Volkov, Vladislav

Born Nov. 23, 1935, in Moscow; died June 30, 1971. Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (Oct. 22, 1969, and June 30, 1971). Member of the CPSU from 1965.

Volkov graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1959 and worked in a design bureau. In 1966 he became a member of the cosmonaut detachment. From Oct. 12 to Oct. 17, 1969, he completed a space flight on the orbital spacecraft Soyuz 7 as flight engineer (with A. V. Filipchenko and V. V. Gorbatko). The crew of Soyuz 7 made a one-day group flight with the spacecraft Soyuz 6 and a three-day group flight with the spacecrafts Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8. Volkov was the flight engineer on the spacecraft Soyuz 11, which was placed in an earth satellite orbit on June 6, 1971. On June 7, 1971, Soyuz 11 docked with the scientific station Salyut, which had been placed in orbit on Apr. 19, 1971. The joint flight of the space complex—the orbital station Salyut and the transport craft Soyuz 11—lasted about 23 days. After the completion of the flight program on June 30, 1971, upon returning to earth, Volkov and the other crew members of Soyuz 11 died. He was awarded the Order of Lenin. Volkov is buried in Moscow on Red Square near the Kremlin Wall.