Valentin Bondarenko
| Valentin Bondarenko | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Cosmonaut | |
|
Native name
|
Валентин Васильевич Бондаренко |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Born | Valentin Vasiliyevich Bondarenko 16 February 1937 Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 23 March 1961 (aged 24) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
|
Other occupation
|
Pilot |
| Rank | Senior lieutenant, Soviet Air Forces |
| Selection | Soviet Air Force Group 1 |
| Awards | Order of the Red Star |
Valentin Vasiliyevich Bondarenko (Ukrainian: Валентин Васильович Бондаренко, Russian: Валентин Васильевич Бондаренко; 16 February 1937 – 23 March 1961) was a Soviet fighter pilot selected in 1960 for training as a cosmonaut. He died as the result of burns sustained in a fire during a 15-day low-pressure endurance experiment in Moscow. The government concealed the death, along with Bondarenko's membership in the cosmonaut corps, until 1980. A crater on the Moon's far side is named after him.
Bondarenko was born in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. His father was sent to the Eastern Front in the first days of World War II. The youngster and his mother went through several years of hardship during the war.
From an early age, Bondarenko was fascinated by aviation heroes and dreamed of becoming a military aviator himself. While still at Kharkiv's Higher Air Force School, he was a member of the local aviation club. After Bondarenko's graduation in 1954 he was admitted to the Voroshilov Aviation Military Academy and a year later he was transferred to an Air Force College in Grozny, Armavir Military Pilot Aviation School, from which he graduated in 1957. In 1956 he married Galina Semenovna Rykova, a medical worker. Their first child was born later that year. During 1956, Bondarenko was sent to Armavir Higher Air Force Pilots School, graduating in 1957—the same year Sputnik 1 was launched.
Bondarenko was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and served in the Soviet Air Force's PribVO (the former Baltic Military District). He was promoted to Senior Lieutenant in December 1959.
...
Wikipedia