Starman_ The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin - Jamie Doran [3]
For his part, Titov spoke frankly of the immense pain brought about by his role as Gagarin’s back-up, or ‘understudy’, for the historic first space flight, while Alexei Leonov put many other aspects of a cosmonaut’s life into perspective. These two men were very close to Gagarin, and they shared his experiences of flying into space and seeing the earth from orbit. They both had dramatic tales to tell.
Oleg Ivanovsky, Vladimir Yazdovsky and Yuri Mazzhorin – three of the most significant technical administrators in the Soviet space programme – revealed extraordinary details about their work, and of the spacecraft that Gagarin flew. They also revealed aspects of the deep humanity within the character of Sergei Korolev, the legendary ‘Chief Designer’ of Soviet rockets and spacecraft.
Sergei Nefyodov and Yevgeny Kiryushin, forgotten contributors to the space effort, recounted their secret work as ‘testers’, enduring great physical discomfort and risking death as part of the medical and physiological research programme that surrounded the early manned rocket programme.
Farm worker Yakov Lysenko, a very old man now, still gets a gleam in his eye as he recalls Gagarin landing in a field after his flight and greeting him; while Tamara Kuchalayeva and Tatiana Makaricheva recalled how, as schoolgirls, they ran across a gentle meadow to see where the world’s first spaceship came to rest after its epic journey.
Anna Rumanseyeva recalled nursing Gagarin after a minor but embarrassing accident that nearly cost him his career. This was the first time that she, or anyone else, had told the truth about this significant and very human incident.
Sergei Yegupov, an archivist at the space training complex just outside Moscow, gave us access to some remarkable letters addressed to Gagarin from ordinary citizens, and illuminated for us some of the more difficult political aspects of Gagarin’s career.
State security expert Nikolai Rubkin helped us analyse important details of Gagarin’s fatal accident in a MiG training jet, and the flawed, compromised investigation that followed. Vyacheslav Bykovsky, an air-traffic controller, spoke to us about the day of the crash, even though this particular subject must have been very difficult for him. He had kept his silence for thirty years.
KGB veteran Venyamin Russayev came forward, after lengthy and delicate negotiations, to tell us an incredible and shattering story about Gagarin’s efforts to save the life of Vladimir Komarov, the first man ever to die during a space flight. Russayev’s evidence, revealed in our book for the very first time, is truly shocking and moving, and lays a trail all the way to the Kremlin.
Gagarin’s wife, Valentina Gagarina, does not speak to journalists, but she was responsible for persuading Russayev to come forward to tell an important story that even now it is dangerous to reveal. We are deeply grateful for her blessing. Certain aspects of her husband’s story must be difficult for her to dwell on. Conscious of this, we hope we have honoured Yuri Gagarin’s memory and character, as well as telling the truth about his eventful and complex life.
We are indebted to Gagarin’s personal driver Fyodor Dyemchuk for his memories, while Igor Khoklov, his favourite hairdresser, told us many fascinating tales. Khrushchev’s speechwriter and senior aide Fyodor Burlatsky put Gagarin’s intimate and difficult relationship with the Kremlin into perspective from close personal knowledge.
Of course this book is as much about the early Soviet manned space programme as it is about Gagarin himself,