Vasily Grigoryevich Lazarev, a Pilot-Cosmonaut and a Hero of the Soviet Union, was born in the village of Poroshino, Altai Krai on February 23, 1928. As his parents moved a lot, Lazarev spent his childhood in various regions, including Turkistan and the Russian Far East. When his father died of typhoid fever, the Lazarev family moved to their relatives in the Urals. Vasily Lazarev went to school in Sredneuralsk.
Together with his friend, Lazarev prepared for enrolling at the Sverdlovsk Special Flying Academy. However, after his friend failed the medical screening, Vasily Lazarev stood in solidarity with him and decided to study medicine instead of attending the Flying Academy.
Later, the future cosmonaut moved to Saratov where he continued medical education at an institute that offered military training alongside a degree. As soon as he had the chance, Lazarev completed a course for becoming a professional pilot.
One year after graduating, Vasily Lazarev was sent to the Testing Institute in the Moscow Region where he flew various air vehicles, including stratosphere balloons, aerostats, and hot air balloons. When he was offered to prepare for a space mission, the pilot agreed to do it at once. The medical board turned him down twice, but in January 1966, Vasily Lazarev was eventually included in the cosmonaut team.
In 1970, he was in the backup crew of the Soyuz 9 space flight. Three years later, he was appointed the commander of Soyuz 12. Oleg Makarov was the flight engineer. The spacecraft was launched on September 27, and the flight lasted almost two days.
During his second space flight, Vasily Lazarev escaped from the brink of death after the failure of the launch vehicle. It took place on April 5, 1975. During the twenty minutes of the flight, Lazarev and Makarov had two extremely close calls: one during the launch, and one during the emergency landing.
The capsule with the two cosmonauts landed on difficult terrain in Altai: on the slope of the Teremok-3 mountain, on the right bank of the Uba River. The cosmonauts were uncertain as to where they had landed and were discovered by a helicopter. The rescuers tried to approach the capsule but were hindered by an avalanche. It was only the next day that the military managed to airlift them.
In 1975, Lazarev became the head of the committee for selecting potential cosmonauts from the Soviet bloc. Later, he joined the group for preparing the tests of the new transport crewed spacecraft “Soyuz T”.
Vasily Lazarev died on the last day of 1990 and was buried in the vicinity of the Zvyozdny Gorodok space training facility.
Together with his friend, Lazarev prepared for enrolling at the Sverdlovsk Special Flying Academy. However, after his friend failed the medical screening, Vasily Lazarev stood in solidarity with him and decided to study medicine instead of attending the Flying Academy.
Later, the future cosmonaut moved to Saratov where he continued medical education at an institute that offered military training alongside a degree. As soon as he had the chance, Lazarev completed a course for becoming a professional pilot.
One year after graduating, Vasily Lazarev was sent to the Testing Institute in the Moscow Region where he flew various air vehicles, including stratosphere balloons, aerostats, and hot air balloons. When he was offered to prepare for a space mission, the pilot agreed to do it at once. The medical board turned him down twice, but in January 1966, Vasily Lazarev was eventually included in the cosmonaut team.
In 1970, he was in the backup crew of the Soyuz 9 space flight. Three years later, he was appointed the commander of Soyuz 12. Oleg Makarov was the flight engineer. The spacecraft was launched on September 27, and the flight lasted almost two days.
During his second space flight, Vasily Lazarev escaped from the brink of death after the failure of the launch vehicle. It took place on April 5, 1975. During the twenty minutes of the flight, Lazarev and Makarov had two extremely close calls: one during the launch, and one during the emergency landing.
The capsule with the two cosmonauts landed on difficult terrain in Altai: on the slope of the Teremok-3 mountain, on the right bank of the Uba River. The cosmonauts were uncertain as to where they had landed and were discovered by a helicopter. The rescuers tried to approach the capsule but were hindered by an avalanche. It was only the next day that the military managed to airlift them.
In 1975, Lazarev became the head of the committee for selecting potential cosmonauts from the Soviet bloc. Later, he joined the group for preparing the tests of the new transport crewed spacecraft “Soyuz T”.
Vasily Lazarev died on the last day of 1990 and was buried in the vicinity of the Zvyozdny Gorodok space training facility.
