Were there really people in space before Gagarin, and their deaths were hushed up in the USSR?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It is hard to believe that space exploration for the USSR was so successful: the first attempt with human participation - and immediately good luck! During the tense rivalry between the Soviet Union and America, the temptation was too great to pass off wishful thinking in order to maintain the country's prestige. Therefore, among the then dissidents and today's skeptics, there are those who doubt the official version. It is impossible to say with certainty that Gagarin had no predecessors whose life ended tragically in space.

Cosmonaut Bondarenko died in March 1961 while performing

In the early 1990s, when it became possible to work with previously classified archives, they began to study the Soviet space theme, discarding rumors. According to the research results of A. Zheleznyakov and A. Pervushin, only one cosmonaut died before Gagarin's flight.

Due to the fact that all the details about the death of a member of the first cosmonaut corps were classified, many people willingly believed in alternative versions.

In fact, Senior Lieutenant Bondarenko died on Earth, at the Institute of Aviation Medicine. This happened during an experiment simulating space conditions. The atmosphere in the pressure chamber contained an extremely high proportion of oxygen and was also maintained at a high pressure. These characteristics contributed to the rapid spread of fire when the astronaut mistakenly threw cotton wool soaked in alcohol onto a hot electric stove. With this cotton he rubbed his skin, removing medical sensors.

Not only the entire contents of the pressure chamber burned, but even the tester's woolen suit. It was not possible to help Valentin quickly, as opening the doors took time due to the pressure drop. The 24-year-old was taken to hospital with extensive burns, but his life could not be saved.

The inaccessibility of information about this incident was an indirect reason for a similar tragedy for American astronauts in 1967. When preparing the Apollo mission in the space complex. Kennedy during the tests, there was a severe fire that claimed 3 lives. The volume of the safety instructions was prepared in great detail, it contained more than 200 pages. But the risk of fire was not taken into account, this gap became fatal.

Vladimir Ilyushin - cosmonaut, ahead of Gagarin, landed unsuccessfully in China and was captured

In 1961, a sensational article appeared in the American left-wing newspaper Daily Worker that the first flight into space was made not by Gagarin at all, but by V. Ilyushin. And the event took place not on April 12, but five days earlier.

The presentation of false information by the USSR to the world community was explained as follows: Vladimir Ilyushin landed unsuccessfully in China. There, the cosmonaut was held captive, finding out secret information about the achievements of Soviet cosmonautics. Therefore, the public was introduced to Gagarin, who, according to rumors, was not at all the first.

In reality, V. Ilyushin has never been in space, and such prospects did not stand before him. He was a test pilot, and, moreover, a brilliant pilot, a world record holder who deserved many awards. Vladimir's father, Sergei, was a famous aircraft designer, whose name is given to the Il aircraft.

In the air, Vladimir Ilyushin was invulnerable, he did not lose his clarity of thought even in the most difficult situations. But the accident on the ground could not be avoided - it occurred in the summer of 1960, the pilot's health condition seriously deteriorated. He decided to turn to alternative Chinese medicine by going to Hangzhou. This is how the legend appeared that after a difficult landing, V. Ilyushin was kept in poor condition by the Chinese.

Alexey Belokonev suffocated from lack of oxygen

A lot of contradictory information, which was briskly picked up by Western newspapers, came from Italian radio amateurs by the name of Yudica-Cordilla. They reported that they had repeatedly heard signals from space, in which they could distinguish the beating of a human heart, shortness of breath, Morse code, requests for help and just the speech of astronauts communicating with the station. One of the victims of the system, whose death was secretly witnessed by the Italians, was A. Belokonov (there is a variant of the spelling Belokonev). According to several newspapers, including Reader's Digest and Corriere della Sera, the named Soviet cosmonaut suffocated during the flight.

The credibility of this version was added by the fact that the photo of Belokonev, together with colleagues who are preparing for space conditions, were published in the Ogonyok magazine. The training was shown, but the results were not, it means that they hide the failure under the iron curtain, that means the astronauts died - this is how the logical chain of events looked for all Western journalists involved in the space theme.

In fact, a person with this name existed and was associated with astronautics, but did not make a single flight, since he was a test equipment. Moreover, he lived and flourished for almost 30 years after the described tragedy in space, back in the 70s he continued to work at the Institute of Space Medicine. He died in 1991.

Ivan Kachur died in an explosion during a launch in 1960

According to the Reuters agency, Alexey's colleague, Ivan Kachur, also an equipment tester who specialized in high-altitude tests, where he had to breathe oxygen under excessive pressure, was also among the “zero” cosmonauts. Western media claimed that the cosmonaut died during the launch of a ballistic missile in the fall of 1960, in an explosion.

In fact, the launch was actually carried out in September 1960, and indeed it was unsuccessful - an explosion thundered. But there were only 2 dogs on board, they died. And equipment tester Ivan Kachur at that time had already been dismissed from the Soviet army (this event dates back to April 28), returned to the Ukrainian SSR, to his native Ivano-Frankovsk region.

Zavodovsky was carried away in an unknown direction during a space flight

Another test technician, Gennady Zavodovsky, according to the Reuters news agency, got lost in outer space in the 1960s. The reason is the breakdown of the attitude control system of the spacecraft. And instead of approaching the Earth, the ship began to move away.

In fact, the tester Zavodovsky, like his colleagues, did not get into space before Gagarin, and never was there. This man helped in the development of astronautics by passing tests - he specialized in breathing with changes in altitude and pressure. His activity is noted in the Book of Honor of the Probes.

The tester died in 2002, resting at the Rakitki cemetery in the Moscow region.

Astronautics historian A. Peslyak writes that the work of testers on Earth was rather difficult and dangerous. Many soldiers who participated in the development of Soviet cosmonautics sacrificed their health. For 10 years, while the USSR was preparing for the triumphant exploration of space, 20% of the testers were found to be limited fit for further service, and about 16% of the commission did not allow them to work in the conditions of "Earth space" at all. The average life expectancy of the testers did not exceed 50 years.

By the way, from the ISS it was possible to make 15 fantastic images of the planet that you can print and hang in a frame.