1. Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin was a Soviet Air Force general and a program manager in the Soviet space program.
50 Facts About Nikolai Kamanin
1. 2.
From 1960 to 1971, General Nikolai Kamanin was the program manager of the cosmonaut training in the Soviet space program.
3.
Nikolai Kamanin recruited and trained the first generation of cosmonauts, including Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, Gherman Titov and Alexei Leonov.
4.
Nikolai Kamanin was the Soviet Air Force representative to the space program, a proponent of crewed orbital flight and air force influence over the Space Race.
5.
Nikolai Kamanin was born in Melenki, in Vladimir Governorate.
6.
Nikolai Kamanin's grandfather was a wealthy shoemaker with his own workshop; however, his father, Pyotr Nikolai Kamanin, broke with tradition and joined the Bolsheviks.
7.
Nikolai Kamanin died in 1919 at the age of 49; mother, Stefanida Danilovna lived all her life in Melenki.
8.
Stefanida and Pyotr Kamanin had 10 children; Nikolai survived all his four brothers.
9.
Nikolai Kamanin passed the airforce physical test and completed the pilots' school in Borisoglebsk in 1929, trained by legendary pilot Victor Kholzunov.
10.
Nikolai Kamanin was dispatched to the site of Russo-Chinese railroad conflict in the Far East, arriving one day after ceasefire.
11.
Nikolai Kamanin flew a two-seater reconnaissance airplane, including 11-hour endurance flights over the Sea of Japan.
12.
The ice camp was completely evacuated 13 April 1934; Nikolai Kamanin returned with the ship's bosun and eight riding dogs.
13.
On 20 July 1942, Nikolai Kamanin was summoned to Moscow to organize, train and lead the newly conceived 292nd Ground Attack Air Division.
14.
On 25 July 1942, Nikolai Kamanin arrived at his new command, only to find orders that the division had to send its fully manned, combat-ready aviation regiments to the front.
15.
On 1 March 1943, Nikolai Kamanin was summoned to Moscow again and passed command of 292nd Division to Filipp Agaltsov, future Marshal of Aviation.
16.
Nikolai Kamanin, promoted to major general on 18 May 1943, took command of 8th Combined Air Corps.
17.
Nikolai Kamanin earned the Order of Suvorov for his corp's achievement in the Battle of Kiev.
18.
In spring 1944, Nikolai Kamanin obtained permission to fly personal missions in enemy territory and was engaged in deep reconnaissance of the Lviv area with Lieutenant Pyotr Schmigol.
19.
Nikolai Kamanin estimated German losses at 30 twin-engined airplanes and one Focke-Wulf Fw 190 plus warehouses and other materiel.
20.
Nikolai Kamanin admitted it was a strong, well-trained force of 170 aircraft, and the Romanians proved themselves as capable aviators.
21.
Nikolai Kamanin spent most of his childhood on the airfields and at an early age could identify most of the Soviet military airplanes by the engine's sound alone.
22.
Arkady Nikolai Kamanin died of meningitis on April 13,1947, at the age of 18.
23.
Nikolai Kamanin completed the General Staff Academy in 1956 and commanded the air force of Central Asian district for three years.
24.
Nikolai Kamanin was assisted by major general and Hero of Soviet Union Leonid Goreglyad, Colonel Boris Aristov, and other notable war pilots.
25.
Later, when the space programs focused on fully automatic controls, Nikolai Kamanin asserted his viewpoint in favor of human controls.
26.
Nikolai Kamanin rated Yuri Gagarin, Gherman Titov and Grigori Nelyubov as the best candidates.
27.
Nikolai Kamanin personally developed the cosmonaut flying manual and training schedule, traveled across landing areas with flight candidates and supervised last-minute training at Baikonur.
28.
Nikolai Kamanin campaigned for early disclosure of Soviet launches, as soon as the craft is in orbit, against Vershinin's original opinion.
29.
Nikolai Kamanin was skeptical about the value of these probes: "Venus launch is hardly a sensible endeavor: it delays crewed flight and decreases Rocket Force battle-readiness".
30.
Still airborne, Nikolai Kamanin received a radio message that Gagarin had landed safely and was flown to Kuybyshev airport.
31.
In December 1961, Gagarin and Nikolai Kamanin flew on another tour, this time to India, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.
32.
Later, Nikolai Kamanin had to persuade Vershinin to let him stay at home and concentrate on real work instead of meeting foreign dignitaries.
33.
Nikolai Kamanin campaigned for training and launching women cosmonauts since Gagarin's flight, but the subsequent publicity assignments separated him from decision-making.
34.
Nikolai Kamanin worked mission control shifts while she was in space and had to wake Tereshkova who, asleep, failed to respond.
35.
In 1965, after Voskhod 2, Nikolai Kamanin proposed a flight of female crew on the next Voskhod.
36.
Nikolai Kamanin was engaged in the rivalry between various powers behind Soviet space program - on the air force side.
37.
Nikolai Kamanin realized the need to eradicate friction between the Rocket Force, the Air Force and different industrial groups.
38.
Nikolai Kamanin realized that Korolyov's Soyuz project was in the very distant future, and relying on Soyuz alone would ground his cosmonaut squad for years.
39.
In particular, Mishin promoted his own candidates into the space program; Nikolai Kamanin deemed them inadequately trained to fly and insisted on Air Force candidates with a proven flight record.
40.
Nikolai Kamanin's cosmonauts were assigned to the future Almaz, Spiral and two competing lunar projects.
41.
Probably as a reaction against Mishin, Nikolai Kamanin rated Vladimir Chelomei and his staff very high, and his products - superior to Mishin's.
42.
Nikolai Kamanin lost an hour and half travelling to the crash site, only to see the capsule still on fire.
43.
Two weeks later, before that paperwork was completed, Nikolai Kamanin sent a bitter letter to Minister of Defense Andrei Grechko, explaining his view on military space program and rejecting as unnecessary "consultancy" employment.
44.
Nikolai Kamanin continued working as usual; the string of premature deaths continued with Pavel Belyayev.
45.
In February 1970, Nikolai Kamanin estimated first Almaz or DOS-7K to be ready in summer 1971, at best.
46.
On 21 May 1971, Nikolai Kamanin arrived at Baikonur for his last mission launch.
47.
Nikolai Kamanin was at the mission control at Yevpatoria throughout their fatal descent and left his own transcript of conversation and the silence that followed.
48.
In retirement, Nikolai Kamanin acted as the leader of the Communist Party committee of his apartment building.
49.
Nikolai Kamanin continued writing books and articles, and giving public talks.
50.
Arkady and Nikolai Kamanin are the characters of a 1978 Soviet film, Then You Will See the Sky.