Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov was a Soviet Air Force lieutenant general and cosmonaut who commanded three early Soyuz missions. His flights linked the first crewed Soyuz docking, a complex three-spacecraft attempt, and the first mission sent to a .
- Born
- December 8, 1927
- Died
- June 15, 2021
- Birthplace
- Petropavlovsk,Soviet Union
Flights
3
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
9 days, 21 hours, 55 minutes
Bio
Shatalov trained as a military pilot and officer before entering the cosmonaut corps in 1963. He belonged to the second Soviet Air Force group and became one of the who helped turn Soyuz from a troubled test vehicle into the backbone of Soviet human spaceflight.
On Soyuz 4 in January 1969, Shatalov launched alone, docked with Soyuz 5, and returned with Aleksei Yeliseyev and Yevgeny Khrunov after they transferred by . The flight demonstrated crew transfer between spacecraft and became an important test for later station operations.
He later commanded Soyuz 8 during the Soyuz 6/7/8 group flight and Soyuz 10, the first mission sent to Salyut 1. Soyuz 10 docked with the station but could not complete a hard dock and returned without crew entry, teaching hard lessons before Soyuz 11.