Vasily Grigoryevich Lazarev
Vasily Grigoryevich Lazarev was a Soviet physician, Air Force officer, and cosmonaut who flew Soyuz 12 and survived the abortive Soyuz 18a launch. His career combines medical expertise, spacecraft test recovery after Soyuz redesign, and one of the most severe launch aborts in crewed spaceflight.
- Born
- February 23, 1928
- Died
- December 31, 1990
- Birthplace
- Poroshino, Altai Krai,Soviet Union
Flights
2
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
1 day, 23 hours, 36 minutes
Bio
Lazarev held a medical degree and served as a Soviet Air Force doctor before selection for the Voskhod-era medical group. He later moved into Soyuz assignments after the program recovered from the Soyuz 1 accident.
Soyuz 12 launched in September 1973 with Lazarev and Oleg Makarov. The mission tested the redesigned Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft and helped restore confidence in Soviet crew transport after earlier failures.
His second flight, Soyuz 18a in April 1975, failed during ascent and subjected Lazarev and Makarov to extreme acceleration during the abort and landing. Lazarev never fully recovered from the injuries and left active flight status after failing a physical in 1981.