64.


Career

After leaving school, Strekalov began work as an apprentice coppersmith at
OKB-1 S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" () is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. Its name is derived from the Russian word for energy and is also named for Sergei Korolev, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, th ...
,
Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...
's experimental design bureau, where he helped to assemble
Sputnik 1 Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program ...
. He left to attend university at N. E. Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School, obtaining a degree in technical science. He then returned to OKB-1 (which was later renamed RSC Energia) and worked there for the rest of his life. As part of an operations group, he participated in mission control for flights of scientific research vehicles belonging to the Academy of Sciences. In January 1974, he began training as a crew member for a
mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...
aboard the
Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraf ...
as a
flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is a member of an aircraft's flight crew who is responsible for monitoring and operating its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referr ...
and, in 1976, was part of the backup crew for the
Soyuz 22 Soyuz 22 (, ''Union 22'') was a September 1976, Soviet crewed spaceflight.The mission report is available here: http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-22.htm It was an Earth sciences mission using a modified Soyuz spacecraft, and was al ...
mission. Starting October 1978, he trained as a flight engineer for Soyuz expeditions to
Salyut The ''Salyut'' programme (, , meaning "salute" or "fireworks") was the first space station programme, undertaken by the Soviet Union. It involved a series of four crewed scientific research space stations and two crewed military reconnaissa ...
-series space stations. His first spaceflight was 27 November to 10 December 1980, as research engineer on Soyuz T-3's mission to the
Salyut 6 Salyut 6 () was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth station of the Salyut programme, and alternatively known DOS-5 as it was the fifth of the Durable Orbital Station series of civilian space stations. It was launched on 29 September 19 ...
station. His next flight was to be new
Salyut 7 Salyut 7 (), also known as DOS-6 (Durable Orbital Station 6) was a space station in low Earth orbit from April 1982 to February 1991. It was first crewed in May 1982 with two crew via Soyuz T-5, and last visited in June 1986, by Soyuz T-15. Va ...
space station. He and Vladimir Titov were the backup crew for the
Soyuz T-5 Soyuz T-5 was a human spaceflight into Earth orbit to the then new Salyut 7 space station in 1982.Aleksandr Serebrov Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Serebrov (, 15 February 1944 – 12 November 2013) was a Soviet cosmonaut. He graduated from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (1967), and was selected as a cosmonaut on 1 December 1978. He retired on 10 May 1995. ...
, launched in April 1983 on Soyuz T-8. As the spacecraft separated from the aerodynamic fairing that shielded it during launch, part of its Igla rendezvous radar system was damaged. The crew attempted a manual docking, using only optical instruments aboard their spacecraft and guided by ground radar, but the approach was unsuccessful and Titov had to brake and dive to avoid a collision. Having used up too much of their propellant to attempt another approach, the crew were forced to return to Earth on 22 April 1983. Strekalov and Titov were again scheduled to fly to Salyut 7 on 26 September 1983. The mission's
Soyuz-U Soyuz-U ( GRAU index: 11A511U) was a Soviet and later Russian expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress factory in Samara, Russia. The ''U'' designation stands for ''unified' ...
launcher developed a serious fuel leak in the minutes before launch, forcing launch control to attempt to fire the
launch escape system A launch escape system (LES) or launch abort system (LAS) is a crew-safety system connected to a space capsule. It is used in the event of a critical emergency to quickly separate the capsule from its launch vehicle in case of an emergency requiri ...
to pull the spacecraft away from the rocket to safety. This initially failed, but finally operated only 20 seconds before the rocket exploded, devastating Baikonur's Site 1 pad. Strekalov and Titov's capsule was dragged (at accelerations of more than 10 G) to safety and landed from the pad, its occupants bruised but otherwise uninjured. Strekalov and Titov's narrow escape was the first ever live use of a launch escape system in the history of human spaceflight. Titov and Strekalov would subsequently celebrate the anniversary of their dramatic escape, calling it their "second birthday". As it did not launch, the mission is known by its technical article designation Soyuz 7K-ST No.16L; it would have been Soyuz T-10, a codename that was instead used the following year. Strekalov's next spaceflight was aboard
Soyuz T-11 Soyuz T-11 was the sixth expedition to the Soviet Salyut 7 space station, which in 1984 carried the first Indian cosmonaut along with Soviet crew members. Salyut 7 was uncrewed after the undocking of Soyuz T-11 in October 1984 until Soyuz T-13 ...
, with Yuri Malyshev and Indian cosmonaut
Rakesh Sharma Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, AC (born 13 January 1949) is an Indian cosmonaut and a former Indian Air Force officer. He flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme. He is the first Indian citizen to ...
. The flight launched from Baikonur's Site 31 on 3 April 1984 and, unlike Strekalov's previous two attempts, successfully docked with Salyut-7. The crew stayed on Salyut-7 until 11 April 1984, and returned to Earth not in the spacecraft in which they had come, but in the reentry module of Soyuz T-10, which was already docked at the space station. From 1 August to 10 December 1990, he was the flight engineer on Soyuz TM-10's flight to
Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...
, with Gennady Manakov and Japanese reporter-cosmonaut
Toyohiro Akiyama is a retired Japanese TV journalist and professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design. In December 1990, he spent seven days aboard the Mir space station. He became the first person of Japanese people, Japanese nationality to fly in space, ...
. At 130 days, this was his longest spaceflight. After this, Strekalov formally retired and became head of the civilian section of the cosmonaut department. But he returned to flight status for the
Shuttle–Mir Program The Shuttle–''Mir'' program () was a collaborative space program between Russia and the United States that involved American Space Shuttles visiting the Russian space station ''Mir'', Russian cosmonauts flying on the Shuttle, and an American ...
and on 14 March 1995 he flew on
Soyuz TM-21 Soyuz TM-21 was a crewed Soyuz (spacecraft), Soyuz spaceflight to ''Mir''. The mission launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket, at 06:11:34 UTC on 14 March 1995. The flight marked the first time thirteen human ...
to the ''
Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...
'' space station, accompanied by Vladimir Dezhurov and American astronaut Norman Thagard. The mission, designated EO-18, was the first non-US launch to carry an American into space. Although successful, Strekalov's time on ''Mir'' was fraught - the crew undertook a number of taxing spacewalks to repair the station, culminating in a dispute when mission controllers ordered an unplanned spacewalk to repair a stuck solar array. Strekalov, believing the proposal to be too dangerous, refused to perform it, and argued with his colleagues on the ground for several days until they acquiesced. On 7 July 1995, the Soyuz TM-21 crew returned to Earth, not on the Soyuz that had brought them, but aboard US Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' (
STS-71 As the third mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, STS-71 became the first Space Shuttle to dock with the Russian space station ''Mir''. STS-71 began on June 27, 1995, with the launch of Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' from launchpad 39A ...
) which had brought their relief. Overall the mission lasted 115 days. Due to Strekalov's refusal, he was fined approximately US$10,000 in pension and benefit entitlements, but he took RSC Energia to arbitration and had the fine overturned. Strekalov continued to work for RSC Energia until his death.


Awards and honors

*
Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...
, twice (10 December 1980, 11 April 1984) *
Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...
, 3rd class (7 September 1995) - for active participation in the preparation and successful implementation of long-term US-Russian space flight on the orbital scientific research complex ''Mir'', displaying courage and heroism * Three
Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...
(10 December 1980, 1983, 11 April 1984) *
Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...
(10 December 1990) - for the successful implementation of spaceflight on the orbital scientific research complex ''Mir'' and displaying courage and heroism *
Medal "Veteran of Labour" The Medal "Veteran of Labour" () was a civilian labour award of the Soviet Union established on January 18, 1974, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to honour workers for many years of hard work in the national economy ...
* Ashoka Chakra, Class I (India, 1984) *
NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronau ...
(1995) * Honoured Master of Sports (1981) * Honorary Citizen of
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
(United States) and Mytischi (Russia) *
Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR The honorary title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR () was a state award of the Soviet Union presented to all cosmonauts who flew for the Soviet Space Agency. Usually accompanying the distinction was the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the hi ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strekalov, Gennady 1940 births 2004 deaths People from Mytishchi Soviet cosmonauts Soviet engineers Bauman Moscow State Technical University alumni Deaths from cancer in Russia Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration) Employees of RSC Energia Space Shuttle program astronauts Ashoka Chakra Salyut program cosmonauts Spacewalkers Mir crew members