Valerii Ilich Rozhdestvenskii
Rozhdestvenskii, Valerii Il’ich
Born Feb. 13, 1939, in Leningrad. Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR; colonel of the engineers. Hero of the Soviet Union (1976). Member of the CPSU since 1961.
After graduating from the F. E. Dzerzhinskii Higher Naval Engineering School in 1961, Rozhdestvenskii began his service in the navy. He was named a cosmonaut in 1965. From Oct. 14 to Oct. 16, 1976, Rozhdestvenskii was V. D. Zudov’s flight engineer aboard the Soyuz 23 spacecraft. His flight time was 2 days 6 min.
Rozhdestvenskii has been awarded the Order of Lenin and various medals.