Is it true that Gagarin was not the first man in space, and the USSR hid cosmic catastrophes with victims
Miscellaneous / / April 16, 2021
We find out if there is any real ground for conspiracy theories about the "lost" astronauts.
For many years there has been a debate about the success of the space program of the Soviet Union. Proponents of conspiracy theories argue that the "cannibalistic system" did not spare its children for the sake of political ambition. In their opinion, the Soviet government concealed that dozens of cosmonauts died before and after the flight of Yuri Gagarin: during takeoffs and landings, in orbit, on the Moon (and even on Mars!), or even disappeared forever in the black abyss.
Life hacker figured out whether there really were "zero" cosmonauts in the USSR.
What is known about the early Soviet programs to launch a man into space
The first projects of launching a person outside the Earth's atmosphere in the USSR became Pervushin A. AND. Red space. Starships of the Soviet Empire. - M., 2007 developed almost immediately after graduation The great World War II. These plans were implemented in the VR-190 project.
However, it was about suborbital, and not about orbital flights: the rockets of this project could not develop sufficient speed to launch an artificial Earth satellite. They were supposed to rise to the upper layers of the atmosphere, after which the compartment with the crew was planned to be lowered to Earth by parachute.
The BP-190 project used the developments of the designers of the Nazi FAU-2 ballistic missile. At first they worked on itKantemirov B. N. People of Science: Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshev. Earth and Universe Soviet engineers Mikhail Tikhonravov and Nikolai Chernyshev, then the project was picked up by the design bureau of Sergei Korolev.
Several missiles were created under the designation "R-1" (later there were others: "R-2" and "R-5"). The first successful launch of living beings on them took placeMalkin V. Four-legged testers. A source already in 1951: in suborbital flight the mongrels Gypsy and Dezik set off.
By the end of the 50s, work on the "BP-190" was curtailed Pervushin A. AND. Red space. Starships of the Soviet Empire. - M., 2007 as hopeless. Man never went into suborbital orbit.
Despite this, it was the BP-190 project that became the basis for a number of conspiracy theories according to which, before Yuri Gagarin, several Soviet citizens were sent on suborbital and orbital flights. All but one of them were said to have died.
Who are called "zero" Soviet cosmonauts
For the first time, information about the "zero" cosmonauts becamePervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files spread in the foreign press in the early years space race. The denunciations of the "cannibalistic" missile program of the USSR appeared more and more often and were overgrown with details.
So, in 1958, about the crash of the apparatus launched from the Kapustin Yar range, reportedPervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files German rocket science pioneer Hermann Obert. He did not vouch for the plausibility of the story, because he received information, according to his own statement, from third parties.
In 1959, the Italian news agency Continentale wrotePervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files about the death of several Soviet cosmonauts. There were no reliable ones behind the sensational headline either. sources: such was a certain "high-ranking Czechoslovak communist."
According to Continentale, the victims of suborbital flights in the late 1950s were:
- Alexey LedovskyLedovskiy, Aleksei. Astronautix in 1957;
- Terenty ShiborinShiborin, Serenti. Astronautix in 1958;
- Andrey MitkovMitkov, Andrei. Astronautix in 1959;
- Marya (Mira) GromovaGromova, Mirya. Astronautix - according to Continentale, in the same 1959, she allegedly "sent a space plane into oblivion."
One of the most interesting documents was the recordings of the negotiations between the Soviet cosmonauts and the command on the ground, allegedly intercepted by the brothers Achille and Giovanni by Italian radio amateurs Giudica-Cordilla. They, according to their own assurances, did not missDunning B. Search for the Missing Cosmonauts. Skeptoid not a single launch, perfectly tuned the equipment and learned to quite accurately interpret the signals of spaceships. Him with like-minded even managed to create a networkGrahn S. Notes on the space tracking activities and sensational claims made by the Judica ‑ Cordiglia brothers similar stations around the world.
In the 1960s, the brothers presented a whole series of "audio evidence" of Soviet space catastrophes with human casualties.
Recording of the voice of "Valentina the cosmonaut" allegedly burned out during the flight in 1961 or 1963.
Here is a list of the "lost astronauts" associated with the recordings of Achilles and Giovanni Giudica-Cordilla:
- Alexey GrachevGraciov, Alexis. Astronautix - a Soviet cosmonaut who allegedly accidentally flew away from Earth in 1960 and sent the alphabet Morse signal "SOS to the whole world".
- Gennady MikhailovMikhailov, Gennady. Astronautix. The brothers Giudica-Cordilla claimed to have caught a radiogram of panting and increasing heart rate two months before Gagarin's flight. Some supporters of theories about the dead Soviet cosmonauts believe that they belong to Mikhailov.
- LudmilaLudmila. Astronautix - a woman astronaut who complained of a rise in temperature (“... I'm hot. I see a flame... ") and allegedly burnt in the atmosphere in May 1961. According to other sources, a few months after the flight of Valentina Tereshkova, in November 1963.
- Unknown cosmonauts and an astronaut, according to radio amateurs, died in 1962. Conducted lively negotiations with the Earth: “Conditions are getting worse, why don't you answer... The world will never know about us... "One of them is called Alexei BelokonevBelokonyov, Alexis. Astronautix.
There is information about other allegedly dead Soviet cosmonauts:
- IN. ZavadovskyZavadovski, V. Astronautix - in 1959 he tested space equipment. According to Reuters, died in 1960.
- Ivan KachurKachur, Ivan. Astronautix - as if he died during the first manned space flight of the USSR in 1960.
- Pyotr DolgovDolgov, Piotr. Astronautix - Lieutenant Colonel of the Airborne Forces, test parachutist, according to some theories, died in 1960 in space.
- Andrey MikoyanMikoyan, Andrei. Astronautix and his partner - rumored to be Soviet cosmonauts who died during a secret flight to the moon in 1969. Due to the failure of the automation, they allegedly flew past its orbit.
Despite the large number of named names, these lists are far from complete. Zheleznyakov A. Gagarin Was Still the First. ORBIT, Journal of the Astro Space Stamp Society . Conspiracy theorists call other names, as well as talk about unnamed "lost astronauts."
One of the craziest versions says that the Soviet rover was controlled by an unnamed dwarf - a KGB officer who agreed to a suicidal mission.
One of the most plausible candidates for the "zero" cosmonauts is the son of the famous Soviet aircraft designer Sergei Ilyushin - IL aircraft designer. - Approx. the author Vladimir Ilyushin. He, unlike many potential "noughties", was a real person, and in addition - a test pilot of the Sukhoi design bureau, which produced Su aircraft. Ilyushin set several altitude records.
British and French journalists the day before Gagarin's flight calledPervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files Vladimir Ilyushin was the first person to visit orbit, and his injuries (in 1961 the pilot was undergoing medical treatment in China) are evidence of an unsuccessful mission. It allegedly took place on April 7, 1961. Rumors spread that the flight of Gagarin was even arranged to divert one's eyes from this failure.
Later, the theory was supplemented with new details. They said that Ilyushin was unable to eject and after a hard landing spent a year in captivity in China, and Gagarin was eliminated by the KGB in 1968 so that he would not blab about it.
Did "zero" astronauts really exist?
There is no convincing evidence of the veracity of the stories about the "zero" astronauts. Back in the 1970s, after conducting a large-scale study of the materials then available, space technology expert, former NASA engineer and ardent anti-adviser James Oberg said Oberg J. Uncovering Soviet Disasters. NY. 1988 that all these stories are fiction. Declassified documents and eyewitnesses of the events also did not confirmPervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files these theories.
Continentale stories didn't get it eitherPervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files no official confirmation, and the agency that released one sensation after another was quickly stopped trust.
The names of Belokonev, Kachura, Grachev, Mikhailov and Zavadovsky werePervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files on the list of the dead only because the Associated Press journalist who saw them in the Soviet newspapers in 1959 mistakenly mistook test pilots for future cosmonauts. In particular, Belokonev lived until 1991 and in an interview Golovanov Y. Cosmonaut No. 1. - M., 1986 he confirmed to journalist Ivan Golovanov that none of the abovementioned were included in the cosmonaut corps: they were all just testing high-altitude equipment.
Vladimir Ilyushin has also never beenPervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files among the conquerors of space. His treatment in China had nothing to do with the space tragedy: in 1960, Vladimir was seriously injured in a car accident.
Pyotr Dolgov was the closest to space from the hypothetical "zero". That just died Golovanov Y. Cosmonaut No. 1. - M., 1986 he in 1962 (two years later than stated) when testing a spacesuit, jumping with a parachute from a height of more than 25 kilometers above the Earth. Coming out of the balloon capsule, Dolgov damaged the visor of the helmet, which caused his suit to depressurize.
"Zero" cosmonautics was also impossible for technical reasons.
For example, in the Soviet R-5A missiles used for suborbital flights in the 1950s, the cargo hold was too small for a person. They were only flown dogs, and some (for example, Red and Joyna in 1957, Palm and Fluff, Zhulka and Button in 1958) of them really died Zheleznyakov A. Gagarin Was Still the First. ORBIT, Journal of the Astro Space Stamp Society on unsuccessful launches. These and other unmanned flights may have been mistaken for the tragic expeditions of unknown Soviet cosmonauts.
Departure on a translunar trajectory, according to the brothers Giudica-Cordilla, was simply impossible for Soviet missiles in the 1960s. Siddiqi A. A. Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974. NASA. 2000 . Did not have Zheleznyakov A. Gagarin Was Still the First. ORBIT, Journal of the Astro Space Stamp Society then spaceships capable of taking on board more than one astronaut - they will appear only in 1964.
The main problem with the recordings of the brothers Giudica-Cordilla is the fact that no other radio station on Earth recorded such signals.Dunning B. Search for the Missing Cosmonauts. Skeptoid. Even the nascent NATO defense system with apparently more powerful equipment did not record anything like this.Grahn S. Notes on the space tracking activities and sensational claims made by the Judica ‑ Cordiglia brothers. Although in the conditions of the Cold War, the failures of the USSR would have become a propaganda weapon.
A number of critics also stateGrahn S. Notes on the space tracking activities and sensational claims made by the Judica ‑ Cordiglia brothersthat the brothers simply could not have the necessary radio equipment to intercept communications and instrument readings, as well as separate them from other noises. The breath and heartbeat of the crew were never transmitted over audio channels, but sent to Earth in the form of numerical data. The "cosmonauts" themselves ignore the requirements of the protocols and the terminology of the Soviet Air Force on the recordings. So the brothers most likely created Oberg J. Uncovering Soviet Disasters. NY. 1988 fake.
What are the rumors about the lost astronauts based on?
Rumors of a conspiracy by the leaders of the Soviet space program were so strong that it influencedEllis T. Ivan Ivanovich and the Persistent Lost Cosmonaut Conspiracy. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum even the perception of real events. So, in the "Guinness Book of Records" of 1964, the publication as the first cosmonaut was indicatedPervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files Vladimir Ilyushin, not Yuri Gagarin. And in 1967, after the Soyuz-1 disaster, there was a bike about how the dying Vladimir Komarov with tears said goodbye to wife and scolded the Soviet system.
The thing is that space work in the USSR was carried outEllis T. Ivan Ivanovich and the Persistent Lost Cosmonaut Conspiracy. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in the strictest secrecy. For example, the name of Sergei Korolev was kept secret for a long time. His family might not have known that the pilot was preparing to become an astronaut. Even the dogs that took part in the tests had pseudonyms.
Some of the real failures and tragedies were really tried not to spread. But rumors about them still spread and acquired incredible details. It wasPervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files with an unsuccessful start of the mission to Venus in February 1961. The station stuck in orbit was then called a successfully launched heavy satellite.
There are also known secret cases of the death of Soviet cosmonauts. Thus, until the 1980s, the Soviet authorities concealed the death of Valentin Bondarenko, a member of the first cosmonaut corps. He died Golovanov Y. Cosmonaut No. 1. - M., 1986 in 1961 due to an accident in a pressure chamber. Senior Lieutenant Bondarenko was only 24 years old, he was the youngest in the detachment.
Together with Bondarenko, they often remember Oberg J. Uncovering Soviet Disasters. NY. 1988 another member of the first squad - Grigory Nelyubov. However, his name was deleted from the space chronicle.Pervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files because of a drunken scandal. Ivan Anikeev and Valentin Filatyev were also expelled with him. Addicted to alcohol Nelyubov died in 1966 under the wheels of a train under mysterious circumstances.
Terrible disaster happenedKhachaturyan K. Catastrophe at Baikonur. Science and life in 1960 at Baikonur. As a result of the explosion of the R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile, more than 70 (according to various sources, up to 120 people) of the cosmodrome and military personnel were killed. Among them was the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Nedelin, whose name is often denoted by this incident. About him became known only in the era of publicity.
Total secrecy and suppression of failures, most likely, becamePervushin A. AND. The "terrible secret" of the Soviet cosmonautics. XX century X-Files basis for conspiracy theories.
Information about the "lost" Soviet cosmonauts, whose bodies still remain in orbit or plow the vastness of the universe, have nothing to do with reality and, at best, are worthy of the title of urban legends. Like any conspiracy theories, due to their secrecy, they are still popular. But the reality is much more prosaic.
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