Komarov Vladimir Mikhailovich 
(16.03.1927-24.04.1967)

Soviet cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. 
Born in Moscow in the family janitor. 
In 1943, at the very height of the war, he graduated from the seven-year-old and entered the 1st Moscow Air Force Special School, graduated in July 1945, then became a cadet of the 3rd Solovsk aviation school of primary education, and in September of the same year a cadet of the Borisoglebsky Military Aviation pilot schools. He studied there less than a year and in July 1946 he was transferred to the Bataysk School. After graduating from it in December 1949, Komarov began his service as a military fighter pilot in the 382nd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 42nd Fighter Aviation Division of the Air Force of the North Caucasus Military District, based in Grozny. There he met a school teacher, Valentina, who soon became his wife and went hand in hand with Vladimir to the end of her life. 
Komarov quickly mastered supersonic aircraft, flying at night and in conditions of poor visibility on the instruments. In 1954, he, as one of the best pilots, was sent to study at the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy, from which he graduated in 1959 with a degree in aircraft engineering and was assigned to probationary work at the State Red Banner Scientific Research Institute of the Air Force. Komarov was engaged in testing new types of aircraft, it was here that his high qualities of a skilled organizer and engineer were revealed. In 1960, he was included in the first cosmonaut corps. 
The general space training of Komarov did not differ from the training of other astronauts: the same bar and heat chambers, centrifuges, parachute jumping, diving into the water and much, much more. In spite of a higher engineering education that few astronauts of the first squad could boast of, Komarov did not make it to the top six. 
In June 1962, he was included in the group of direct preparation for the group flight of the two "Vostokovs" instead of Grigory Nelyubov, suspended for health reasons.During the launch of "Vostok-4" he was the understudy of Pavel Popovich. 
In September 1962, a group of Valery Bykovsky, Boris Volynov and Vladimir Komarov began direct preparations for a new flight in the East for 10 days, but this flight did not take place due to the unpreparedness of a reliable life support system. 
Komarov planned to participate in the flight of two ships, one of which was to pilot a female cosmonaut, but summed up his health. During the next centrifuge training, extrasystoles were recorded on the cardiogram. It took an operation (apparently removed the tonsils) after which a record appeared in the personal file: “After the operation, overloading and parachute jumping are contraindicated for six months ..”. He was wanted to be expelled from the detachment, but Komarov demanded to give him a chance for recovery. He was supported by the entire squad. As a result of training according to his own program in the middle of 1963, he was rehabilitated by doctors. On September 17, he was included in the formed group for a long solitary flight in the "East", but in February 1964 the decision was made to "East" no longer do, and the existing four ships would be remade and the crew of three cosmonauts would fly there, and year The converted ship was named Sunrise. 
The “star” hour came on October 12, 1964. The crew consisting of V.M. Komarov, K.P. Feoktistov and B. B. Egorov made a 1-day, 17-minute, 3-second flight on the "Sunrise". It was the world's first multi-seater spacecraft. For the first time, the crew included not only a pilot, but also a ship design engineer and a doctor. For the first time in history, the crew flew without spacesuits. For the first time, a soft landing system was used. 
In 1965, Komarov was included in the preparation group for the flight under the Soyuz program. On August 5, 1966, he was appointed commander of the Soyuz-1 spacecraft.Yuri Gagarin was appointed as his understudy. 
This flight of Komarov ended tragically. He did everything he could in flight, but because of the failure of the parachute system, the descent vehicle crashed.

Here is information from the site Before the death, cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov managed to speak:

American researchers Jamie Doran and Bisoni Pierce have released the book Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin (Star Man: The True Story of the Legend of Yuri Gagarin), which released a number of shocking details of the notorious 1967 flight in which Vladimir died Mosquitoes.

The narration is based on the revelations of gebist Veniamin Rusaev, published in the Literary Gazette in 2006, and an interview with Gagarin Yaroslav Golovanov, who made his way into print only in 1989. A person familiar with the Soviet system is hardly surprised by the fate of Vladimir Komarov, but this does not make the story less tragic, if not more.

The book opens with a description of the close friendship between Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin, as well as the idea that Leonid Brezhnev got into his head.Scratching the place of the roast rooster's bite, Brovasty decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution in a new way, in a cosmic way, so that the entire captain would tremble. So: we are launching Soyuz-1 with Komarov, the next day - another Soyuz, but this time with two cosmonauts. The ships meet in orbit, Komarov changes places with one of his colleagues and triumphantly returns to Earth. For the first time in the history of mankind, an astronaut who took off on one machine will be back on another!

Leonid Ilyich made it very clear that by the anniversary of the communist revolution this was bound to happen.

Further it would be unfortunate, even if Sergei Dovlatov described all this. Specialists found 203 (!) Faults in the "Soyuz-1". The flight had to be postponed. But who would dare tell Brezhnev about this?

Gagarin described the situation on ten pages and handed the document to his closest comrade in the KGB, Benjamin Rusaev. Almost everyone who saw this letter, including Rusayev himself, was demoted, fired, or sent to serve in Siberia. When it was less than a month before the start, Komarov said to Rusaev: "I will not return." The demoted KGB player asked: “Why won't you refuse?” The answer was very simple: “Then they will send a backup. Yura He will die in my place, and we need to take care of him. ”After that, according to Rusaev, Komarov burst into tears.

On the launch day on April 23, 1967, Gagarin appeared on the launch pad and demanded that he also be dressed in a spacesuit. The sudden "whim" of the popular pet then remained incomprehensible. Perhaps he wanted to get a friend out of a rocket at the last moment? Make a scandal? Of course, as planned, Komarov flew.

Numerous problems immediately made themselves felt. Antennas did not open properly. Management was difficult. Junk engines. About the launch of the second "Union" was not the question. The chances of a successful return decreased every minute.

When everything became finally clear, the chairman of the government, Kosygin, contacted Komarov. According to eyewitnesses, there were tears in the prime minister’s eyes. Kosygin's wife asked the astronaut what to pass to his children.

After that, the ship began to decline. The parachute did not open. The US Air Force base, located in the vicinity of Istanbul, was able to catch scraps of Vladimir Komarov's last words. The authors of the book report that the astronaut was in a rage and, if the commentators were able to correctly disassemble his screams, he accused the engineers of having killed him ...

We all know very well (should know) how dangerous the cosmonautics of the 1960s were. Scientific and technical progress has not yet reached the point when flights into space were truly justified by something else besides the political ambitions of the two superpowers. In the same 1967, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Cheffy burned down in Apollo 1. Obituaries to the first people on the moon Nile Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were prepared in advance. But the death of Vladimir Komarov looks planned in the most cynical way.

According to Rusaev, Gagarin was extremely depressed. In an interview published only after twenty years, he harshly criticized the decision not to postpone the flight.When meeting with Rusaev, Yuri Alekseevich refused to speak at home, fearing eavesdropping. The conversation took place at the entrance, and Gagarin could not forgive himself for not having saved his friend, had not done everything possible, had not reached Brezhnev. “I have to meet with the chief in person,” said the astronaut, no longer hiding his anger. “If I get to him and find out that he knew everything, I know what I’ll do.” “Please, talk to me before you decide on something,” Rusaev said. - Be careful".

The authors mention a rumor that Gagarin still met in Brezhnev and splashed something in his face. We hope that it was so, although it is unlikely.

The question remains: why did Gagarin, who had the status of a human icon, could not agree with Komarov about both of them refusing? It would seem that it is so easy to disrupt the launch, showing the resilience and integrity of a professional and a citizen - the qualities that the Soviet secondary school so actively attributed to real cosmonauts. If you ask this question, you do not understand what totalitarianism is; you do not understand how right Orwell and Zamyatin were; you do not understand what degree of alienation can exist between man and his soul.

In addition to the Hero's Stars, Komarov was awarded the Orders of Lenin and the Red Star, the medal "For Military Merit" , and the Gold Star medal of the Hero of Labor DRV.. 
The urn with the ashes of Komarov was buried in the Kremlin wall. 
Cape on the northeast coast of the Yenisei Bay. Named Dixons (at the suggestion of AG Divintsa) in 1964.