Pyotr Ilyich Klimuk (; ; born 10 July 1942) is a former
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 ...
and the first
Belarusian to perform space travel. Klimuk made three
flights into space. From 1991 to 2003, he headed the
Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC; Russian: Центр подготовки космонавтов имени Ю. А. Гагарина) is a Russian training facility responsible for tra ...
.
Life
Klimuk attended the Leninski Komsomol Chernigov High Aviation School and entered the
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 ...
in 1964. The following year, he was selected to join the space programme.
His first flight was a long test flight on
Soyuz 13 in 1973. This was followed by a mission to the
Salyut 4
Salyut 4 (DOS 4) () was a Salyut space station launched on December 26, 1974 into an orbit with an apogee of 355 km, a perigee of 343 km and an orbital inclination of 51.6 degrees. It was essentially a copy of the DOS 3 (or Kosmos 557 ...
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 ...
on
Soyuz 18
Soyuz 18 (, ''Union 18'') was a 1975 Soviet Union, Soviet crewed mission to Salyut 4, the second and final crew to man the space station. Pyotr Klimuk and Vitaly Sevastyanov set a new Soviet space endurance record of 63 days and the mark for ...
in 1975.
From 1976 he became involved in the
Intercosmos
Interkosmos () was a Soviet space program, designed to help the Soviet Union's allies with crewed and uncrewed space missions.
The program was formed in April 1967 in Moscow. All members of the program from USSR were given the Hero of the Sov ...
and made his third and final spaceflight on an Intercosmos flight with Polish cosmonaut
Mirosław Hermaszewski on
Soyuz 30
Soyuz 30 (, ''Union 30'') was a 1978 crewed Soviet space flight to the Salyut 6 space station. It was the sixth mission to and fifth successful docking at the orbiting facility. The Soyuz 30 crew were the first to visit the long-duration Soyuz 2 ...
in 1978.
Biographies of USSR / Russian Cosmonauts: Klimuk
Spacefacts.de. Retrieved on 4 August 2012.
He resigned from the cosmonaut team in 1978 to take up a position as the Assistant to the Chief of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC; Russian: Центр подготовки космонавтов имени Ю. А. Гагарина) is a Russian training facility responsible for trai ...
. In 1991 he was promoted to Chief of that facility and remained in that post until retirement in 2003.
Klimuk is a graduate of the Gagarin Air Force Academy
Gagarin Air Force Academy () is a Russian military aviation academy located in Monino, Moscow Oblast.
The academy prepares high-ranking military personnel for the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Among the academy alumni are around 700 Heroes of th ...
and the Lenin Military-Political Academy
The V. I. Lenin Military-Political Academy (), abbreviated as VPA, was a higher military educational institution of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1919 to 1991 that provided advanced training to political workers.
History
The predecessor of ...
.
He is the author of two books on human spaceflight: ''Beside the Stars'', and ''Attack on Weightlessness''.
Honours and awards
* 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 (1973, 1975)
* 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 ...
* 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 (2 March 2000) – a great service to the state in the development of crewed space flight
**4th class (1996)
* 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 ...
(1973, 1975, 1978)
* , 3rd class (1984)
* Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration"
The Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation aimed at recognising achievements in the space program. It was established by Decree of the President of Russia, presidential decree №1099 of September ...
(12 April 2011) – for the great achievements in the field of research, development and use of outer space, many years of diligent work, public activities
* Order "For Service to Motherland", 2nd class (Belarus, 15 July 2002) – for services to develop and strengthen scientific, technological and military cooperation
* Order of Friendship of Peoples (Belarus)
The Order of Friendship of Peoples () is a state award of the Republic of Belarus. It is the highest award of the Republic of Belarus for foreign citizens.
Statute of the order
The Order of Friendship of Peoples is awarded to citizens:
* for a ...
(16 July 2007) – for his significant contribution to strengthening the friendly relations and cooperation between Belarus and the Russian Federation
* Cross of Grunwald, 1st class (NDP, 1978)
* Order of Parasat (Kazakhstan, 1995)
* Officer of the Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
(France, 2004)
* Medal, "Brotherhood in Arms", twice (Poland)
* Medal "For the strengthening of friendship in Arms", 1st class (Czechoslovakia)
* Medal "100th anniversary of the fall of the Ottoman yoke" (NRB)
* Medal "from the grateful people of Afghanistan" (1988)
* USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...
(1978) – for his work on medical justification and implementation of complex methods and means of preventing the adverse effects of weightlessness on the human body, allowing for the possibility of prolonged crewed space flights
* Lenin Komsomol Prize
Lenin Komsomol Prize () was a Soviet Union, Soviet annual award for the best works in science, engineering, literature or art carried out by young authors of age not exceeding 33 years. Komsomol was the abbreviated name of The Communist Union of ...
(1978) – script for the documentary "Common Space"
* Tsiolkovski Gold Medal
* Gagarin Gold Medal
* Gold Medal from the Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...
* Honorary citizen of the cities of 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 ...
, Gagarin, and Dzhezkasgan
Books
*
The official website of the city administration Baikonur - Honorary citizens of Baikonur
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klimuk, Pyotr Ilyich
1942 births
Living people
People from Brest district
Soviet cosmonauts
1973 in spaceflight
Heroes of the Soviet Union
Soviet Air Force officers
Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 1st class
Officers of the Legion of Honour
Recipients of the USSR State Prize
Recipients of the Lenin Komsomol Prize
Recipients of the Order of Parasat
Recipients of the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration"
Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov
Lenin Military Political Academy alumni
Salyut program cosmonauts
Belarusian cosmonauts