Born on May 30, 1934 in the village of Listvyanka, Tisulsky district Kemerovo region. Father - Leonov Arkhip Alekseevich (born in 1892), was a peasant, in the past - a miner. Mother - Leonova(Sotnikova) Evdokia Minaevna (born in 1895), - teacher. Spouse - Leonova Svetlana Pavlovna (born in 1940). Daughters: Leonova Victoria Alekseevna (born in 1962), Leonova Oksana Alekseevna (born in 1967).

Officials are surprised; what will be open to the public? To avoid any odds, Belyaev and Leonov are briefly "informed" before the press conference. Between general, half-truths and lies, the press conference is of interest. However, in a surprise, Pavel Belyaev, the commander of the Pasha mission, "reveals" a small problem that arose with the automatic steering system, but he immediately comes to the fact that he and his companion were delighted that the automatic system had a small failure. because he let them pilot the spaceship itself!

Alexei Leonov was born in a small village 600 kilometers north of the city of Kemerovo. Here to my grandfather, exiled by the tsarist government for participating in the revolution of 1905, in different time Aleksey's parents arrived from the Donbass - at first the mother, and after graduation civil war and father. Donetsk miner Arkhip Leonov became the chairman of the village council in a Siberian village. In 1936, the father was repressed, in 1939 he was rehabilitated.

The trick that allows you to calibrate the machine in the second plane of the story, the breakdown becomes an epiphenomenon that does not matter, without gravity, and allows the same to glorify the astronaut! The first joint space mission between the United States and the Soviet Union, Apollo-Soyuz, was a success. Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov says: "The flight went smoothly, softly, like a peeled egg." It will pass in 10 minutes from the capsule. Disaster came close when Leonov, a "prisoner" of a diving suit, exhausted by the difference in pressure, can no longer bend his body to pass through the Volga airlock, itself pneumatic.

Alexei was the ninth child in the family. In 1938 he moved to Kemerovo with his mother. In 1943 he went to primary school. In 1948, the family moved to the place of work of his father in the city of Kaliningrad (Kenigsberg). In 1953 Alexei graduated from high school, received a good matriculation certificate, although he considered the main wealth not marks in the certificate, but those outstanding for a graduate high school knowledge that he had in his cherished business - aviation and art. According to the notes of the brother - the former aviation technology he studied with enviable tenacity not only aircraft engines and aircraft designs, but also the basics of flight theory. In combination with sporting achievements, this was the key that opened the door for the young man flight school.

Leonov had to depressurize his suit in order to re-enter the ship. But the forest is so dense that the recovery team must cut down trees to clear the area in order to be able to plunder them. Space travelers should even ski to the recovery area. As for the capsule, it can only be restored after a few days.

After more than forty years of secrets, the real cause of death of the former Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. Important Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov reveals the truth behind the events of this tragic day.

In the same year A. Leonov entered the school of pilots in the city of Kremenchug, from 1955 to 1957 he studied at the Higher School of Fighter Pilots in the city of Chuguev in Ukraine. After college, from 1957 to 1959 he flew in combat regiments. In 1960 A.A. Leonov passed the competition and was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps. In 1960-1961 he was a student of courses at the Cosmonaut Training Center.

Both pilots died on this test flight. "This conclusion is credible for a civilian, not a professional," said Leonov, who has always been staunch against the secrecy surrounding Gagarin's death and wanted at least his family to know the truth.

“In fact, things went differently,” she says. On that day, Leonov supervised the starting preparation of the parachute. The weather was bad, with rain, wind and snow, making it impossible to do any exercise. This was a violation of flight procedure.

On that day, Leonov spoke to witnesses pointing to a Su-15 model that suddenly emerged from the clouds with its burst of smoke and flames. Simple turns were recorded after Yury reported, "Code name 645, mission accomplished, descend," Leonov explained.

After a three-year training on March 18-19, 1965, together with P.I. Belyaev flew on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft as a co-pilot. During the flight, which lasted one day 2 hours 2 minutes and 17 seconds, for the first time in the world he went into open space, retired from the spacecraft at a distance of up to five meters and spent 12 minutes 9 seconds outside the airlock in open space. On the state commission after the flight, the shortest report in the history of cosmonautics was delivered: "It is possible to live and work in outer space." Thus began a new direction of human activity in space.

This was last time when we heard it. Fifty seconds after the plane took off. Leonov was ordered to return to Chkalovskoye Pole, where he received word of the hypothesis that Gagarin's plane had not been refueled 45 minutes early. Leonov's worst guesses were confirmed when someone reported an accident near the village of Novoselovo.

We sent a team that found the remains of the plane and the remains of Seryogin. But not Gagarin, except for his map and bag. So at first we thought he was able to get out of the plane. We sent a battalion of soldiers who sow the forest all night. Crying so that the scumbag could hear them, in fact the men found nothing but the remains of a balloon. Only the next day we found the remains of Yuri Gagarin. A commission was set up to investigate the causes of the accident.

In 1965-1967 A.A. Leonov- senior instructor, cosmonaut, deputy commander of the cosmonaut detachment - pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR. From 1967 to 1970 he commanded the lunar group of cosmonauts. In 1968 he graduated from the N.E. Zhukovsky.

From 1970 to 1972 A. Leonov- Head of the 1st Directorate of the Research Institute of the CTC, from 1972 to 1991 - Deputy Head of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin, commander of the cosmonaut detachment.

Together with German Titov, we were invited to take part in the mission as experts. The truth that has been hidden is more like a thriller. When Leonov was given the opportunity to see the actual accident report after forty years, he found a large number of inconsistencies. But the problem was Leonov's report, which had been held many years ago, and who bore his name, he noticed that it was written in a different hand than his, and with facts completely mixed.

This showed that two jets must be at least fifty miles apart. With the help of a computer, the new investigation has pinpointed exactly what caused Yuri Gagarin's long fatal spiral. So we used the computer to reconstruct the trajectory that can be attributed to this 55 second interval. And it turned out to be a deep spiral. Now, an aircraft can go into a deep spiral if a larger, heavier aircraft passes too close and gives it a pass.

At the beginning of 1973, the USSR Academy of Sciences and NASA (USA) announced the composition of the main and backup crews of the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft, named the cosmonauts who had to go a long and difficult path to a joint launch. Each party determined its own selection criteria. A necessary condition for the final preparation was to be a deep knowledge of technology, the ability to work with the systems and equipment of both ships, knowledge of the language of the partner country, high professional qualification readiness to conduct a broad program of scientific experiments and observations. The USSR was represented by pilot-cosmonauts A.A. Leonov and V.N. Kubasov. From the United States - astronauts T. Stafford, V. Brand, D. Slayton. In July 1975, a joint flight was carried out. The commander of the Soyuz spacecraft was A.A. Leonov.

And that's exactly what happened to Gagarin. This trajectory was the only one that matched all of our initial parameters. Then Leonov began to publish this story. This was followed by various press conferences, some of which were televised. The flight pilots were asked to examine and challenge Leonov's testimony.

Leonov's hypothesis is that it was necessary to take into account the fact that such an incident occurred near Moscow, since this could mean a wound in the solid image of the block. However, it was easier to attribute the guilt to alcohol or a nervous breakdown. There is a record of General Zapolsky with a story about a Su-15 pilot who does not doubt his guilt in causing the accident. However, the name of the person responsible for Gagarin's death is not yet known. Maintaining anonymity was the main condition without which Leonov could not publish it.

All mankind followed with admiration an outstanding experiment in space - the joint flight of the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz-19 and the American Apollo. For the first time in history, the docking of these spaceships, new means of docking were tested in operation in order to ensure the safety of human flights in outer space, astrophysical, biomedical, technological and geophysical experiments were carried out. The flight lasted more than five days, they opened a new era in space exploration.

It is only known that the pilot has been ill for eighty years. But the case is now closed, and again open truth should keep it closed. This is the conclusion of the first Russian woman in space, Valentin Tereshkov. Tereshkova spoke at a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna, where he attended a meeting of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of External Space.

Valentina Tereshkova before her launch. The only regret is that it took so long for the truth to come out,” he said. "But finally we can rest." Gagarin's death was not just a tragedy, but a career for Tereshkova. The state did not allow her to fly longer, since the possibility of losing a second cosmonaut of this size would be simply catastrophic.

From 1977 to 1979 A.A. Leonov- Adjunct of the Academy named after Zhukovsky.

Over the years scientific and practical work and during space flights A.A. Leonov performed a number of studies and experiments. Among them: the study of light and color characteristics of vision after a flight into space (1967), the influence of space flight factors on the visual acuity of the pilot of the Buran complex (1980), the development of a hydro laboratory (using the hydrosphere as an analogue of weightlessness, 1966), the creation of a spacesuit for work in hydrosphere. He repeatedly took part in scientific conferences and international congresses, made about 30 reports.

I was banned from flying again, even flying on airplanes. But the source of Valentina Tereshkova's deep sadness is still in Gagarin's death. Trying to hold back tears as he speaks, he says: I still miss him. This is a loss not only for our fellow astronauts, but for the entire community.












































For the casual reader with limited knowledge of early spaceflight, Two Sides of the Moon might be worth reading. Although the book is presented as a double autobiography, it quickly becomes apparent that Scott and Leonov did not write the book. It turns out that the book was not written by Leonov and Scott, but by British author Kristin Toomey. This isn't necessarily a deal breaker, but if the writer intends to write the American astronaut's experience in the first person, as if he were one, it would be helpful to at least use language that an American could use.

The most important publications of A.A. Leonova are: "Pedestrian of space" (1967), "Solar wind" (1969), "I go out into outer space"(1970)," The perception of space and time in space "( Leonov, Lebedev; 1966), "Features of the psychological preparation of astronauts" ( Leonov, Lebedev; 1967).

He was twice awarded the high title of Hero Soviet Union(1965, 1975), as well as the titles of the laureate of the State Prize of the USSR (1981) and the laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize.

A.A. Leonov awarded two Orders of Lenin, Orders of the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces" III degree. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Socialist Labor of Bulgaria, Hero of Labor of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He was also awarded a large gold medal "For merits in the development of science and to mankind", a medal named after Z. Neyedly (Czechoslovakia), two large gold medals "Cosmos", two de Lavo medals, a gold medal named after Yu.A. Gagarin, a large gold medal named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and many other foreign orders and medals. He was awarded the International Aviation Prize named after K. Harmon. He is an honorary citizen of 30 cities of the world: Vologda, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Perm, Chuguev, Kremenchug, Belgorod, Cherepovets, Nalchik, Karaganda, Arkalyk, Dzhezkazgan, Kaluga, Gagarin, Kirzhach, Leninsk, Druskininkai (Lithuania), Altenburg (former GDR) , Mouth-on-Labe (Czechoslovakia); Sofia, Plevna, Plovdiv, Varna, Vidin, Ruse, Svishchev, Kolarov grad, Silistria (Bulgaria); New York, Washington, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, Haytsville, Oklahoma, San Antonio, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City (USA). In the name of A.A. Leonova one of the craters on the moon is named.

A.A. Leonov was elected a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics, Academician Russian Academy astronautics, co-chairman of the International Association of Space Flight Participants (1985-1999), has degree candidate technical sciences.

He retired with the rank of Major General of Aviation. From 1992 to 2000, he was president of the specialized investment fund Alfa Capital. Since 2000 - Vice President of Alfa-Bank.

AT school years Alexei Arkhipovich began to get involved in painting. He was captivated by the pictures of the surrounding nature, he always lives in surprise at the creations of human hands. From this surprise - the desire to sketch both the arch of the lock on the canal, and the old brigantine ... A.A. Leonov- the author of about 200 paintings and 5 art albums, including space landscapes, fantasy, earthly landscapes, portraits of friends (watercolor, oil, Dutch gouache). Even in the budget of time that is mean for hobbies, he finds hours for a careful study of the work of the great artists of the past and the great masters of our time. In short months military service in the GDR, for example, he visited the Dresden Art Gallery several times, visited art gallery in Altenburg and other museums. Since 1965 he has been a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. His favorite artist is Aivazovsky. He considers Nikolai Romadin one of the best domestic landscape painters, among Soviet artists he highly appreciates Yuri Kugach, Skitaltsev. There are also favorite sculptors. Best of all, he knows the work of Grigory Postnikov. This sculptor, before others, devoted himself to displaying the audacity of man in the conquest of outer space.

In addition to his passion for painting, A.A. Leonov likes to read books from the series "Life of Remarkable People". Among his other passions are cycling, tennis, volleyball, basketball, hunting, photography and filming (he filmed and voiced a series of 17 films "Cosmonauts without masks").

Lives and works in Moscow.


Born on May 30, 1934 in the village of Listvyanka, Tisulsky District, Kemerovo Region. Father - Leonov Arkhip Alekseevich (born in 1892), was a peasant, in the past - a miner. Mother - Leonova (Sotnikova) Evdokia Minaevna (born in 1895), - teacher. Wife - Svetlana Pavlovna Leonova (born in 1940). Daughters: Victoria Alekseevna Leonova (born in 1962), Oksana Alekseevna Leonova (born in 1967).

Alexei Leonov was born in a small village 600 kilometers north of the city of Kemerovo. Aleksey's parents came here from the Donbass at various times to visit his grandfather, who was exiled by the tsarist government for participating in the revolution of 1905 - at first his mother, and after the end of the Civil War, his father. Donetsk miner Arkhip Leonov became the chairman of the village council in a Siberian village. In 1936, the father was repressed, in 1939 he was rehabilitated.



Alexei was the ninth child in the family. In 1938 he moved to Kemerovo with his mother. In 1943 he went to elementary school. In 1948, the family moved to the place of work of his father in the city of Kaliningrad (Kenigsberg). In 1953, Alexei graduated from high school, received a good matriculation certificate, although he considered the main wealth not the marks in the certificate, but those outstanding knowledge for a high school graduate that he had in his cherished business - aviation and art. According to the notes of his brother, a former aviation technician, he studied with admirable tenacity not only aircraft engines and aircraft designs, but also the basics of flight theory. In combination with sporting achievements, this was the key that opened the doors of the flight school for the young man.

In the same year, A. Leonov entered the school of pilots in the city of Kremenchug, from 1955 to 1957 he studied at the Higher School of Fighter Pilots in the city of Chuguev in Ukraine. After college, from 1957 to 1959 he flew in combat regiments. In 1960 A.A. Leonov passed the competition and was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps. In 1960-1961 he was a student of courses at the Cosmonaut Training Center.

After a three-year training on March 18-19, 1965, together with P.I. Belyaev flew on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft as a co-pilot. During the flight, which lasted one day 2 hours 2 minutes and 17 seconds, for the first time in the world he went into open space, retired from the spacecraft at a distance of up to five meters and spent 12 minutes 9 seconds outside the airlock in open space. The shortest report in the history of cosmonautics was made at the state commission after the flight: "It is possible to live and work in outer space." Thus began a new direction of human activity in space.

That was the last time we heard it. Fifty seconds after the plane took off. Leonov was ordered to return to Chkalovskoye Pole, where he received word of the hypothesis that Gagarin's plane had not been refueled 45 minutes early. Leonov's worst guesses were confirmed when someone reported an accident near the village of Novoselovo.

We sent a team that found the remains of the plane and the remains of Seryogin. But not Gagarin, except for his map and bag. So at first we thought he was able to get out of the plane. We sent a battalion of soldiers who sow the forest all night. Crying so that the scumbag could hear them, in fact the men found nothing but the remains of a balloon. Only the next day we found the remains of Yuri Gagarin. A commission was set up to investigate the causes of the accident.

In 1965-1967 A.A. Leonov - senior instructor, cosmonaut, deputy commander of the cosmonaut detachment - pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR. From 1967 to 1970 he commanded the lunar group of cosmonauts. In 1968 he graduated from the N.E. Zhukovsky.

From 1970 to 1972, A.Leonov was the head of the 1st department of the Research Institute of the CTC, from 1972 to 1991, he was the deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin, commander of the cosmonaut detachment.

At the beginning of 1973, the USSR Academy of Sciences and NASA (USA) announced the composition of the main and backup crews of the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft, named the cosmonauts who had to go a long and difficult path to a joint launch. Each party determined its own selection criteria. A necessary condition for the final preparation was to be a deep knowledge of technology, the ability to work with the systems and equipment of both ships, knowledge of the language of the partner country, high professional qualifications, readiness to conduct a wide program of scientific experiments and observations. The USSR was represented by pilot-cosmonauts A.A. Leonov and V.N. Kubasov. From the United States - astronauts T. Stafford, V. Brand, D. Slayton. In July 1975, a joint flight was carried out. A.A. Leonov was the commander of the Soyuz spacecraft.

All mankind followed with admiration an outstanding experiment in space - the joint flight of the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz-19 and the American Apollo. For the first time in history, docking of these spacecraft was carried out, new means of docking were tested in operation in order to ensure the safety of human flights in outer space, astrophysical, biomedical, technological and geophysical experiments were carried out. The flight lasted more than five days, they opened a new era in space exploration.

From 1977 to 1979 A.A. Leonov is an adjunct of the Zhukovsky Academy.

During the years of scientific and practical work and during space flights, A.A. Leonov carried out a number of studies and experiments. Among them: the study of light and color characteristics of vision after a flight into space (1967), the influence of space flight factors on the visual acuity of the pilot of the Buran complex (1980), the development of a hydro laboratory (using the hydrosphere as an analogue of weightlessness, 1966), the creation of a spacesuit for work in hydrosphere. He repeatedly took part in scientific conferences and international congresses, made about 30 reports.

The most important publications of A.A.Leonov are: "Pedestrian of space" (1967), "Solar wind" (1969), "Going out into outer space" (1970), "Perception of space and time in space" (Leonov, Lebedev; 1966 ), "Features of the psychological preparation of cosmonauts" (Leonov, Lebedev; 1967).

He was twice awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union (1965, 1975), as well as the titles of the USSR State Prize laureate (1981) and the laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize.

A.A. Leonov was awarded two Orders of Lenin, Orders of the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces" III degree. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Socialist Labor of Bulgaria, Hero of Labor of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He was also awarded a large gold medal "For merits in the development of science and to mankind", a medal named after Z. Neyedly (Czechoslovakia), two large gold medals "Cosmos", two de Lavo medals, a gold medal named after Yu.A. Gagarin, a large gold medal named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and many other foreign orders and medals. He was awarded the International Aviation Prize named after K. Harmon. He is an honorary citizen of 30 cities of the world: Vologda, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Perm, Chuguev, Kremenchug, Belgorod, Cherepovets, Nalchik, Karaganda, Arkalyk, Dzhezkazgan, Kaluga, Gagarin, Kirzhach, Leninsk, Druskininkai (Lithuania), Altenburg (former GDR) , Mouth-on-Labe (Czechoslovakia); Sofia, Plevna, Plovdiv, Varna, Vidin, Ruse, Svishchev, Kolarov grad, Silistria (Bulgaria); New York, Washington, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, Haytsville, Oklahoma, San Antonio, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City (USA). In the name of A.A. Leonov named one of the craters on the Moon.

A.A.Leonov was elected a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics, Academician of the Russian Academy of Astronautics, co-chairman of the International Association of Space Flight Participants (1985-1999), has a degree of Candidate of Technical Sciences.

He retired with the rank of Major General of Aviation. From 1992 to 2000, he was president of the specialized investment fund Alfa Capital. Since 2000 - Vice President of Alfa-Bank.

In his school years, Alexey Arkhipovich began to get involved in painting. He was captivated by the pictures of the surrounding nature, he always lives in surprise at the creations of human hands. From this surprise - the desire to sketch both the arch of the lock on the canal and the old brigantine ... A.A. Leonov is the author of about 200 paintings and 5 art albums, including space landscapes, fantasy, earthly landscapes, portraits of friends (watercolor, oil, Dutch gouache). Even in the budget of time that is mean for hobbies, he finds hours for a careful study of the work of the great artists of the past and the great masters of our time. During the short months of military service in the GDR, for example, he visited the Dresden art gallery several times, visited the art gallery in Altenburg and other museums. Since 1965 he has been a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. His favorite artist is Aivazovsky. He considers Nikolai Romadin one of the best domestic landscape painters, among Soviet artists he highly appreciates Yuri Kugach, Skitaltsev. There are also favorite sculptors. Best of all, he knows the work of Grigory Postnikov. This sculptor, before others, devoted himself to displaying the audacity of man in the conquest of outer space.

In addition to his passion for painting, A.A.Leonov likes to read books from the series "Life of Remarkable People". Among his other passions are cycling, tennis, volleyball, basketball, hunting, photography and filming (he filmed and voiced a series of 17 films "Cosmonauts without masks").