Pavel Romanovich Popovich (; ; 5 October 1930 – 29 September 2009) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 ...

. Popovich was the fourth cosmonaut in space, the sixth person in

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

, the eighth person and first Ukrainian in space.

Biography

Popovich was born in Uzyn,

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

to Roman Porfirievich Popovich (a fireman in a sugar factory) and Theodosia Kasyanovna Semyonova. He had two sisters (one older, one younger) and two brothers (both younger). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Germans occupied Uzyn and burned documents, including Popovich's

birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the Childbirth, birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation ...

. After the war, these were restored through witness testimony, and although his mother said that Popovich was born in 1929, two witnesses insisted it was in 1930, which thus became the official year of his birth. In 1947, Popovich left

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( ; , ) is a city in central Ukraine. It is situated on the Ros (river), Ros River in the historical region of right-bank Ukraine. It is the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (which does not include the city of Kyiv) and serves as the ...

with qualifications as a carpenter. In 1951, Popovich graduated as a construction engineer from a technical school in

Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk ( rus, Магнитого́рск, p=məɡnʲɪtɐˈɡorsk, ) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population is curre ...

, as well as receiving a pilot's degree. In 1954, Popovich joined the Young Communist League. He married Marina Popovich, a retired

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

. They had two daughters but later divorced, and Popovich married Alevtina Oshegova. Popovich was a keen

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

: :"Service in the Air Force made us strong, both physically and morally. All of us cosmonauts took up sports and PT seriously when we served in the Air Force. I know that

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

was fond of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

. He liked to play goal keeper. Gherman Titov was a

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

enthusiast,

Andriyan Nikolayev Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev ( Chuvash and ; 5 September 1929 – 3 July 2004) was a Soviet cosmonaut. In 1962, aboard Vostok 3, he became the third Soviet cosmonaut to fly into space. Nikolayev was an ethnic Chuvash and because of it con ...

liked

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

, Pavel Popovich went in for weight lifting. I don't think I am wrong when I say that sports became a fixture in the life of the cosmonauts." Following his military and space service (see below), he was a member of the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

of the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

6th–11th convocations. After his retirement in 1993, Popovich lived in

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 ...

. Popovich died in a hospital in

Gurzuf Gurzuf or Hurzuf (, , , ) is a resort town (urban-type settlement) in Yalta Municipality of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine but incorporated by Russia as the Republic of Cri ...

where he was taken following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on 29 September 2009, six days before his 79th birthday.

Brain hemorrhage The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

was cited as the cause of death. He was buried in Moscow.

Military

In 1952, Popovich graduated from a course at the Stalingrad Military Aviation School near

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

. He then went on to train at the Military Officers of the Air Force Aviation Training School in

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

, until 1954, when he joined the Soviet Air Force.

Service

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted Aircraft types flown: * Yakovlev Yak-11 * Yakovlev Yak-18 * Lavochkin La-9 *

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate s ...

Training

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted

Promotions

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted

Cosmonaut

In 1960, he was selected as one of the first group of twenty air force pilots that would train as the first cosmonauts for the

Soviet space program The Soviet space program () was the state space program of the Soviet Union, active from 1951 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Contrary to its competitors (NASA in the United States, the European Space Agency in Western Euro ...

. The training took place between March 1960 and January 1961, and Popovich passed his final exams in Cosmonaut Basic Training on 17/18 January 1961. He was appointed as an astronaut on 25 January 1961. He was considered a strong candidate for the first spaceflight – but while

was ultimately chosen for the

Vostok 1 Vostok 1 (, ) was the first spaceflight of the Vostok programme and the first human spaceflight, human orbital spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA space capsule was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 12 April 1961, with Soviet astronaut, c ...

flight, Popovich served as the flight's

capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

. From May to August 1961, he trained to fly on spacecraft "Vostok-2" in a group of astronauts, followed (between September and November 1961) with training to fly "Vostok-3". This flight was cancelled. Between November 1961 and May 1962, he trained as a pilot for "Vostok-4". Between June and August of that year, he received further training in the maintenance of this spacecraft. Ppopovic-2

He commanded the

space flight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such a ...

Vostok 4 Vostok 3 () and Vostok 4 (, 'Orient 4' or 'East 4') were Soviet space program flights in August 1962, intended to determine the Effect of spaceflight on the human body, ability of the human body to function in conditions of weightlessness, test ...

(') in 1962 which, along with

Andrian Nikolayev Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev ( Chuvash and ; 5 September 1929 – 3 July 2004) was a Soviet cosmonaut. In 1962, aboard Vostok 3, he became the third Soviet cosmonaut to fly into space. Nikolayev was an ethnic Chuvash and because of it con ...

on Vostok 3, was the first time that more than one crewed spacecraft were in orbit at the same time. His call sign for this flight was ''

Golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

()''. In January 1964, he became a cosmonaut instructor, becoming deputy commander to the 2nd group of cosmonauts. Popovich was selected to command one of the Soviet Union's planned Moon landings, and trained for this between 1966 and 1968, when the Soviet Moon landing plans were scrapped. In 1968, he was selected as commander for

Soyuz 2 Soyuz 2 (, Union 2) was an uncrewed spacecraft (capsule number 7K-OK-P No. 11)Soyuz-2 co ...

, but after the death of

Vladimir Komarov Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov (, ; 16 March 1927 – 24 April 1967) was a Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut. In October 1964, he commanded Voskhod 1, the first spaceflight to carry more than one crew member. He became the f ...

during the reentry of Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2 was launched without a crew. In 1969 he was a senior cosmonaut instructor, and became (by 1972) the Chief of cosmonaut training. In 1974, he commanded his second (and final) space flight Soyuz 14 (') in 1974. Again, his call sign for this flight was ''

()''. This flight was the first to the

Salyut 3 Salyut 3 (, also known as OPS-2 or Almaz 2Portree (1995).) was a Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental coun ...

space station A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...

. In 1977, he received a post-graduate degree in technical sciences. In March 1978, he was on duty in the Flight Control Center for Vladimír Remek's flight aboard Soyuz 28. From 1978 he was the deputy chief of the Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center responsible for research and testing work. From 1980 to 1989, he was Deputy chief of the Cosmonaut Training Center. In January 1982, he was removed from the list of active cosmonauts, so that he could serve as Deputy Chief for Scientific Testing and Research at the Center.

Sociopolitical life

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted * From 1992: Chairman of the Boxing Federation of Russia. * From 1994: President of the ''Yuri Gagarin Foundation''; President of the Social Support for Veterans of the Armed Forces of the Union * From 1996: Member of the Editorial Board of ''Space News'' * From 1998: Member of the Editorial Board of the All-Russia scientific and technical magazine ''Flight'' * From 1999: President of the Ukrainian Union of Cosmonauts * Member of the Writers' Union of Russia. * President of the Association of Space Museums of Russia (AMKOS) * Honorary President of the International Association of Veterans of Physical Education and Sport (MAFIS) * Honorary Chairman of the Society of Ukrainian Culture (''Slavutich'')

Awards and honors

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted Notes: : ^a For setting records in space flight : ^b Medal number 11117 : ^c For services to the state, many years of fruitful work in the field of culture and art (as President of the Association of Space Museums) (Presidential Decree No. 512 of April 9, 1996) : ^d For services to the state and long-term fruitful work (Presidential Decree No. 1724 on October 6, 2000) : ^e For significant personal contribution to the development and strengthening of Ukrainian-Russian relations, promoting the rise of the authority of the Ukrainian state in the world (Presidential Decree No. 1682/2005 dated December 1, 2005)

Other honours

He received

honorary citizenship Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of several cities: * In Russia:

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

^a, Kovrov,

(1965),

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (, , ) is a city and the administrative center of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. It is located on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East, north of Japan. Gas and oil extraction as well as processing are amongst the main industries on ...

* In Ukraine:

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

and

* In

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Targovishte Targovishte (, also transliteration, transliterated ''Tǎrgovište'', , ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in Bulgaria, the administrative and economic capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the l ...

* In

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

: Guriev Notes: : ^a Popovich is the only person to have received the honorary citizenship of Kaluga twice. The first time was in August 1962 (Decision 597 of the Executive Committee of Kaluga City Council of Workers' Deputies), and the second time was in April 1964 (Decision 237 of the Executive Committee of Kaluga City Council of Workers' Deputies). A bronze sculpture to Popovich was established in Uzyn. The name of Pavel Popovich was given to a mountain ridge in Antarctica and to the Mars-crossing asteroid 8444 Popovich. In 1991, he became director of the Institute Rossiyskogo for Monitoring of Land and Ecosystems, then worked as chairman of the board of directors of the All-Russia Institute of Aero-Photo-Geodesic Studies (VISKhAGI), dealing with the compilation of a land inventory of Russia using images from space. He had also been the chairman of

Ukrainian diaspora The Ukrainian diaspora comprises Ukrainians and their descendants who live outside Ukraine around the world, especially those who maintain some kind of connection to the land of their ancestors and maintain their feeling of Ukrainian national ide ...

organisation in Russia. He was awarded a Gold Tsiolkovsky Medal by the

Academy of Sciences of the USSR The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (u ...

and a De La Vaux Medal from the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The World Air Sports Federation (; FAI) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains worl ...

. In Ukraine there was a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the birth of the first Ukrainian astronaut, twice the Hero of the Soviet Union P.P. Popovich. File:1974 CPA 4402.jpg, Postage stamp (Soviet Union): Pavel Popovich and Yury Artyukhin – ''Soyuz 14'' Mission File:Stamp 2012 Popovych (1).jpg, 2012 stamp of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Ufology

In 1984 Popovich joined the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

' newly created All-Union Investigation Committee for Anomalous Aerial Phenomena and became head of the Academy's UFO Commission. In the 2002 SciFi Channel documentary '' Out of the Blue'', Popovich relays a sighting of a UFO next to the airplane he was travelling aboard as he was returning home from Washington, D.C., with a delegation of scientists. The UFO was seen by everyone on board the plane. It was perfect triangle shaped and emitted a very bright, white light at a distance of about and an altitude about above the airplane. The object had an estimated speed of travelling parallel to the airplane and passed and overtook the plane in about 30 to 40 seconds. Popovich was the president of the UFO association of Russia.

Bibliography

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted

Books

* "I Flew in the Morning" (1974) * "Space Humanity" (1981) * "Tested in Space and on Earth" (1982) * "The endless roads of the Universe" (1985) * "Robinson of the Universe" (1986)

Works in Collections

* "Space – My Job" * "High Orbit" * "Star" * "Conquest of Infinity" * "... 3, 2, 1!"

Essays

* "Secrets of the Galaxy" * "Mysteries of the Eternal Cosmos" * "Forward – to the Sources of the Past"

References

External links

*
Peoples History – from "Советские космонавты" (Soviet Cosmonauts)
*
Медицинская Газета (Medical Newspaper) Interview with Popovich
*

*
Novye Izvestiya Obituary – includes extracts from Popovich's logbookThe official website of the city administration Baikonur - Honorary citizens of Baikonur
*http://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2012/08/15/91709/ *http://www.tvroscosmos.ru/4193/ *https://twitter.com/search?q=Pavel%20Popovich&src=typd *http://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/blog-history-40900761 {{DEFAULTSORT:Popovich, Pavel Romanovich 1930 births 2009 deaths Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery People from Uzyn 1962 in spaceflight Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet cosmonauts Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 4th class Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Seventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Ninth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Tenth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Eleventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet Air Force generals Soviet major generals Ukrainian cosmonauts Vostok program cosmonauts Astronaut-politicians Salyut program cosmonauts Kacha Military Aviation School alumni

Biography

Military

Service

Training

Promotions

Cosmonaut

Sociopolitical life

Awards and honors

Other honours

Ufology

Bibliography

Books

Works in Collections

Essays

References

Further reading

External links