Georgy Timofeyevich Dobrovolsky
Georgy Timofeyevich Dobrovolsky was a Soviet Air Force officer and cosmonaut who commanded Soyuz 11, the first crewed mission to successfully occupy a . His crew lived aboard Salyut 1, then died during preparations for when the Soyuz depressurized.
- Born
- June 1, 1928
- Died
- June 30, 1971
- Birthplace
- Odessa,Soviet Union
Flights
1
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
23 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes
Bio
Dobrovolsky entered the Soviet Air Force after World War II and was selected for cosmonaut training in the 1960s. He was part of the backup crew for Soyuz 11 before a medical concern with the original prime crew moved his crew into the flight assignment.
Soyuz 11 launched in June 1971 with Dobrovolsky, Viktor Patsayev, and Vladislav Volkov. The crew docked with Salyut 1, entered the station, and spent more than three weeks conducting the first sustained human work aboard an orbital station.
The mission ended in tragedy when a pressure-equalization valve opened prematurely before reentry, killing all three cosmonauts. Dobrovolsky's flight remains central to the history of space-station operations and spacecraft safety redesign.