32 Facts About Pavel Belyayev

Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev was a Soviet cosmonaut who commanded the historic 1965 Voskhod 2 space mission which saw the first space walk.

Pavel Belyayev had been a fighter pilot with extensive experience in piloting different types of aircraft, and was the first commander of the cosmonaut corps.

Pavel Belyayev was one of 6 children and was known as Pasha to his family and friends.

Pavel Belyayev was born on 26 June 1925, in Chelishchevo, now Babushkinsky District, Vologda Oblast, Russia.

Pavel Belyayev's father was a physician's assistant and his mother worked on a collective farm.

Pavel Belyayev continued his education at the Gorkogo secondary school.

In 1942, Pavel Belyayev took on temporary work as a turner in a factory and later became a check operator in the Sinarsk pipes factory in support of the war effort.

Pavel Belyayev applied to the special air force school in Sverdlovsk but failed to gain admission.

Pavel Belyayev then attempted to join a fighting ski unit as a volunteer, but was again rejected because he was too young.

Pavel Belyayev then entered the 3rd Sarapul School where he began training as a naval pilot.

Pavel Belyayev graduated in 1944 and then moved to the Stalin Naval Air School.

Pavel Belyayev graduated as a military pilot in 1945 with the rank of junior lieutenant.

The war had ended in the west, so Pavel Belyayev was sent to defend Russia's eastern regions.

Pavel Belyayev flew Yakovlev, Lavochkin and MiG fighters in the final days of the war against the Japanese, August 1945.

Pavel Belyayev remained in the East for the next decade, being stationed largely in Siberia.

Pavel Belyayev was awarded the Distinguished Combat service medal in 1953.

In 1956 Pavel Belyayev succeeded in gaining entry into advanced studies at the Red Banner Air Force Academy.

Pavel Belyayev graduated in 1959 as military pilot second class and with the rank of major.

Pavel Belyayev was sent to Air Squadron 661 4th IAD of the Black Sea Fleet.

Pavel Belyayev reported for assignment at the newly formed TsPK on 25 March 1960.

Pavel Belyayev was confirmed as prime crew commander of Voskhod 2 just 3 days prior to launch.

Pavel Belyayev's call sign was Diamond and his designation as mission commander was 1.

Pavel Belyayev had to perform a manual reentry when the automatic reentry system failed.

Pavel Belyayev then had to pull Leonov, whose legs had become jammed under the TV screen console, out of the capsule.

Pavel Belyayev was originally to fly the Vostok 8 mission into Earth's Van Allen radiation belt, but this was cancelled.

Pavel Belyayev died five years after the Voskhod 2 mission in 1970 from peritonitis that resulted from an operation on a stomach ulcer.

Pavel Belyayev is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Pavel Belyayev has been commemorated with other prominent figures from the early Russian space program with a bust on Cosmonauts Alley in Moscow.

Pavel Belyayev was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union, Order of Lenin, Order of the Red Star, numerous medals and foreign orders.

Pavel Belyayev bore the title of the Hero of Socialist Labor of Bulgaria, Hero of Vietnam, and Hero of Mongolia.

Pavel Belyayev's name appears on the plaque accompanying the Fallen Astronaut sculpture placed on the Moon on 1 August 1971 by the crew of Apollo 15.

Pavel Belyayev is used as a character in Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens 2005 novel, Freefall, in which he is the first person to land on the Moon, hours before Apollo 11.