The youngest astronaut. The Presidential Library to mark the 60th anniversary of German Titov’s flight

On August 6, 1961 the Vostok-2 ship set off for the stars. 25-year-old German Titov was on board. The name of cosmonaut № 2 is forever inscribed in the history of world cosmonautics: he became the first person who spent more than 25 hours in orbit, or rather, a day, an hour and 18 minutes. During this time, the Vostok-2 spacecraft under his control made 17 orbits around the Earth, covering 700 thousand kilometers.

The flight of the Vostok-2 spacecraft is captured on rare footage of the Cosmonautics in the USSR newsreel included in the Outer Space electronic collection, which is available on the Presidential Library’s portal. It also includes periodicals, books, postcards, commemorative medals and badges spotlighting various milestones in the development of astronautics.

Many interesting materials dedicated to German Titov are presented in the electronic reading room of the Presidential Library. Among them are newspaper articles, rare editions, audio recordings, photographs.

German Titov might not have become a pilot and an astronaut. He said: “My whole life is a continuous improvisation. I had no intention of being a pilot, but when I was in ninth grade, a pilot came to us. I loved his sparkling boots and luxurious blue trousers. Therefore, at the draft board, answering the question where I want to serve, I replied that in aviation", - the newspaper Kommersant quotes German Titov.

His flying career was going well. In the autumn of 1959, at the medical board, Titov was asked whether he would like to fly not only on a new type of aircraft, but, for example, on a rocket or satellite. “It seemed unreal then. I flew the MiG-17, MiG-15 - they weigh several tons, much more than the first satellite! I read about space travel. I liked the book by Tsiolkovsky Dreams of the Earth and the Sky. But in 1957-1959 there was no thought of a man's flight into space". Titov’s words are already quoted in the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

At the end of 1959, the first cosmonaut corps was formed. German Titov quickly became its leader, but when they were deciding who should fly into space first, the choice was made in favor of Yuri Gagarin. Kommersant quotes an excerpt from the memoirs of General Nikolai Kamanin, who directed the selection and training of cosmonauts in those years: “Titov has a stronger character. The only thing that keeps me from deciding in favor of Titov is the need to have a stronger astronaut for a daily flight. The second flight of sixteen turns will be undeniably more difficult than the first one-turn flight. But mankind will never forget the first flight and the name of the first cosmonaut, and the second and all subsequent ones will be forgotten as easily as the next records are forgotten. It is difficult to decide whom to send to certain death, and just as difficult to decide which of the two worthy to make world famous and forever preserve his name in the history of mankind”.

But German Titov also became one of the first in the history of astronautics - as a person who made the first long orbital flight. And if the flight of Gagarin proved that a person can fly into space, then the second flight should have given an answer whether it is possible to live in space: to work actively, eat and sleep.

The Presidential Library’s electronic collections feature the book by Konstantin Somov German Titov. Callsign Oryol (2015), where the reader will find many interesting details and facts from the life of the cosmonaut, learn about the memories of his colleagues and friends, see little-known photographs and, of course, learn the details of the flight of the spacecraft Vostok-2.

For example, the author says that, contrary to instructions, Titov took several photographs with him on the flight, where he was captured in a plaid shirt at the training ground: “Already in zero gravity, he signed these photographs to Voroshilov, Khrushchev and other leaders of our state. But first of all, he made the main inscription to his wife. “From the board of the Vostok-2 spacecraft. Almost all the stars asked my little Tomochka to convey their greetings“”.

The publication also contains the article The first flights into space, the authors of which note the true heroism and tremendous willpower of the cosmonaut, which he showed during the flight program: nausea. The astronaut was given an hour's rest, but the unpleasant sensations did not go away and sharply intensified when observing the Earth's running through the window, with sudden head movements. However, when the astronaut gathered himself internally, looked straight ahead, the ailment disappeared. The strong-willed attitude helped, German Titov maintained good working capacity and tried to do everything according to the program.

Meanwhile, the cosmonaut's return to Earth was no less dangerous than the flight itself: “Death hovered over Titov during his return from space flight. At first, when there was no separation of the descent vehicle and the instrument compartment for a long time. Then, when the catapult went off at an altitude of seven kilometers, the parachute opened. Looking around, the cosmonaut saw that he was being carried to the railway, and a train was rushing across the path, like in a film. Return from space and die under the wheels of the train - you could not imagine more stupid. Titov landed near the railway tracks in a plowed field. Later, with his usual humor, he told his wife Tamara: “It’s good that the Saratov collective farmers plow, otherwise it would have been even harder”.

The youngest cosmonaut in history, German Titov, became the first not only in terms of time spent in orbit, but also for the first time independently controlled the ship, filmed with a film camera, and took the first photographs of the Earth. But the most important thing is that the flight on August 6-7, 1961 became a test of human capabilities and proved that one can live and work in zero gravity.