Boris Volynov
Boris Valentinovich Volynov is a Soviet Air Force cosmonaut from the original 1960 cosmonaut group and one of the longest-surviving figures from the first generation of human spaceflight. He flew Soyuz 5 and Soyuz 21 after years of early backup and cancelled-mission assignments.
- Born
- December 18, 1934
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Irkutsk,Soviet Union
Flights
2
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
52 days, 7 hours, 17 minutes
Bio
Volynov trained as a military pilot and later completed engineering study through the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. He was part of the same first selection wave as Gagarin, Leonov, and Komarov, but his first flight did not come until 1969.
Soyuz 5 made Volynov the of the active docking partner in the Soyuz 4/5 joint mission. His return became dangerous when the failed to separate cleanly at first, producing a rough ballistic and a hard landing.
He flew again on Soyuz 21 to Salyut 5 in 1976. After two missions, backup assignments, and more than fifty-two days in space, Volynov retired from the cosmonaut corps in 1990 with colonel rank.