April 21, 2013
Categories: History, Roscosmos, Russia, Soyuz

Birthday of cosmonaut Georgi Beregovoy was celebrated in Donetsk lands. He was the only person in the Russian space team who came there as a battle-front veteran. Twice a Hero of the Soviet Union, ground-attack aviation pilot, Beregovoy got his first Gold Star at the times of war. The second star was given for teaching “Soyuz” spacecraft how to fly.

Enakievo is a heart of Donbass. Cozy and clean, despite it’s a city of coal-miners and metal-makers. But with a rough mining temper. And nevertheless local streets and houses are saturated by not coal dust, but space.
“As Frederick Schiller said: space  – is a thought of God, and soviet people challenged that and tried to riddle this puzzle”, – Enakievo-city major Valery Oleynik said.
On April 15 the city celebrated a birthday of a person who was born and grew up here, cosmonaut Georgi Beregovoy. Exactly this guy made a revolution in soviet cosmonautics, entered the history of manned space flights as # 12.
“He started from that plane in the flying club, and then as a cadet passed through the school of pilots named by proletariat of Donbass”, – the son of cosmonaut Georgi Beregovoy, Victor says.
They called him “King of nose-dive”. Almost 200 battle flights, every time he was within a hair’s breadth of death. In 1944 – rank of Hero of the Soviet Union, after war – experience of test pilot. At the age of 40 he realized that the sky is too tight for him. But the limit age for selection to cosmonauts team was 30. And nevertheless he decided to apply, secretly.
“For many years I work as test pilot. Testing of new equipment is a natural desire of a test pilot”, – Georgi Beregovoy (archive).
AT the age of 47 Beregovoy flew in space. After several failures of the new “Soyuz” spacecrafts.
“The flight was not easy. Even the training process was not usual. At the beginning of 1968 we lost Gagarin, which definitely affected the flight. For the first time docking was planned for the night time”, – Official secretary-deputy chief of Federal Space Agency Vitali Davydov says.
Bless his flight, “Soyuz” spacecrafts became the main “workhorse” of cosmonautics. And Georgi Beregovoy became a national hero. But his soul and his heart remained in the native town.
“Thanks to him, new schools were opened, some of them followed the Cuban project, thanks to him we opened new children’s gardens”, – Valery Oleynik explains.
Everybody speaks about space here science the children’s garden, and every kid knows that he has to go for stars. But each person has his own stars. Older people often come here to the museum of their famous fellow-townman.
“Georgu Timofeevich presented us a unique collection. Without him we wouldn’t have “Yastreb SK-2” spacesuits, descent modules”, – the head of museum named after Beregovoy Irina Zaria says.
In schools of Enakievo by the birthday of cosmonaut they prepare space lessons – make various exhibitions, compose songs, watch specific movies.
“To foster a good spirit of a kid he needs a star to steer by”, – headmaster of IT college Olga Degtyareva explains.
That’s amazing that kids do, think and try to be like their hero not because somebody advise them, but because it is assumed to be like that.
“Donbass is a multinational region, may be that’s the main reason the most strong, smart and brave people are born here because of allegation of blood and cultures”, – Valery Oleynik explains.
Half a year later, on October 26, to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Beregovoy’s flight Enakievo-city is going to make a great festival. And now it’s just a warm up before the take-off roll…to reach stars.
  Based on materials of  Roscosmos TV

More from this category:
January 30, 2019

On January 28, the RD-180 rocket engine was successfully tested in the Scientific Testing Complex of NPO “Energomash” JSC. According to Andrei Ushkov, the chief…

full story
July 5, 2013

Multipurpose Laboratory module (MLM)  launch to ISS will not be postponed despite Proton Crash on Tuesday, – Roscosmos Head Vladimir Popovkin told the journalists. As…

full story
July 2, 2014

The reason of Angara booster first test launch from Plesetsk spaceport shift was the leak of oxidizer line pressurization valve venting, – the spokesman for…

full story
July 12, 2013

As GCTC press office reports Russian crew members of 38/ 39 ISS mission Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin who is…

full story
July 8, 2024

Testing of RD-191M finalisation engines has been successfully completed at NPO Energomash’s research and test facility. The single-chamber liquid-propellant engine is designed for the Angara-A5M…

full story
One of the dishes of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP)
June 10, 2024

A radio telescope (ASCAP) in Australia has received strange radio signals emitted by the neutron star ASKAP J1935+2148. This star is located in the plane…

full story
November 27, 2013

Humanlike robot designed for spacewalks will be demonstrated to the specialists and journalists in Star City on November 27,  GCTC representative reported. The robot is…

full story
June 9, 2014

Test cosmonaut candidates (general space training group of 2012 admission)  and test cosmonaut candidates started preflight trainings in GCTC following the results of the first…

full story