Marina Lavrentievna Popovich (née Vasiliyeva; 30 July 1931 – 30 November 2017) was a
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
colonel, engineer, and decorated Soviet
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 Testing ...
. In 1964, she became the third woman and the first Soviet woman to break the
sound barrier
The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...
.
Known as "Madame MiG", for her work in the Soviet fighter, she set more than one hundred aviation world records on over 40 types of aircraft over her career.
Biography
Marina Vasilieva was born on 30 July 1931 in the
Velizhsky District
Velizhsky District (russian: Ве́лижский райо́н) is an administrativeResolution #261 and municipalLaw #88-z district (raion), one of the twenty-five in Smolensk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the northwest of the oblast and borders ...
of
Smolensk Oblast
Smolensk Oblast (russian: Смоле́нская о́бласть, ''Smolenskaya oblast''; informal name — ''Smolenschina'' (russian: Смоле́нщина)) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the city of ...
, but evacuated with her family to
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
She began learning to fly as a child but, following the war, the Soviet Union barred women from serving as military pilots. At the age of 16, presenting herself as 22 years old, she wrote to Soviet Marshal
Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (, uk, Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, ''Klyment Okhrimovyč Vorošylov''), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (russian: link=no, Клим Вороши́лов, ''Klim Vorošilov''; 4 Februa ...
asking to be admitted to a flying school. Voroshilov intervened on her behalf and she was admitted to the Novosibirsk Aviation Technicum where she graduated in 1951.
Initially, she worked as an engineer, then later as a flying instructor. In 1962, she entered into the first group of women that would train to become cosmonauts in the Soviet space program. After two months of training, she was turned away from the program.
Her husband,
Pavel Popovich
Pavel Romanovich Popovich (russian: Па́вел Рома́нович Попо́вич, uk, Павло Романович Попович, Pavlo Romanovych Popovych) (5 October 1930 – 29 September 2009) was a Soviet cosmonaut.
Popovich was the ...
, was admitted to the program, becoming the eighth person in space aboard
Vostok 4
Vostok 3 (russian: Восток-3, lit=Orient 3' or 'East 3) and Vostok 4 (, 'Orient 4' or 'East 4') were Soviet space program flights in August 1962, intended to determine the ability of the human body to function in conditions of weightlessne ...
in 1962.
She became a
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
pilot in 1963, and in 1964 was admitted as a military test-pilot. Later that year (June 10), she broke the sound barrier in a
MiG 21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...
. She entered the military reserves in 1978 and then joined the
Antonov Design Bureau
Antonov State Enterprise ( uk, Державне підприємство «Антонов»), formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov (Antonov ASTC) ( uk, Авіаційний науково-технічни ...
as a test pilot. At Antonov, she set ten flight records on the
Antonov An-22
The Antonov An-22 "Antei" (, ''An-22 Antej''; English ''Antaeus'') (NATO reporting name "Cock") is a heavy military transport aircraft designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Powered by four turboprop engines each driving a pa ...
turboprop. She retired in 1984.
She authored nine books and two screenplays. A star in the
Cancer constellation bears her name.
Marina Popovich, a Russian Writers' Union member, authored nine books, including the poetry collection ''Zhizn – vechny vzlyot'' (Life's An Eternal Rise, 1972).
She was a co-author of two film scripts, ''Nebo So Mnoy'' (Sky Is With Me, 1974)
Nebo So Mnoy
at kinofilms.tv and ''Buket Fialok'' (Bouquet of Violets, 1983).
Popovich died on November 30, 2017. She was buried with military honors
A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...
at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery
The Federal Military Memorial Cemetery (Russian: Федеральное военное мемориальное кладбище) is a national cemetery of Russia, located in Mytishchinsky District, Moscow Oblast, on the north-eastern outskirts o ...
.
Claims about UFOs
Marina Popovich spoke about her experience with UFOs in her book titled ''UFO Glasnost'' (published in 1991 in Germany) and in public lectures and interviews. She claimed that the Soviet military and civilian pilots had confirmed 3000 UFO sightings and that the Soviet Air Force and KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
had recovered fragments of five crashed UFOs. The crash sites were Tunguska (1908), Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...
, Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, Ordzhonikidze and Dalnegorsk (1986).
Private life
Marina Popovich's first husband was Pavel Popovich
Pavel Romanovich Popovich (russian: Па́вел Рома́нович Попо́вич, uk, Павло Романович Попович, Pavlo Romanovych Popovych) (5 October 1930 – 29 September 2009) was a Soviet cosmonaut.
Popovich was the ...
, a former Soviet cosmonaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
, with whom she had two daughters, Natalya (b. 1956) and Oksana (b. 1968), both graduates. She had two granddaughters, Tatyana and Alexandra, and grandson Michael, the latter born in England. Her second husband was Boris Alexandrovich Zhikhorev, a retired Russian Airforce Major general, Deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Union of the Soviet Officers.[Kolysko, Tatyana]
A Star Named Marina
/ Звезда по имени Марина. Gudok, No. 194, 2003.
Awards and honors
* Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...
* Order of the Badge of Honour
The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union.
It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...
* Honoured Master of Sports
* FAI Gold Air Medal The FAI Gold Air Medal was established in 1924 by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and was first awarded in 1925. This award and the Paul Tissandier, Paul Tissander Diploma are the FAI's two highest awards. It is reserved for those who ...
See also
* Nina Rusakova
Nina Ivanovna Rusakova (; – 12 November 1997) was one of the first female test pilots and the only woman awarded the title Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR.
Early life
Rusakova was born on in the village of Saguny in Voronezh Region, then ...
* Olga Yamshchikova
Olga Nikolaevna Yamshchikova (russian: Ольга Николаевна Ямщикова; 1914–1982) was Soviet fighter pilot squadron commander during World War II who became a test pilot after the war; she has been credited with as many as thr ...
* Jacqueline Cochran
Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...
References
External links
Records at fai.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovich, Marina
1931 births
2017 deaths
People from Smolensk Oblast
Soviet Air Force officers
Soviet test pilots
UFO writers
Russian women
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner
Recipients of the Order of Courage
Women in the Russian and Soviet military
Burials at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery
Soviet aviation record holders
Soviet women aviation record holders
Women air force personnel of the Soviet Union