Konstantin Feoktistov

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Konstantin Feoktistov
Константин Феоктистов
Civilian Specialist Group 1
MissionsVoskhod 1
1964 USSR postage stamp honouring Konstantin Feoktistov

Konstantin Petrovich Feoktistov (Russian: Константин Петрович Феоктистов; 7 February 1926 – 21 November 2009), was Russian engineer and a cosmonaut in the former Soviet space program.

As a cosmonaut Feoktistov flew on Voskhod 1, the first spacecraft to carry three crew members.[a] Feoktistov also wrote several books on space technology and exploration. The Feoktistov crater on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.

Biography

During the Nazi occupation of

Voronezh Front.[1][2] After being captured by a Waffen-SS
Army patrol, Feoktistov was shot by a German officer. However, the bullet went right through his chin and neck and did not kill him. Feoktistov could crawl out later and then make his way to the Soviet lines.

After the war was over, Feoktistov enrolled in the

Sergey Korolev. During this time, Feoktistov also worked on a design for an ion-propelled spacecraft capable of taking humans to Mars
.

In 1964, Feoktistov was selected as part of a group of engineers for

Communist Party of the Soviet Union.[3] He spent just over 24 hours and 17 minutes in space during his space flight.[4]

After the flight of Voskhod 1, Feoktistov's training for any further

.

In October 1969, Konstantin Feoktistov and Georgi Beregovoi traveled as guests of NASA throughout the US, visiting any city they chose and

Eugene Cernan, Neil Armstrong and others. Kirk Douglas and others hosted receptions for them in Hollywood – they were protected by special agents of the US State Department on request of NASA. Almost every place they went when accompanied by Eugene Cernan, if a band was present the song "Fly Me to the Moon
" was played – when they visited Disneyland they enjoyed the ride Trip To The Moon, then joked with the US astronauts that they went to Disneyland and not the Moon. It was a trip that all enjoyed and international friendships were made. Feoktistov resigned from his engineering position with
Energia
and then returned to Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School as a professor in 1990.

Honours and awards

Note

  1. Vostok 4
    , respectively.

References

  1. ^ Former Soviet cosmonaut Konstantin Feoktistov dies, BBC News, 22 November 2009, retrieved 29 November 2009
  2. ^ Феоктистов Константин Петрович [Feoktistov Konstantin Pavlovich]. www.warheroes.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  3. ^ Скончался космонавт Константин Феоктистов. Vesti.ru (22 November 2009). Retrieved on 16 July 2014.
  4. ^ Константин Петрович Феоктистов. Astronaut.ru. Retrieved on 16 July 2014.

Further reading