Andriyan Nikolayev

Early life

Andrian Grigoryevich Nikolayev was born on September 5, 1929 in Sorseli, a village in the Chuvash region of the Volga River valley, and spent his time growing up on a collective farm. Nikolayev loved the idea of flying even as a child. When he was young boy Nikolayev’s interest in flying manifested itself in that he climbed trees with his friends and claimed he would take flight from there. These behaviors were not encouraged by the villagers and Nikolayev did not take flight from any trees.

Education and career

Nikolayev supported his family following the death of his father in 1944, however this was not preferred by his mother who would rather that he earn an education. Nikolayev later entered medical school before he joined the Soviet army. During his training Nikolayev was able to maintain a very calm state during stressful situations. Nikolayev’s calm would make him a fair candidate for becoming a cosmonaut. His future colleague’s Yuri Gagarin, Gherman Titov, and seventeen others would join him in March 1960. Nikolayev was also in a relationship with Valentina Tereshkova at the time, and reportedly kissed her goodbye before boarding Vostok 3.

History

Nikolayev flew on two space flights: Vostok 3 (effectively becoming the third Soviet cosmonaut) and Soyuz 9. His call sign in these flights was Falcon (Russian: Со́кол). On both, he set new endurance records for the longest time a human being had remained in orbit. He also served as backup for the Vostok 2 and Soyuz 8 missions. On 22 January 1969, Nikolayev survived an assassination attempt on Leonid Brezhnev, undertaken by a Soviet Army deserter, Viktor Ilyin. He left the cosmonaut corps on 26 January 1982.

Nikolayev was also the first person to make a television broadcast from space, in August 1962. Vostok 3 was part the first dual space flight, with Pavel Popovich on Vostok 4.

In the early days of space travel, it was usual to place trainee astronauts into isolation chambers to see how long they could last alone. They sat in silence unable to gauge time. Many men cracked. One cosmonaut, Andriyan Nikolayev lasted the longest – four days – and became known as the Iron Man.

On 3 November 1963, he married Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to fly in space (see Vostok 6). They had one daughter, Elena Andriyanovna (now a doctor of medicine), before their marriage collapsed. However, it was not until 1982 that they divorced.

In 2004, Nikolayev died of a heart attack in Cheboksary, the capital of Chuvashia in Russia. A scandal ensued. His daughter, who lives in Moscow, desired that he be interred in the cemetery at Star City. The president of Chuvashia had other ideas. After a farewell ceremony in Cheboksary, Nikolayev was buried in his native village of Shorshely. He has no family living in the republic. Plans are in the works to move the body to Star City.

Nikolayev was also a keen skier:

Service in the Air Force made us strong, both physically and morally. All of us cosmonauts took up sports and PT seriously when we served in the Air Force. I know that Yuri Gagarin was fond of ice hockey. He liked to play goal keeper. Gherman Titov was a gymnastics enthusiast, Andriyan Nikolayev liked skiing, Pavel Popovich went in for weight lifting. I don't think I am wrong when I say that sports became a fixture in the life of the cosmonauts.

Honours

Andriyan Nikolayev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (twice), Order of Lenin, Order of the Red Star, numerous medals, and foreign orders. He was also bestowed a title of the Hero of Socialist Labor of Bulgaria, Hero of Labor of Vietnam, and Hero of Mongolia. The lunar crater Nikolayev is named after him.