Valentin Stepanovich Varlamov (; 15 August 1934 – 2 October 1980) was a Russian jet pilot who was selected for Air Force Group 1, the first intake of 20

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 ...

candidates in 1960. After his disqualification from the space program on medical grounds, he was an instructor at the cosmonaut training centre outside

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 ...

Early life

Varlamov was born on 15 August 1934 in Sukhaya Tereshka in the Talchinska district of the Penza oblast. After

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 ...

, Varlamov's family moved to

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

where Varlamov continued his schooling. Among his classmates was fellow future cosmonaut candidate, Mars Rafikov, who was almost a year older. His family then moved to the Orenburg region where Varlamov completed his schooling. He attended the Air Force introductory school in western Siberia, followed by the Kacha Higher Air Force school and finally the Stalingrad (Volgograd) Military Aviation school where he graduated with a commission as a pilot. He gained his lieutenant's wings in 1955. By 1956, Varlamov was a fighter pilot with the 3rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment which was responsible for the defence of

Orel Orel (meaning ''eagle'' in some Slavic languages; also a common first name in Israel meaning ''Light of God'' in Hebrew) may refer to: People *Orel Hershiser (born 1958), American baseball pitcher * Orel Mangala (born 1998), Belgian footballer ...

. He was made chief pilot in the regiment and promoted to senior lieutenant.

Cosmonaut selection

Varlamov was one of 20 young pilots selected for Air Force Group 1 in April 1960, aged 25.

Training

He began training with Rafikov, Anatoly Kartashov on 28 April 1960 as a military pilot, third class. Varlamov showed great potential as a cosmonaut candidate, being physically fit and highly intelligent. With the completion of the

Vostok Vostok () refers to east in Russian but may also refer to: Spaceflight * Vostok programme, Soviet human spaceflight project * Vostok (spacecraft), a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union * Vostok (rocket family), family of rockets derived ...

simulator, he was selected for a special group of six candidates for accelerated training, along with

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 ...

, Anatoly Kartashov,

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 ...

Pavel Popovich Pavel Romanovich Popovich (; ; 5 October 1930 – 29 September 2009) was a Soviet Union, Soviet cosmonaut. Popovich was the fourth cosmonaut in space, the sixth person in orbit, the eighth person and first Ukrainians, Ukrainian in space. Bio ...

and

Gherman Titov Gherman Stepanovich Titov (; 11 September 1935 – 20 September 2000) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut who, on 6 August 1961, became the second human to orbit the Earth, aboard Vostok 2, preceded by Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1. He was the fou ...

. Known as the "Sochi Six", this group's purpose was to train the best of the existing candidates of TsPK and enable selectors to choose the candidate who would be first in space.

Discharge

In 1960 Varlamov was promoted to captain. While on holiday in June that year with other cosmonaut candidates

Georgy Shonin Georgy Stepanovich Shonin (; 3 August 1935 – 7 April 1997) was a Soviet cosmonaut, who flew on the Soyuz 6 space mission. Shonin was born in Rovenky, Luhansk Oblast, (now Ukraine) but grew up in Balta in the Ukrainian SSR. His family hid a ...

and

Valery Bykovsky Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky (; 2 August 1934 – 27 March 2019) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three space flights: Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, and Soyuz 31. He was also backup for Vostok 3 and Soyuz 37. Early life and career Born in Pavlovs ...

at ''Medvezh'i Ozyora'' (Bear Lakes) near Moscow, Varlamov suffered a neck injury after diving into shallow water. While he recovered from a displaced vertebra, medical officers found further anomalies in his bone structure and he was medically disqualified from the program. He was discharged in 1961 and his place was taken by Bykovsky.

Cosmonaut Training Centre

Despite his discharge Varlamov did not leave the cosmonaut training centre as other unsuccessful candidates had done. He was well regarded by his peers and continued to work in the TsPK in administrative roles until the flight of

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 ...

where he served as "deputy chief of the command point for controlling space flights." In 1963 he became a senior instructor specialising in astronavigation at the cosmonaut training centre. Fellow cosmonaut

noted that despite his removal from the program, "The stars above pulled at him."CNN, "Cold War Experience." interview with Gherman Titov, 1996 He continued to work within various departments of the cosmonaut training centre and was promoted to major in 1964, followed by lieutenant colonel in 1968. He left the TsPK in 1966 and died in 1980 after an accident. He is buried at Leonikha near the TsPK ( Star City).

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Bio at spacefacts.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varlamov, Valentin 1934 births 1980 deaths Soviet cosmonauts Soviet Air Force officers Russian aviators