Pavel Romanovich Popovich (russian: Па́вел Рома́нович Попо́вич, uk, Павло Романович Попович, Pavlo Romanovych Popovych) (5 October 1930 – 29 September 2009) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

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 ...

. Popovich was the fourth cosmonaut in space, the sixth person in

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as ...

, the eighth person and first Ukrainian in space.

Biography

Popovich was born in

Uzyn Uzyn () is a city in Bila Tserkva Raion of Kyiv Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Uzyn urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The city and covers an area of . Population: . The largest industrial or ...

, Kyiv Oblast,

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

to Roman Porfirievich Popovich (a firefighter in a sugar factory) and Theodosia Kasyanovna Semyonova. He had two sisters (one older, one younger) and two brothers (both younger). 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 opposing ...

, the Germans occupied Uzyn and burned documents, including Popovich's

birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensui ...

. After the war, these were restored through witness testimony, and although his mother said that Popovich was born in 1929, two witnesses insisted it was in 1930, which thus became the official year of his birth. In 1947, Popovich left

vocational school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the task ...

in Bila Tserkva with qualifications as a carpenter. In 1951, Popovich graduated as a construction engineer from a technical school in

Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk ( rus, Магнитого́рск, p=məɡnʲɪtɐˈɡorsk, ) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population ...

, as well as receiving a pilot's degree. In 1954, Popovich joined the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

. He married

Marina Popovich Marina Lavrentievna Popovich (née Vasiliyeva; 30 July 1931 – 30 November 2017) was a Soviet Air Force colonel, engineer, and decorated Soviet test pilot. In 1964, she became the third woman and the first Soviet woman to break the sound barrier. ...

, a retired

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 Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and

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 Testin ...

. They had two daughters but later divorced, and Popovich married Alevtina Oshegova. Popovich was a keen

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lif ...

: :"Service in the Air Force made us strong, both physically and morally. All of us cosmonauts took up sports and PT seriously when we served in the Air Force. I know that

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 became the first human to journey into outer space. T ...

was fond of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

. He liked to play goal keeper.

Gherman Titov Gherman Stepanovich Titov (russian: Герман Степанович Титов; 11 September 1935 – 20 September 2000) was a Soviet cosmonaut who, on 6 August 1961, became the second human to orbit the Earth, aboard Vostok 2, preceded by Y ...

was a

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

enthusiast, Andriyan Nikolayev liked

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

, Pavel Popovich went in for weight lifting. I don't think I am wrong when I say that sports became a fixture in the life of the cosmonauts." He was also a member of the Supreme Soviet of the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

6th–11th convocations. After his retirement in 1993, Popovich lived in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. Popovich died in a hospital in

Gurzuf Gurzuf or Hurzuf ( uk, link=no, Гурзуф, russian: Гурзу́ф, crh, Gurzuf, gr, link=no, Γορζουβίται) is a resort-town (urban-type settlement) in Yalta Municipality of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized b ...

where he was taken following a stroke on 29 September 2009. Brain hemorrhage was cited as the cause of death. He was buried in Moscow.

Military

In 1952, Popovich graduated from a course at the Stalingrad Military Aviation School near Novosibirsk. He then went on to train at the Military Officers of the Air Force Aviation Training School in

Grozny Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a po ...

, until 1954, when he joined the Soviet Air Force.

Service

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted Aircraft types flown: * Yakovlev Yak-11 *

Yakovlev Yak-18 The Yakovlev Yak-18 (russian: Яковлев Як-18; NATO reporting name Max) is a tandem two-seat military primary trainer aircraft manufactured in the Soviet Union. Originally powered by one 119 kW (160 hp) Shvetsov M-11FR-1 radial p ...

Lavochkin La-9 The Lavochkin La-9 (NATO reporting name Fritz) was a Soviet fighter aircraft produced shortly after World War II. It was one of the last piston engined fighters to be produced before the widespread adoption of the jet engine. Development La-9 r ...

* Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15

Training

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted

Promotions

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted

Cosmonaut

In 1960, he was selected as one of the first group of twenty air force pilots that would train as the first cosmonauts for the

Soviet space program The Soviet space program (russian: Космическая программа СССР, Kosmicheskaya programma SSSR) was the national space program of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), active from 1955 until the dissoluti ...

. The training took place between March 1960 and January 1961, and Popovich passed his final exams in Cosmonaut Basic Training on 17/18 January 1961. He was appointed as an astronaut on 25 January 1961. He was considered as a strong candidate for the first spaceflight – but while

was ultimately chosen for the

Vostok 1 Vostok 1 (russian: link=no, Восток, ''East'' or ''Orient'' 1) was the first spaceflight of the Vostok programme and the first human orbital spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA space capsule was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Apr ...

flight, Popovich served as the flight's capcom. From May to August 1961, he trained to fly on spacecraft "Vostok-2" in a group of astronauts, followed (between September and November 1961) with training to fly "Vostok-3". This flight was cancelled. Between November 1961 and May 1962, he trained as a pilot for "Vostok-4". Between June and August of that year, he received further training in the maintenance of this spacecraft. Ppopovic-2

He commanded the

space flight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in ...

Vostok 4 (''russian: Восток-4'') in 1962 which, along with Andrian Nikolayev on

Vostok 3 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 ...

, was the first time that more than one manned spacecraft were in orbit at the same time. His call sign for this flight was ''

Golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...

()''. In January 1964, he became a cosmonaut instructor, becoming deputy commander to the 2nd group of cosmonauts. Popovich was selected to command one of the Soviet Union's planned Moon landings, and trained for this between 1966 and 1968, when the Soviet Moon landing plans were scrapped. In 1968, he was selected as commander for

Soyuz 2 Soyuz 2 (russian: Союз 2, Union 2) was an uncrewed spacecraft in the Soyuz family intended to be the target of a docking maneuver by the crewed Soyuz 3 spacecraft. It was intended to be the first docking of a crewed spacecraft in the Sov ...

, but after the death of

Vladimir Komarov Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov ( rus, Влади́мир Миха́йлович Комаро́в, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kəmɐˈrof; 16 March 1927 – 24 April 1967) was a Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut. ...

during the reentry of

Soyuz 1 Soyuz 1 (russian: Союз 1, ''Union 1'') was a crewed spaceflight of the Soviet space program. Launched into orbit on 23 April 1967 carrying cosmonaut colonel Vladimir Komarov, Soyuz 1 was the first crewed flight of the Soyuz spacecraft. Th ...

, Soyuz 2 was launched without a crew. Milivoje Jugin and Pavel Popovič

In 1969 he was a senior cosmonaut instructor, and became (by 1972) the Chief of cosmonaut training. In 1974, he commanded his second (and final) space flight Soyuz 14 (''russian: Союз 14'') in 1974. Again, his call sign for this flight was ''

()''. This flight was the first to the

Salyut 3 Salyut 3 (russian: Салют-3; en, Salute 3; also known as OPS-2 or Almaz 2Portree (1995).) was a Soviet space station launched on 25 June 1974. It was the second Almaz military space station, and the first such station to be launched successf ...

space station. In 1977, he received a post-graduate degree in technical sciences. In March 1978, he was on duty in the Flight Control Center for Vladimír Remek's flight aboard

Soyuz 28 Soyuz 28 (russian: Союз 28, ''Union 28'') was a March 1978 Soviet crewed mission to the orbiting Salyut 6 space station. It was the fourth mission to the station, the third successful docking, and the second visit to the resident crew launche ...

. From 1978 he was the deputy chief of the Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center responsible for research and testing work. From 1980 to 1989, he was Deputy chief of the Cosmonaut Training Center. In January 1982, he was removed from the list of active cosmonauts, so that he could serve as Deputy Chief for Scientific Testing and Research at the Center.

Sociopolitical life

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted * From 1992: Chairman of the Boxing Federation of Russia. * From 1994: President of the ''Yuri Gagarin Foundation''; President of the Social Support for Veterans of the Armed Forces of the Union * From 1996: Member of the Editorial Board of ''Space News'' * From 1998: Member of the Editorial Board of the All-Russia scientific and technical magazine ''Flight'' * From 1999: President of the Ukrainian Union of Cosmonauts * Member of the Writers' Union of Russia. * President of the Association of Space Museums of Russia (AMKOS) * Honorary President of the International Association of Veterans of Physical Education and Sport (MAFIS) * Honorary Chairman of the Society of Ukrainian Culture (''Slavutich'')

Awards and honors

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted Notes: : ^a For setting records in space flight : ^b Medal number 11117 : ^c For services to the state, many years of fruitful work in the field of culture and art (as President of the Association of Space Museums) (Presidential Decree No. 512 of April 9, 1996) : ^d For services to the state and long-term fruitful work (Presidential Decree No. 1724 on October 6, 2000) : ^e For significant personal contribution to the development and strengthening of Ukrainian-Russian relations, promoting the rise of the authority of the Ukrainian state in the world (Presidential Decree No. 1682/2005 dated December 1, 2005)

Other honours

He received

honorary citizenship Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of several cities: * In Russia: Kaluga^a,

Kovrov Kovrov (russian: Ковро́в) is a city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Klyazma River, a tributary of the Oka. Kovrov's population as of the 2021 Census was 132,417, down from 145,214 recorded in the 2010 Censu ...

(1965),

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ( rus, Ю́жно-Сахали́нск, a=Ru-Южно-Сахалинск.ogg, p=ˈjuʐnə səxɐˈlʲinsk, literally "South Sakhalin City") is a city on Sakhalin island, and the administrative center of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. I ...

* In Ukraine: Poltava,

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populat ...

and Bila Tserkva * In

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Targovishte Targovishte ( bg, Търговище, also transliterated ''Tǎrgovište'', , tr, Eski Cuma) is a city in Bulgaria, the administrative and economic capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the low mountain of ...

* In

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

: Guriev Notes: : ^a Popovich is the only person to have received the honorary citizenship of Kaluga twice. The first time was in August 1962 (Decision 597 of the Executive Committee of Kaluga City Council of Workers' Deputies), and the second time was in April 1964 (Decision 237 of the Executive Committee of Kaluga City Council of Workers' Deputies). A bronze sculpture to Popovich was established in

. The name of Pavel Popovich was given to a mountain ridge in Antarctica and to the Mars-crossing asteroid 8444 Popovich. In 1991, he became director of the Institute Rossiyskogo for Monitoring of Land and Ecosystems, then worked as chairman of the board of directors of the All-Russia Institute of Aero-Photo-Geodesic Studies (VISKhAGI), dealing with the compilation of a land inventory of Russia using images from space. He had also been the chairman of Ukrainian diaspora organisation in Russia. He was awarded a Gold Tsiolkovsky Medal by the

Academy of Sciences of the USSR The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

and a De La Vaux Medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. In Ukraine there was a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the birth of the first Ukrainian astronaut, twice the Hero of the Soviet Union P.P. Popovich. File:1974 CPA 4402.jpg, Postage stamp (Soviet Union): Pavel Popovich and

Yury Artyukhin Yuri Petrovich Artyukhin (russian: Ю́рий Петро́вич Артю́хин; 22 June 1930 – 4 August 1998) was a Soviet Russian cosmonaut and engineer who made a single flight into space. Artyukhin graduated from the Soviet Air Force Ins ...

– ''Soyuz 14'' Mission File:Stamp 2012 Popovych (1).jpg, 2012 stamp of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Ufology

In 1984 Popovich joined the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...

' newly created All-Union Investigation Committee for Anomalous Aerial Phenomena and became head of the Academy's UFO Commission. In the 2002 SciFi Channel documentary '' Out of the Blue'', Popovich relays a sighting of a UFO next to the airplane he was travelling aboard as he was returning home from Washington D.C. with a delegation of scientists. The UFO was seen by everyone on board the plane. It was perfect triangle shaped and emitted a very bright, white light at a distance of about and an altitude about above the airplane. The object had an estimated speed of travelling parallel to the airplane and passed and overtook the plane in about 30 to 40 seconds. Popovich was the president of the UFO association of Russia.

Bibliography

Details are from ''Space Encyclopedia ASTROnote'', unless otherwise noted

Books

* "I Flew in the Morning" (1974) * "Space Humanity" (1981) * "Tested in Space and on Earth" (1982) * "Endless Road Universe" (1985) * "Robinson of the Universe" (1986)

Works in Collections

* "Space – My Job" * "High Orbit" * "Star" * "Conquest of Infinity" * "... 3, 2, 1!"

Essays

* "Secrets of the Galaxy" * "Mysteries of the Eternal Cosmos" * "Forward – to the Sources of the Past"

References

External links

*
Peoples History – from "Советские космонавты" (Soviet Cosmonauts)
*
Медицинская Газета (Medical Newspaper) Interview with Popovich
*

*
Novye Izvestiya Obituary – includes extracts from Popovich's logbookThe official website of the city administration Baikonur - Honorary citizens of Baikonur
*http://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2012/08/15/91709/ *http://www.tvroscosmos.ru/4193/ *https://twitter.com/search?q=Pavel%20Popovich&src=typd *http://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/blog-history-40900761 {{DEFAULTSORT:Popovich, Pavel Romanovich 1930 births 2009 deaths Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery People from Uzyn 1962 in spaceflight Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet cosmonauts Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 4th class Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Seventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Ninth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Tenth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Eleventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet Air Force generals Soviet major generals Ukrainian cosmonauts Vostok program cosmonauts Astronaut-politicians Salyut program cosmonauts

Biography

Military

Service

Training

Promotions

Cosmonaut

Sociopolitical life

Awards and honors

Other honours

Ufology

Bibliography

Books

Works in Collections

Essays

References

Further reading

External links