Cosmonaut and twice Hero of the USSR Vladimir Aksenov died at 89 – Kommersant

Soviet pilot-cosmonaut, flight engineer of the Soyuz-22 spacecraft and the Soyuz T-2 spacecraft Vladimir Aksenov died at the age of 90. This was reported by the press service of the state corporation Roscosmos.

“This loss is difficult and irreplaceable. At the age of 90, a purposeful, demanding, efficient and fair person, always ready to help people, left us. His life’s path was filled with honest service to the Motherland, creative work and dedication to his chosen cause,” transmits press service, words from the head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov.

In 1974–1976, Vladimir Aksenov underwent training for a space flight under the 7K-S (“Soyuz T”) program as part of the crew. He made his first flight in 1976 as a flight engineer on the Soyuz-22 spacecraft. The flight lasted almost eight days.

Mr. Aksenov’s second space flight took place in 1980. As a flight engineer on the Soyuz T-2 spacecraft, he docked with the orbital research complex Salyut-6 – Soyuz-36. This was the first manual docking in history. The flight lasted almost four days. Vladimir Aksenov left the cosmonaut corps in 1988 and retired. For his services, he was twice awarded the title of Hero of the USSR and two Orders of Lenin. He was an honorary citizen of several cities in Russia and Kazakhstan, as well as Jefferson County in the USA.

Evgeny Belousov