Vladimir Titov
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov , Colonel, Russian Air Force
, Ret., and former Russia
n cosmonaut
was born January 1, 1947, in Sretensk
, in the Zabaykalsky Krai region of Russia. He is married to the former Alexandra Kozlova of Ivanovo Region, Russia. They have two children.
in Ukraine
in 1970, and the Gagarin Air Force Academy
in 1987.
, and recipient of the Order of Lenin
(1983, 1988). In 1988, the French
awarded him the title of Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur, and in 1990 he and Musa Manarov were awarded the U.S. Harmon Prize — the first Soviet citizens to win the award — in recognition of their world endurance record.
Titov was selected as a cosmonaut in 1976, and in September 1981 was paired with Gennady Strekalov
. The two men served as the back-up crew for Soyuz T-5
in 1982 and Soyuz T-9
in 1983. A veteran of five missions, Titov served as commander on Soyuz T-8
and Soyuz T-10-1
in 1983 and Soyuz TM-4
in 1987, and flew on the crew of STS-63 in 1995 and STS-86
in 1997. He has logged a total of 18 hours, 48 minutes of EVA
, and has spent a total of 387 days, 52 minutes, 18 seconds in space (including the Soyuz T-10-1
launch abort).
Titov made his first space flight on April 20, 1983, as commander of Soyuz T-8. He and Strekalov had been specifically trained to repair the faulty Salyut 7
solar array. He was supposed to dock with Salyut 7, but once in orbit the Soyuz rendezvous radar antenna failed to deploy properly. Several attitude control maneuvers at high rates were made but failed to swing the boom out. (The postflight inquiry later discovered that the antenna had been torn off when the Soyuz payload shroud separated.) With FCC permission, the crew attempted a rendezvous using only an optical sight and ground radar inputs for guidance. During the final approach, which was made in darkness, Titov believed that the closing speed was too great. He therefore attempted a braking maneuver, but felt that the two spacecraft were still closing too fast. He aborted the rendezvous to avoid a crash, and no further attempts were made before the three men returned to Earth after a flight lasting just 2 days, 17 minutes, 48 seconds
Titov and Strekalov were then scheduled for launch on board what should have been Soyuz T-10
on September 27, 1983. However, a valve in the propellant line failed to close at T−90 seconds, causing a large fire to start at the base of the launch vehicle only one minute before launch. The fire quickly engulfed the rocket, and the automatic abort sequence failed as the wires involved burned through. Two launch controllers manually aborted the mission by sending radio commands from the launch blockhouse. This was accomplished 12 seconds after the fire began. The Soyuz descent module was pulled clear by the launch escape system, and after being subjected to 15–17 G's, the crew landed safely some 2.5 miles (4 km) from the launch vehicle, which apparently exploded seconds after the Soyuz separated. The two men were given a medical check-up, but had sustained no injuries during their brief flight which lasted 5 minutes, 30 seconds.
Titov was next assigned to command Soyuz TM-2. He and his flight engineer, Alexander Serebrov
, were scheduled for a long-duration flight on board Mir
1. Six days prior to launch, due to doubts about Serebrov's health, they were replaced by the back-up crew. Titov continued training for a long-duration mission, and in April 1987 was paired with Musa Manarov. Later that year, he graduated from the Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy while continuing his work at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
His next assignment came as the commander of Soyuz TM-4, which launched on December 21, 1987. Together with Musa Manarov and Anatoli Levchenko
, he linked up with the orbiting Mir 1 space station and her crew. After a short period of joint work, Romanenko, Alexandrov, and Levchenko returned to Earth handing over the space station to Titov and Manarov. The two men settled down to a long program of scientific experiments and observations, and played host to the visiting Soyuz TM-5
and TM-6
missions. At the end of the Soyuz TM-6 visit, one of its crew, Dr. Valeri Polyakov, remained on board with Titov and Manarov.
On February 26, 1988, the two cosmonauts carried out an EVA lasting 4 hours and 25 minutes, during which they removed one of the sections of the solar panel and installed a new one. They also installed some new scientific experiments and removed samples of material that had been left exposed to open space, and inspected the Progress 34
spacecraft.
On June 30, 1988, they attempted a repair on the Roentgen X-ray telescope. The telescope had not been designed for repair or replacement so the EVA was a difficult one. As they sliced through the 20-layer thick thermal blanket to expose the telescope's faulty X-ray detector unit, the two men had to stop and rest several times, as they had nowhere to anchor themselves, and had to take turns holding each other steady. Their bulky gloves made removing the small bolts very difficult, and it took 90 minutes instead of the 20 allocated. When a special wrench they were using suddenly snapped, the EVA had to be aborted, and the two men returned inside the Mir, having spent 5 hours, 10 minutes in open space.
On October 20, 1988, repairs were successfully completed, and the X-ray telescope recommenced operations. The cosmonauts also installed some anchor points for the EVA scheduled for the joint Soviet-French mission, installed a new shortwave aerial, and took samples of a film which had formed over one of the portholes, before returning inside the Mir after 4 hours and 12 minutes. They then settled down to their program of experiments and observations. In November 1988, they played host to the joint Soviet-French mission. After three weeks of joint work, Titov and Manarov returned to Earth together, along with the French cosmonaut Jean-Loup Chrétien
aboard Soyuz TM-6. Titov and Manarov returned to Earth after a mission lasting 365 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes, setting a new record, and exceeding one year in space for the first time.
On October 28, 1992, NASA announced that an experienced cosmonaut would fly aboard the STS-60
Space Shuttle mission. Titov was one of two candidates named by the Russian Space Agency for mission specialist training at the Johnson Space Center. In April 1993, he was assigned as back-up mission specialist for Sergei Krikalev
, who flew on STS-60, the first joint U.S./Russian Space Shuttle Mission (February 3 to 11, 1994). In September 1993, Titov was selected to fly on STS-63 with Krikalev training as his back-up.
From February 2 to 11, 1995, Titov was a mission specialist aboard the Orbiter Discovery, on STS-63, the first flight of the new joint Russian-American Space Program. Mission highlights included the rendezvous with the Russian Space Station Mir, operation of Spacehab
, and the deployment and retrieval of Spartan 204. In completing this mission, he logged an additional 8 days, 6 hours, 29 minutes in space.
Titov served on the crew of STS-86 Atlantis (September 25 to October 6, 1997) NASA's seventh mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. Highlights included the exchange of U.S. crew members Mike Foale
and David Wolf, the transfer to Mir of 10,400 pounds of science and logistics, and the return of experiment hardware and results to Earth. Vladimir Titov and Scott Parazynski performed a 5-hour, 1-minute spacewalk during which they retrieved four experiments first deployed on Mir during the STS-76 docking mission, tethered the Solar Array Cap for use in a future Mir spacewalk to seal any hole found in the hull of the damaged Spektr module, and evaluated common EVA tools which may be used by astronauts wearing either Russian or American-made spacesuits. Mission accomplished in 169 orbits in 10 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes.
Titov retired from the Air Force and the Russian Space Agency in 1998. In 1998 he became Director of Space and Communications for the Boeing
Company in Moscow
, Russia
and the Commonwealth of Independent States
. He is currently serving as General Director, Russian Operations of Excalibur Almaz
.
Russian Air Force
The Russian Air Force is the air force of Russian Military. It is currently under the command of Colonel General Aleksandr Zelin. The Russian Navy has its own air arm, the Russian Naval Aviation, which is the former Soviet Aviatsiya Voyenno Morskogo Flota , or AV-MF).The Air Force was formed from...
, Ret., and former Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n cosmonaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
was born January 1, 1947, in Sretensk
Sretensk
Sretensk is a town and the administrative center of Sretensky District of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the right bank of the Shilka River , east of Chita.Population: It was founded in 1689 and granted town status in 1926....
, in the Zabaykalsky Krai region of Russia. He is married to the former Alexandra Kozlova of Ivanovo Region, Russia. They have two children.
Education
Graduated from secondary school in 1965, from the Higher Air Force College in ChernihivChernihiv
Chernihiv or Chernigov is a historic city in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Chernihiv Oblast , as well as of the surrounding Chernihivskyi Raion within the oblast...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
in 1970, and the Gagarin Air Force Academy
Gagarin Air Force Academy
Gagarin Air Force Academy is the name of a Russian military aviation academy located in Monino , Moscow Region.Gagarin Air Force Academy is one of the leading military educational institutions preparing high ranking military personnel for the Russian Air Force.Among the academy alumni are around...
in 1987.
Awards and honors
Awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet UnionHero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
, and recipient of the Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
(1983, 1988). In 1988, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
awarded him the title of Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur, and in 1990 he and Musa Manarov were awarded the U.S. Harmon Prize — the first Soviet citizens to win the award — in recognition of their world endurance record.
Career
In 1966, Titov enrolled at the Higher Air Force College in Chernihiv in Ukraine, graduating in 1970. Until 1974, he served at the College as a pilot-instructor and was responsible for the graduation of twelve student pilots. He later served as a flight commander with the air regiment where the cosmonauts carry out flying practice. He has flown 10 different types of aircraft, has logged more than 1,400 hours flying time, and holds the qualifications of Military Pilot, 1st Class, and Test Pilot, 3rd Class.Titov was selected as a cosmonaut in 1976, and in September 1981 was paired with Gennady Strekalov
Gennady Strekalov
Gennadi Mikhailovich Strekalov was an Instructor-Test-Cosmonaut and Department Head at Russian aerospace firm RSC Energia. He has been decorated twice as Hero of the Soviet Union...
. The two men served as the back-up crew for Soyuz T-5
Soyuz T-5
-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: 190 km*Apogee: 231 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 89.7 minutes-Mission highlights:...
in 1982 and Soyuz T-9
Soyuz T-9
-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: 201 km*Apogee: 229 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 88.6 minutes-Mission highlights:4th expedition to Salyut 7...
in 1983. A veteran of five missions, Titov served as commander on Soyuz T-8
Soyuz T-8
-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: 200 km*Apogee: 230 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 88.6 minutes-Mission highlights:...
and Soyuz T-10-1
Soyuz T-10-1
-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: N/A*Apogee: N/A*Inclination: N/A*Period: N/A-Mission highlights:...
in 1983 and Soyuz TM-4
Soyuz TM-4
-Mission parameters:*Mass: 7070 kg*Perigee: 337 km*Apogee: 357 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 91.5 minutes-Mission highlights:...
in 1987, and flew on the crew of STS-63 in 1995 and STS-86
STS-86
STS-86 was a Space Shuttle Atlantis mission to the Mir space station. This was the last Atlantis mission before it was taken out of service temporarily for maintenance and upgrades, including the glass cockpit.-Crew:-Crew notes:...
in 1997. He has logged a total of 18 hours, 48 minutes of EVA
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
, and has spent a total of 387 days, 52 minutes, 18 seconds in space (including the Soyuz T-10-1
Soyuz T-10-1
-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: N/A*Apogee: N/A*Inclination: N/A*Period: N/A-Mission highlights:...
launch abort).
Titov made his first space flight on April 20, 1983, as commander of Soyuz T-8. He and Strekalov had been specifically trained to repair the faulty Salyut 7
Salyut 7
Salyut 7 was a space station in low Earth orbit from April 1982 to February 1991. It was first manned in May 1982 with two crew via Soyuz T-5, and last visited in June 1986, by Soyuz T-15. Various crew and modules were used over its lifetime, including a total of 12 manned and 15 unmanned launches...
solar array. He was supposed to dock with Salyut 7, but once in orbit the Soyuz rendezvous radar antenna failed to deploy properly. Several attitude control maneuvers at high rates were made but failed to swing the boom out. (The postflight inquiry later discovered that the antenna had been torn off when the Soyuz payload shroud separated.) With FCC permission, the crew attempted a rendezvous using only an optical sight and ground radar inputs for guidance. During the final approach, which was made in darkness, Titov believed that the closing speed was too great. He therefore attempted a braking maneuver, but felt that the two spacecraft were still closing too fast. He aborted the rendezvous to avoid a crash, and no further attempts were made before the three men returned to Earth after a flight lasting just 2 days, 17 minutes, 48 seconds
Titov and Strekalov were then scheduled for launch on board what should have been Soyuz T-10
Soyuz T-10-1
-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6850 kg*Perigee: N/A*Apogee: N/A*Inclination: N/A*Period: N/A-Mission highlights:...
on September 27, 1983. However, a valve in the propellant line failed to close at T−90 seconds, causing a large fire to start at the base of the launch vehicle only one minute before launch. The fire quickly engulfed the rocket, and the automatic abort sequence failed as the wires involved burned through. Two launch controllers manually aborted the mission by sending radio commands from the launch blockhouse. This was accomplished 12 seconds after the fire began. The Soyuz descent module was pulled clear by the launch escape system, and after being subjected to 15–17 G's, the crew landed safely some 2.5 miles (4 km) from the launch vehicle, which apparently exploded seconds after the Soyuz separated. The two men were given a medical check-up, but had sustained no injuries during their brief flight which lasted 5 minutes, 30 seconds.
Titov was next assigned to command Soyuz TM-2. He and his flight engineer, Alexander Serebrov
Aleksandr Serebrov
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Serebrov is a former Soviet cosmonaut. He was born in Moscow, on February 15, 1944, graduated from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology , and was selected as a cosmonaut on December 1, 1978. He retired on May 10, 1995...
, were scheduled for a long-duration flight on board Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
1. Six days prior to launch, due to doubts about Serebrov's health, they were replaced by the back-up crew. Titov continued training for a long-duration mission, and in April 1987 was paired with Musa Manarov. Later that year, he graduated from the Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy while continuing his work at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
His next assignment came as the commander of Soyuz TM-4, which launched on December 21, 1987. Together with Musa Manarov and Anatoli Levchenko
Anatoli Levchenko
Anatoli Semyonovich Levchenko was a Soviet cosmonaut....
, he linked up with the orbiting Mir 1 space station and her crew. After a short period of joint work, Romanenko, Alexandrov, and Levchenko returned to Earth handing over the space station to Titov and Manarov. The two men settled down to a long program of scientific experiments and observations, and played host to the visiting Soyuz TM-5
Soyuz TM-5
-Launch:Soyuz TM-5 launched on 1988 June 7 and arrived at Mir on June 9 carrying the second Bulgarian in space, Alexandrov . He became the first Bulgarian to reach a Soviet space station...
and TM-6
Soyuz TM-6
Dr. Valeri Polyakov remained behind on Mir with cosmonauts Musa Manarov and Vladimir Titov when Mohmand and Lyakhov returned to Earth in Soyuz TM-5....
missions. At the end of the Soyuz TM-6 visit, one of its crew, Dr. Valeri Polyakov, remained on board with Titov and Manarov.
On February 26, 1988, the two cosmonauts carried out an EVA lasting 4 hours and 25 minutes, during which they removed one of the sections of the solar panel and installed a new one. They also installed some new scientific experiments and removed samples of material that had been left exposed to open space, and inspected the Progress 34
Progress spacecraft
The Progress is a Russian expendable freighter spacecraft. The spacecraft is an unmanned resupply spacecraft during its flight but upon docking with a space station, it allows astronauts inside, hence it is classified manned by the manufacturer. It was derived from the Soyuz spacecraft, and is...
spacecraft.
On June 30, 1988, they attempted a repair on the Roentgen X-ray telescope. The telescope had not been designed for repair or replacement so the EVA was a difficult one. As they sliced through the 20-layer thick thermal blanket to expose the telescope's faulty X-ray detector unit, the two men had to stop and rest several times, as they had nowhere to anchor themselves, and had to take turns holding each other steady. Their bulky gloves made removing the small bolts very difficult, and it took 90 minutes instead of the 20 allocated. When a special wrench they were using suddenly snapped, the EVA had to be aborted, and the two men returned inside the Mir, having spent 5 hours, 10 minutes in open space.
On October 20, 1988, repairs were successfully completed, and the X-ray telescope recommenced operations. The cosmonauts also installed some anchor points for the EVA scheduled for the joint Soviet-French mission, installed a new shortwave aerial, and took samples of a film which had formed over one of the portholes, before returning inside the Mir after 4 hours and 12 minutes. They then settled down to their program of experiments and observations. In November 1988, they played host to the joint Soviet-French mission. After three weeks of joint work, Titov and Manarov returned to Earth together, along with the French cosmonaut Jean-Loup Chrétien
Jean-Loup Chrétien
Jean-Loup Jacques Marie Chrétien, is a French engineer, a retired Général de Brigade in the Armée de l'Air , and a former CNES astronaut. He flew on two Franco-Soviet space missions and a NASA Space Shuttle mission...
aboard Soyuz TM-6. Titov and Manarov returned to Earth after a mission lasting 365 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes, setting a new record, and exceeding one year in space for the first time.
On October 28, 1992, NASA announced that an experienced cosmonaut would fly aboard the STS-60
STS-60
STS-60 was the first mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried Sergei K. Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a Space Shuttle. The mission used Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from Launch Pad 39A on 3 February 1994 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida...
Space Shuttle mission. Titov was one of two candidates named by the Russian Space Agency for mission specialist training at the Johnson Space Center. In April 1993, he was assigned as back-up mission specialist for Sergei Krikalev
Sergei Krikalev
Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev is a Russian cosmonaut and mechanical engineer. As a prominent rocket scientist, he has been veteran of six space flights and currently has spent more time in space than any other human being.On August 16, 2005 at 1:44 a.m...
, who flew on STS-60, the first joint U.S./Russian Space Shuttle Mission (February 3 to 11, 1994). In September 1993, Titov was selected to fly on STS-63 with Krikalev training as his back-up.
From February 2 to 11, 1995, Titov was a mission specialist aboard the Orbiter Discovery, on STS-63, the first flight of the new joint Russian-American Space Program. Mission highlights included the rendezvous with the Russian Space Station Mir, operation of Spacehab
SPACEHAB
Astrotech Corporation , formerly Spacehab Inc., is an aerospace company headquartered in Austin, Texas which provides commercial space products and services to NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, international space agencies, and global commercial customers...
, and the deployment and retrieval of Spartan 204. In completing this mission, he logged an additional 8 days, 6 hours, 29 minutes in space.
Titov served on the crew of STS-86 Atlantis (September 25 to October 6, 1997) NASA's seventh mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. Highlights included the exchange of U.S. crew members Mike Foale
Michael Foale
Colin Michael Foale, CBE, PhD is a British-American astrophysicist with dual citizenship and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six space shuttle missions and extended stays on both Mir and the International Space Station...
and David Wolf, the transfer to Mir of 10,400 pounds of science and logistics, and the return of experiment hardware and results to Earth. Vladimir Titov and Scott Parazynski performed a 5-hour, 1-minute spacewalk during which they retrieved four experiments first deployed on Mir during the STS-76 docking mission, tethered the Solar Array Cap for use in a future Mir spacewalk to seal any hole found in the hull of the damaged Spektr module, and evaluated common EVA tools which may be used by astronauts wearing either Russian or American-made spacesuits. Mission accomplished in 169 orbits in 10 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes.
Titov retired from the Air Force and the Russian Space Agency in 1998. In 1998 he became Director of Space and Communications for the Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
Company in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
. He is currently serving as General Director, Russian Operations of Excalibur Almaz
Excalibur Almaz
Excalibur Almaz is a private spaceflight company which plans to provide orbital space tourism, and provide test beds for experiments in a microgravity environment., Excalibur hoped to begin flights by 2012 with revenue flights starting as early as 2013....
.