Forty-two years ago, in 1971, on June 30, all radio stations and television centers of the USSR reported the sad news of the death of the crew of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft. Courageous space explorers completed the flight task, all goals were successfully achieved, and the tasks were solved.
Death lay in wait for G. Dobrovolsky, V. Patsaev and V. Volkov, where it was difficult to imagine. The simplest valve, consisting of a ball and a spring, did not close, as a result, the descent vehicle was depressurized. At that time, three people could fit into the descent vehicle only without spacesuits, the crew members were fastened with belts, they failed to close the hole.
The whole country grieved about the dead astronauts, no one was indifferent. People were crying near newsstands, at tram stops, in schools, institutes and workshops. The road to the stars has always been the lot of brave people who are ready to risk their lives for a great goal.
Cosmonaut Volkov Vladislav Nikolaevich was buried in the Kremlin wall along with his space comrades Georgy Dobrovolsky andViktor Patsaev.
Fourteen years have passed. In 1985, Baikonur saw off the Soyuz T-14 spacecraft on a dangerous space flight. The task was to dock with the orbital station, consisting of two modules - Soyuz T-13 and Salyut-7. For almost 65 days, the crew of the scientific complex worked in orbit, and in its composition - cosmonaut Volkov. Yes, another. Alexander Alexandrovich was not a relative of that Volkov, just a namesake. He happened to be in space three times, including as part of international crews.
Space of the 21st century is being stormed by yet another cosmonaut Volkov. He dreams of flying to the moon, and, quite possibly, he will succeed. Sergey Volkov is a second-generation cosmonaut, he has two missions, spacewalks, hundreds of hours spent in zero gravity, and he is only forty years old. He knew firsthand about his profession, having spent his childhood in Baikonur. The father was not happy with the choice of his son and found out about him only after reading a report with a request to enroll in the cosmonaut corps.
So a dynasty was formed, the first in the world among representatives of this dangerous profession. For ethical reasons, cosmonaut Volkov Sr. filed a resignation report, giving way to his son. Well, a choice worthy of a real officer and a man. They are not satisfied with such a job.
Three astronauts, three destinies and one last name. So, a reminder for those who are interested in the history of Soviet and Russian cosmonautics (this has not happened in any country, so it is important not to confuse): Vladislav Volkov - cosmonaut of the firstenlisted in the detachment in 1966, Alexander Volkov made his first flight in the mid-eighties, and his son Sergei started already in the third millennium.
And there is also the research vessel "Cosmonaut Volkov", which provides communication with satellites. Breeders have created a tomato variety named after the hero. Astronomers dedicated the star they discovered to him. All this is in honor of Vladislav Volkov, but it is quite possible that the next generations of Russian cosmonauts will be rewarded with their names sparkling in the starry sky of planetariums and astronomical maps.
