Vitalii Sevastianov

Born July 8, 1935, in Krasnoural’sk, Sverdlovsk Oblast. Soviet cosmonaut. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (July 3, 1970. and July 27. 1975). Member of the CPSU since 1963.

Sevast’ianov graduated from the S. Ordzhonikidze Moscow Aviation Institute in 1959 and began working in a design bureau. He was awarded a candidate of technical sciences degree in 1965 and became a cosmonaut in 1967.

Together with A. G. Nikolaev, Sevast’ianov participated in the flight on the Soyuz 9 spacecraft as flight engineer during the period June 1–19, 1970. The craft completed more than 286 revolutions around the earth in 424 hr 59 min, traveling approximately 11.9 million km. Together with P. I. Klimuk, Sevast’ianov participated in the flight of the Soyuz 18 spacecraft as flight engineer from May 24 to July 26, 1975. On May 26, 1975, Soyuz 18 docked with the Salyut 4 space station, which had been in orbit since Dec. 26, 1974. The total flight time was approximately 63 days.

During his two space flights, which lasted a total of 80 days 15 hr 59 min, Sevast’ianov carried out a program of scientific-technical and biomedical studies. He also developed a technique for conducting applied research on the natural resources of the earth. Sevast’ianov is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He has been awarded two Orders of Lenin and various medals.