Heroes of Russia and the Soviet Union. At the limit
Everyone knows the names of the first astronauts. Little is known about those who paved the way for them. One of these heroes is our countryman
Recently, one of the former colleagues called Evgeny Alexandrovich and asked the question: “Are you alive?” “Who are you talking to now? Of course, alive,” he replied with a laugh. But there were cases when our countryman Hero of Russia E.A. Kiryushin asked himself this question. As a space tester, he repeatedly found himself on the verge of life and death. Carrying out their difficult work on Earth, testers of previously unseen technology paved the way for those who followed into space.
Behind seven seals
In one of the films dedicated to "secret space", the surname Kiryushin mentioned in the list of dead cosmonauts who allegedly flew into orbit even before Yu.A. Gagarin. In other equally "authoritative" sources, such as him, the testers are identified with the wordless biomaterial that was used for various experiments ...
“There were a lot of lies! - Yevgeny Alexandrovich waves his hand. - In the past, it was impossible to tell the truth - after all, our profession officially did not exist. Our brother was behind seven seals...”
“Back in 1953, an order was issued to organize a special team that was supposed to test suits and spacesuits to ensure the vital activity of “aircraft crews with high speeds and altitudes,” says E.A. Kiryushin. - The order was not particularly advertised. Then they tried not to think about it at all, because the experiments were not always “soft”, especially in the 50s.”
A team of testers was organized at the Moscow Institute, first of aviation, and later of "aviation and space medicine" (IAKME).
“I ended up in IAKM in 1968 during military service. I was called up from Kuibyshev, because my homeland is the village of Potapovka in the Krasnoyarsk region. Since childhood, I dreamed of becoming a pilot, and I was lucky to get into the 50th school of junior aviation specialists near Vinnitsa. Passed a full course of flight training, ”recalls Evgeny Alexandrovich.
Then a special commission came to his unit, which conducted a strict medical selection among the cadets.
“Me and a dozen of the strongest and healthiest guys were transferred to serve in Moscow. As it turned out later, to the same institute of aviation and space medicine. There was again a medical board, on which a couple more people were weeded out. One guy was afraid of heights and could not jump into the pool from a three-meter tower, - our fellow countryman recalls. - They explained to us that we would participate in experiments and tests related to space and carry out a special state task. Immediately after the first tests, any of us could go to serve in another military aviation unit - no one was held by force. But there were no such cases. Everyone wanted to honestly serve the Motherland.”
The sense of belonging to an important matter was intensified by secrecy.
“Once every three months in a special department they took a subscription from us not to disclose what we saw,” continues Evgeny Aleksandrovich. - The girl sent one of the guys greeting card, where she accidentally wrote "with cosmic greetings." Then he was reprimanded for two months for this.
"We tested ourselves"
The soldiers learned about the upcoming experiments during the tests. The “baptism of fire” for everyone was a centrifuge, on which loads from 4g to 12g were set during rotation. For comparison: if a person weighs, say, 100 kg, then with an overload of 8g, his body weight increases by 8 times and approaches 800 kg. 10g is already almost a ton. Very few people in the world are familiar with such sensations.
“Already starting from 4g, it becomes difficult to breathe with the chest, on the “eight” you can breathe, but with problems, only with the stomach. Then it was even harder,” recalls E.A. Kiryushin. He has made more than 150 rotations in his life with an overload of 10-12 g. - all this was done in order to find the optimal load options for the selection of astronauts.
There were also tests in pressure chambers and on catapults, and other experiments.
“We tested ourselves, our willpower and endurance,” Kiryushin recalls. - When you leave the experiment, an extraordinary feeling of delight appears - you want to hug the whole world and say: I won! Even if you come to your senses for a long time.”
The work of a space tester attracted Yevgeny Alexandrovich - it was mysterious and even romantic.
“In the 70s and 80s, millions raved about space - it was very difficult to become an astronaut, and becoming a tester was even more difficult. I was proud - if there were no testers, then there would be much more space accidents, ”he continues.
Kiryushin served in the IAKM for a year and a half, and after his dismissal from the army, he moved to the Institute of Biomedical Problems, which was structural unit Cosmonaut Training Center. At the new place of work, he began to do the same thing as in the army - a test space systems life support and checking the resources of the human body.
Work not for records
Evgeny Alexandrovich fell into the so-called "elite" - he performed tasks of any complexity. He studied his body well and could control it. Doctors and scientists issued competent and full information about the experiment, therefore, the opinion of the tester was taken into account.
Kiryushin was also called a “high-altitude man”, because not everyone was able to withstand pressure in a pressure chamber corresponding to a height of almost 40 km. He could. being in almost complete vacuum, one and a half to two hours to do the work of a pilot on a flight simulator of a combat aircraft. During his work, he conducted more than 200 such pressure chamber "lifts", a third of which were up to 40 km. Our fellow countryman was also engaged in testing a new high-altitude compensating suit (VKK).
“At high altitude, there is no atmospheric pressure, and a person is literally “bursting” from the inside. Only a special suit can save him, which compensates for the loss atmospheric pressure tightly hugging the body. In the old models of the VKK at an altitude of 14-15 thousand meters, it was so tight that the blood vessels were pinched and then bruises appeared. The guys and I experienced it ourselves - after an hour and a half of work in the old suit, we lay down for a day, - says Evgeny Alexandrovich. - They picked up a pressure helmet, boots for the new suit, connected them. Inside, a non-wrinkling fabric was used. The suit was provided with an automatic oxygen supply and communication system. I repeatedly checked all this in a vacuum from the first days of testing until the surrender of the VKK to the aviation regiment.
Then thousands of such suits were made for high-altitude fighters and interceptors. The astronauts also used this suit.
“Absolutely everything that is associated with the flight of a man into orbit is simulated on Earth,” explains Kiryushin. - Including weightlessness - 80-85 percent. A person experiences a state similar to weightlessness, with hypokinesia - this is if he is laid on a bed without a pillow with his head tilted down. At this time, just as in space, the load on the musculoskeletal system decreases, blood circulation is disturbed. Imitation of weightlessness also occurs in water. It's already an immersion. The toughest test. Much heavier than real weightlessness. You're wearing a bunch of sensors, your body is wrapped in a special waterproof but breathable fabric. The head and hands are on the surface, and the body is under constant pressure of the environment. Not one day, but weeks, it was necessary to be in the water under the supervision of physiologists, psychologists and other doctors. And after leaving the pool, also transfer overloads in a centrifuge, as when descending to Earth.
"My friend Sergei Ivanovich Nefedov conducted several experiments with immersion lasting up to 56 days, continues Kiryushin. “Intentionally, we didn’t set records, it was our job.”
At the limit
In 1971, while returning from the Salyut-1 orbital station, cosmonauts G.T. Dobrovolsky, V.I. Patsaev and V.I. Volkov. The descent vehicle in which they were located was designed for two people dressed in spacesuits. "Upstairs" decided that three people should go down - in ordinary tracksuits. At an altitude of 120 kilometers there was a depressurization. Scientists and testers had to find out the reasons. Yevgeny Aleksandrovich undertook this work with a special feeling - he knew the dead cosmonauts.
“We thought: either the valve was stuck, or the casing had burst - although there were several layers in it. I tested it dozens of times in explosive decompression,” Kiryushin recalls. - Each time I thought whether the automation would work in the VKK or in a spacesuit. After all, half a second - and there is no air, but you need to find out where it goes. The reason was found - the valve worked in a vacuum - that's why the crew died. The valve was redesigned, and since then astronauts take off and land only in spacesuits.”
In his story, Evgeny Alexandrovich did not focus on the “explosive decompression” that he felt at that time - this is when, in a fraction of a second, a drop occurs from normal earth pressure to a complete vacuum and a person receives a colossal dynamic blow throughout the body.
“To some extent, we were not only testers, but also rescuers. Different emergency situations were simulated, and the conditions of the experiments became more and more complicated, - says Kiryushin. - Trying on emergency situations that could happen in real flights, thereby saving their future participants.
Evgeny Alexandrovich recalls that only once during the next tests on the catapult he was overcome by serious doubts.
“The experiment was prepared for several weeks, forty people were involved. I am the main performer. Depending on the task, I could be “shot” over the forest at 22 meters or “spit out” without a limiter at 40-45 meters - then you first fall with a chair, then separately, and the parachute should come out, - the tester shares his memories. - It remains a minute, half a minute ... and then, suddenly, a thought arises: maybe refuse? After all, it is not known what will happen next, will I suddenly be crippled or killed? It's worse to be crippled - where will they take the cripple? Thoughts pass quickly: you can press a button and the tests will stop. What will people think? How can I explain to them? After all, then the whole experiment is in vain.
“This impulse was not a weakness, but rather the range of my psyche,” says Kiryushin. “After all, the hero is not the one who takes reckless risks, but the one who overcomes this inner fear, and more than once, dozens of times.”
After landing, he was asked: “Did you see the forest? He is big?". “Yes, I ... somehow didn’t see it,” Kiryushin replied.
First for first
It is unrealistic to tell about everything that the tester was doing. Once Yevgeny Alexandrovich tried to calculate how much "pure" time he spent in "terrestrial space" - in conditions that often simulate prohibitive loads. It took over four years. They also included tests of the Mir orbital station. On the ground "from the leaf" technical and living conditions were created for a long trip of the crew. Kiryushin conducted a full range of tests of the station, testing a manned descent from orbit and a safe landing of astronauts.
“I had to control my body when air was pumped out of the pressure chamber, and do the work of a flight engineer or ship commander during manual dockings with the Mir station. I learned from the first approach to equalize the speed, approach the station and dock, - says Evgeny Alexandrovich. - The simulator was fully operational, and besides, the “ball” - spaceship- rotated on a centrifuge. Therefore, if I was wrong about something, I experienced real overloads. The test was considered successful if I landed the ship safely.
Some experiments to simulate weightlessness lasted up to six months. Often he was at home only for New Year. And so he left for two months, one and a half, four. Sometimes something happens - so they keep it for a week to recover, or even more. By the way, the cosmonaut rehabilitation programs were also written from us.”
Kiryushin could not stop, because he saw that the results of his work "from the wheels" were used by specialists. Yes, and scientists and testers tried not only for the abstract conquest of space - they were familiar with active astronauts. Only those could really appreciate the work of the testers. They thanked their “earthly” colleagues for protecting them from unforeseen situations and saving their health.
“These were P.R. Popovich, A.P. Alexandrov, V.V. Aksenov, B.V. Volynov, V.P. Savinykh, M.Kh. Manarov, V.D. Zudov, A.A. Serebrov and many others, ”Kiryushin lists.
He knows very well the "young" cosmonauts, but the generation of those first ones is closer. The testers were for them those who went ahead. First for first.
“I always remember about my small homeland”
At work, Evgeny Alexandrovich was well known and appreciated. But at home, in the circle of relatives, no one should have even guessed what he was doing.
“There is also no record in the work book that I am a tester,” he says. - There are others - "laboratory assistant", "technician". This was done for reasons of secrecy, and so that we would not make claims later. After all, the outcome of any experiment is predictable, but one hundred percent unpredictable. In 1992, I “cleanly” wrote off, because I realized that I could no longer recover.”
Many enterprises and organizations of the country during perestroika faced insoluble problems. What can we say about the testers, who were not listed anywhere. It got to the point where there was nothing to eat. They were forced to remind themselves in the government. They were stunned when they opened the archives. The testers came "for a piece of bread", and as a result, E.A. Kiryushin, S.I. Nefedov, V.K. Kostin and V.A. Tsvetkov received the title of Hero of Russia in November 1997, and twelve of their colleagues were awarded the Order of Courage.
The amazing energy of Evgeny Alexandrovich is enough for everyone today. Our fellow countryman public organization"Russian Association of Heroes". Recently he came to Samara among the members of the Watch of Heroes of the Fatherland. Immediately from the train he went to his homeland - to Potapovka, Krasnoyarsk region. He came to school in Bolshaya Rakovka, where he studied. Now it bears the name of the Hero of Russia - V.A. Kiryushin.
“I have been living in Moscow for almost half a century, but I always remember my homeland. Here are my roots, I took strength from the Potapov motherland, ”he said sincerely at meetings with fellow countrymen, with military personnel, with students of his native school.
Evgeny Aleksandrovich communicated with schoolchildren and adults in a special sincere way, addressing each by name, and even adding “darling”, “dear”, “dear friend”. It can be seen that this amazing person cares about everyone and everything. Probably because he has seen a lot in this life like no one else and appreciates not only the world but also every person living in it.
Kiryushin is a tall, strongly built man. His huge hands immediately catch your eye. “Yes, there was a lot of torment with the hands. Gloves for my space suit were sewn according to the largest pattern. But they were still small. The fingers rested as if nails were stuck in them, ”says Evgeny Aleksadrovich, switching to an unforgettable work again, for some reason embarrassedly smiling.
Big strong man. Our Samara Hero.
E.A. Kiryushin (left) with his friend S.I. Nefedov passed all the experiments and tests. Photo taken in 1971
The model of the orbital station "Mir" is stored in the RSC Energia Museum in Korolev
“Here are my roots, I took strength from the Potapov motherland,” says E.A. Kiryushin
The prototypes of these spacesuits were tested by E.A. Kiryushin
WE WILL STARVE FOR EVERYONE P yat Heroes on behalf of 204 Heroes of Russia, the Soviet Union and Socialist Labor, having decided that there were no other ways to improve relations between society and the supreme power than to expose themselves to public self-torture, on July 6 they began to starve in the building of the former scientific institute on Smolnaya street in Moscow. They spread the mattresses, unfastened the prostheses and said that they would go to the end ...
Our people, as you know, are constantly starving and for many reasons. Schoolchildren and pensioners. In prison and outside. They knock out salaries and debts, prevent the closure of factories and the construction of nuclear power plants, demand freedom and the abolition of the law, increase pensions and benefits. There has been no sensation in this for a long time - from a medical method it has become a universal political and economic one. But for the Heroes to starve?.. When each of the starving would represent a group of Heroes: one - from twice Heroes, the other - from the cosmonauts of Star City, another - from the Heroes of Socialist Labor and full holders of the Order of Labor Glory, the next - on behalf of those who are Heroes and the Soviet Union, and Russian Federation…
There has never been such a disgrace in the country. What happened?
The reason is simple: the Heroes' patience has run out. And they were no longer counted as people. Following all the rest of the inhabitants of our country. On June 30, in the first reading, the Duma adopted new anti-privilege government amendments - Zurabov's blitzkrieg continues. This time it was amendments to the legislation on Heroes, relating to cutting not money, but the elimination of signs of respect for the state before exploits for which these people received their high ranks. Well, for example: Heroes are no longer supposed to be buried with honors. Soldiers from the military commissariat, a farewell volley ... Expensive, the government decided, let them hire at their own expense.
Of course, this is insane. How can this be tolerated by people who are sure that the state is still interested in its Heroes? That is, in them?
June 30, however, had a prologue. When the amendments only roamed the power corridors, the Heroes found out about them. And they wrote letters to Putin, Fradkov and Gryzlov - that was in April. 204 The Hero was asked to meet with them, to listen, so that the aforementioned citizens would understand: it is impossible, indecent, the amendments are humiliating. For the country first of all.
But there was no reaction - none at all. Officials (the presidential administration, Duma and government) did not care about 204 Heroes. And then they were not only offended, but amazed: if the Heroes are not answered, what can the non-heroes in the country hope for, that is, everyone else?
And they decided to starve. Indefinitely. The officially announced goal: "to draw attention to the problems of dialogue between the authorities and society." The principle of the action: those who are healthy are starving - on behalf of and on behalf of the rest, who are only capable of short-term abstinence from food, they will “lie down” for two or three days.
Hero of Russia Evgeny Aleksandrovich Kiryushin- one of the "permanent", from the backbone, he goes for an indefinite period. He is 55 years old, and he is not retired, but on disability. He worked as a space tester - officially: "a tester of aerospace life support and rescue systems." - Everything that flew into space, we tried on ourselves, - explains Evgeny Aleksandrovich. - With Sergei Nefedov. Participated in the development best options descent of people from orbit.
Have you experienced overload?
- Yes, there were maximum overloads. Meaning: can a person drive at 10-12 times the overload? They dumped us beyond the Urals. And we had to survive.
- Disability - the result?
- Yes, I think so. Survived dozens of times. In order for the astronauts to be alive later, I had to push the so-called flight regime limits. My job is to create a reserve corridor for the astronaut.
- So your job is to be a guinea pig for the sake of others flying?
We didn't think so. And the true test subjects are our entire population. Except maybe a million and a half. Above this experimental population, the authorities allow everything. And the test subjects allow everything over themselves.
- Why did you personally decide to starve?
“You can’t live in such filth anymore. By disgusting, I mean the attitude of the authorities towards the people. The government lives by its own laws, the people by theirs. An absolute wall between them. I experienced this wall on my own skin.
- What will be the end of the hunger strike?
- I personally will go to the end. I know that no one will come to us, no matter how much we starve. Nobody will respond. The final will be when we lay down the stars. You don't need it, neither do we.
Evgeny Alexandrovich on edge. And how could it be otherwise? His pension is trivial - about three thousand. Because there is no such profession in the official register - "space tester", secret professions were not listed in the register. Here, survive.
But I'm not hungry for that. Not for myself, - explains Evgeny Aleksandrovich. - For the country. We are so used to living.
First, 204 Heroes were sent on a hunger strike by six. But one could not come. "Characteristically" could not.
- Kirichenko Grigory, from Samara, fell out with us, - says Valery Burkov, a man on prostheses, a Hero himself and president of the Heroes of the Fatherland Foundation. - Grigory's mother-in-law had a stroke, she lives in Uzbekistan. A ticket with a discount only for the Hero, and the wife, whose mother has a stroke, Hero Kirichenko, is no longer able to buy a ticket. No money. And this is also the answer, why did they decide to starve? Because it's embarrassing. Because the Hero of the country cannot but have money for a ticket for his wife.
But it cannot be said that the authorities were sleeping while the Heroes were preparing for their action. The hunger strike of the Heroes has already determined its own intrigue. Since last Sunday, representatives of the presidential administration have contacted the protesters with the question: is it possible not to go hungry? Or postpone? Or something else? To avoid embarrassment…
The heroes said no. And Oleg Morozov, the most influential United Russia party, immediately publicly called the heroic protest “blackmail”. The heroes bristled even more, also publicly declaring: if this is blackmail, then how to call the steps of the state in relation to the people?
And the authorities again pretended to be fluffy - at the moment the hunger strike began, the “good news” came: and if we raise pensions to 25 thousand, then stop?
And they decided again: no. Not for sale. That's why they are Heroes, because they know how to go the chosen way. Valery Burkov unfastened his prostheses, from tall he became so small, small that he was crying, and on his stumps he moved to the mattress. He was seen off by the cosmonaut and twice Hero Boris Volynov - he is 70 years old, and other Heroes forbade him to starve.
- And if Yuri Gagarin were alive now? Would he be with you?
- I think so, - Boris Volynov - the Gagarins' neighbor in Star City: - He was such a person.
- Flying into space, could you then assume that you would protest against the state?
Boris Valentinovich tries not to answer. It is very difficult for him to pronounce it: "I couldn't." Others explain for him.
“We couldn’t even imagine it in a terrible dream,” he says. Hero of Russia Sergei Nefedov, Yevgeny Kiryushin's partner in space survival, who worked to ensure that Volynov and our other cosmonauts returned safely from orbit: - There can be no healthy people in a sick country. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the country.
Anna POLITKOVSKAYA, columnist for Novaya Gazeta
Evgeny Alexandrovich Kiryushin(born October 6, 1949, Samara region) - tester of aerospace life support and rescue systems at the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems, Hero of the Russian Federation.
Biography
Born on October 6, 1949 in the village of Potapovka, Krasnoyarsk District, Samara Region, in a peasant family. Russian. He graduated from school, planned to enter an aviation school, become a pilot.
In the spring of 1968 he was called to Soviet Army. He served in the 50th school of junior aviation specialists in the city of Vinnitsa. In the same year he passed a special selection, a medical commission and was transferred for further service to Moscow, to the Institute of Space Medicine. Participated in tests of space equipment, studies of the impact of various overloads and emergency situations on the human body.
After demobilization in 1970, he went to work as a full-time tester at the Institute of Biomedical Problems. For several years he participated in testing various flight programs and special equipment for astronauts.
He made more than 200 pressure chamber rises to a height of up to 40,000 meters, about 150 rotations on a centrifuge with overloads of 10-12 units. Participated in lengthy experiments to simulate weightlessness. Conducted a full range of tests of the Mir orbital station, manned descent from orbit and safe landing of astronauts. They worked for a month in a chamber with a carbon dioxide content of 4%. Evgeny Kiryushin and his fellow testers were space pioneers in the truest sense of the word. It was to him that the world-famous Soviet cosmonauts repeatedly said: “Thank you, Zhenya!”.
By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 17, 1997, for courage and heroism shown during tests related to the exploration of outer space, Kiryushin Evgeny Alexandrovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with the Gold Star medal.
Currently, Evgeny Alexandrovich Kiryushin lives in the hero city of Moscow. Participates in social and political life. He is the chairman of the Council of the Association of Heroes of the Russian Federation, Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of Socialist Labor. He was one of the organizers and the first director of the Museum of Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation and full holders of the Order of Glory.
Our interlocutor is Evgeny Alexandrovich KIRYUSHIN, Hero of Russia, tester of aerospace life support and rescue systems. From the age of 50 on a disability pension. Today he is the chairman of the Heroes Club of the Southwestern Administrative District, a member of the board of the Moscow Heroes Club.
Born on October 6, 1949 in the village of Potapovka, Samara Region, into a peasant family. He graduated from 10 classes, in the spring of 1968 he was drafted into the Soviet Army. He served in the Air Force, at the 50th School of Junior Aviation Specialists (ShMAS), near the Vapnyarka station near Vinnitsa. In the same year, scientists from Moscow came to ShMAS and announced that they would select personnel for work related to space.
ABOUT AVIATION I dreamed all my life, and here is space! - Evgeny Alexandrovich recalls. - Then I successfully passed a rigorous medical selection and was transferred to Moscow for further service. In parting, the political officer said to me: “Don't be afraid. Our guys are already there!” I later realized that the senior lieutenant was referring to Sergeant Sergei Nefyodov, who had left for Moscow a year earlier.
- We were traveling in a reserved seat car with six of us, I was the eldest, with a package containing all our documents. I still remember that early evening of November 19, 1968. They left the Kievsky railway station, and around there was a spacious square, the snow sparkled, the trees sparkled in hoarfrost, on the other side of the Moskva River, the windows in brick high-rise buildings lit up - beauty! After all, I first came to Moscow and was simply stunned by its vastness and grandeur.
We took the subway along the indicated route. We went out, and next to it was a huge stadium, the famous Dynamo. We went through the park along the alley to the checkpoint near building “A”. They presented their documents, went into a spacious lobby, and there were marble, paneled walls under bog oak, leather sofas - this, I think, is a service! We handed over the documents to the lieutenant colonel on duty in the unit, received instructions and drove to our new home in the service lane.
IT WAS a four-story building located behind the Red Star office. The fourth floor was occupied by the district air force headquarters, the other three were ours. The first housed a dining room, a gym and a cinema hall. On the second "barracks" - rooms for two or three people. On the third - a hospital, where we rested up after the experiments. The conditions are just great! True, you understand this in two or three days, when you come to your senses after the experiment ... Huge beds, duvets, food of your choice, although we were fed according to the flight rate below. If something is wrong with your health, you press the button - and the doctor on duty immediately arrives, they will provide the most qualified assistance.
I still remember those doctors with gratitude. The therapist Galina Petrovna gave us access to the experiments, she also met after them. There were also lieutenant colonel of the medical service Nelli Viktorovna Pisarenko and two surgeons - Konstantin Petrovich Krylov and another with an exotic name Helios Lukich. An examination was mandatory: not only our hematomas after the centrifuge, but also each vertebra was carefully checked, joints, ribs were probed, and everything else. 
Care for us, the care of doctors, the conditions of service are wonderful. And with our experiments, we all “got sick” from the first days - it’s such an adrenaline rush, nothing compares to them!
EVERY DAY, except weekends and holidays, after breakfast we went by special bus to the Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine (IACM). It was located just behind the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy, and our address was now: "V/ch 64688". The commander of the unit is Lieutenant General of the Medical Service Yuvenaly Mikhailovich Volynkin. The head of our test team is Major Mikhail Alekseevich Larenkov, he went through the war from the rank and file. His deputy Captain Khlopkov Sergey Sergeevich, and in general all the officers of the institute treated us very kindly. And foreman Kozlov Nikolai Ivanovich (he, thank God, is still alive) took care of us like a father.
The dismissal was often granted, we walked around Moscow, enjoyed its architecture, parks, museums, went to the cinema and to the planetarium that was still working, sometimes to concerts. We were not just intuitively drawn to culture - it helped us to stay in experiments, we seemed to be nourished by beauty ... We also returned from dismissal with joy: after all, tomorrow there are “flights”!
True, we did not “fly” immediately. Our health was checked for another three months. And only then did they conduct a "rite of passage": we, privates and sergeants of military service, were accepted into the detachment as full-time testers. First, we got acquainted with the resolutions of the Council of Ministers on the re-establishment of the institute in 1947 and from 1952 on the creation of a team of space testers, then they announced the corresponding order of the Air Force Commander-in-Chief, Chief Marshal of Aviation Zhigarev from 1953, that is, they explained that here we will not just participate in experiments , but to fulfill an important state task for the development of space life support systems and verification of the resources of the human body. I must say, all this was great on the brain: after all, we were 18-20 years old, and we are already statesmen, responsible for the reliability of space. In general, the moral stimulus was powerful.
THE FIRST EXPERIMENT was considered a "baptism". It was a centrifuge. First, a “trial” overload of 4g, then immediately - 12 g! With every second, the body seems to be poured with lead - arms, legs, eyes, every cell, and already at 9g you hold on to the limit, breathe in your stomach and shortly, like a hare - this is with the transverse rotation of "chest-back". On the longitudinal - "head-pelvis" - generally unbearable even at 7-8 g. Many initially began to have vestibular disorders, and orthostatics suffered especially: this is when the blood literally froze in the veins. Against this spasm, it was necessary not only to strain all the muscles, but to force the blood to move through the veins and arteries by perseverance of will - in fact, to survive ... The state of "not in myself" persisted for another couple of days, we were soldered with soda in the hospital.
- I got into the elite, - Evgeny Kiryushin recalls, - we were called "high-altitude workers". Not everyone could withstand the pressure chamber when, at an altitude of 40 km, it was necessary to perform operator functions for two hours, working on a simulator. They flew, dressed in VKK - a high-altitude compensating suit, which, with an ascent to a great height, embraced you tightly, tightly. After all, already at an altitude of 30 km there is practically no atmospheric pressure, and you are literally bursting from the inside.
VKK-8, in which I went to the pressure chamber, was a modernized version of the VKK, in which I flew a U-2 and spy-pilot Powers was shot down over the Urals. And without VKK, you can’t rise to a height of 30-40 km - it will tear ...
We have had emergencies as well. In fact, from each set, someone broke down, got injured, planted a heart, some were awarded orders, and these two or three people returned home as heroes. And only one left of his own free will.
We divided tests into prestigious and non-prestigious. And to be more precise - on the heaviest and not the most. The "most-most" were the centrifuge and weightlessness - its imitation in earth conditions, especially the so-called immersion. For dry immersion, immersion in a liquid medium wrapped in a breathable waterproof fabric like bologna, one had to prepare for weeks. And just as much to get out of it. And no noble atmosphere in the hospital on the third floor helped you ...
Evgeny Kiryushin served in IAKM for a year and a half. After being transferred to the reserve in 1970, he went to work at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (since 1994 - "SSC RF - IBMP RAS"). For several years he participated in testing various flight programs and special equipment for astronauts. He made more than 200 pressure chamber ascents to high altitudes, two thirds of them up to 40 km, about 150 rotations on a centrifuge with overloads of 10-12 units. Participated in long-term (up to 2 months) experiments to simulate weightlessness. Carried out a full range of ground tests of the flight of the Mir orbital station, manned descent from orbit and safe landing of astronauts. Three times a month I worked in a chamber with a carbon dioxide content of up to 5.2% - we reached this milestone in a day - first with Sergei Nefyodov, then with Misha Khodzhakov.
Evgeny Kiryushin and his fellow testers were space pioneers in the truest sense of the word. It was to them that the world-famous Soviet cosmonauts - Alexander Serebrov, Viktor Savinykh, Alexander Alexandrov, Igor Volk, Vyacheslav Zudov and others - more than once said from the bottom of their hearts: "Thank you!"
REMEMBERS Moner (Misha - for friends) Khodzhakov, an IBMP non-staff tester, who from 1969 to 1982 went on experiments many times with Evgeny, who, after being transferred to the reserve, went to work at the Institute of Biomedical Problems:
- Zhenya Kiryushin is simple incredible person, for him there was no measure. He could stay in the pressure chamber for a very long time, when an atmosphere rarefied to zero was created. He was unmeasured in strength: he pulled out expanders from a wooden shield! The dynamometer was compressed to the limit. If he drank tea, then he had sugar in a slide over a glass. Salted herring! But this is so, funny details, but in the main he was and remains for me a very strong and strong-willed tester, a reliable comrade.
- Wow, I remembered the herring! - Evgeny Kiryushin laughs. - Did you forget, or something, how we were on a diet for two days in front of the pressure chamber? No black bread, no dairy and all that - otherwise flatulence, and ruin the experiment. They kept an eye on each other so that, out of habit, they would not grab something superfluous before the experiment. Well, then, when you recover, you can afford to compensate for what the cosmos has squeezed out of you.
Misha Khodzhakov was not only a strong tester. He lived in space. After all, he is one of the founders of the Young Cosmonauts Club at the Moscow Palace of Pioneers. His photograph was even published in Izvestia back in 1966. Then Misha entered MPEI. And already as a student in 1969, the IBMP came to us, where Sergei Ivanovich Nefyodov and I got a job as testers after being transferred to the reserve. Lena, my future wife, also from this Club of Young Cosmonauts, but she was engaged in a medical detachment. By the way, through her we became friends with Misha. And then we went to “work” together - it was somehow easier with him: I was sure that he would survive, which means that I would remain alive and healthy. Everything that flew into space, we tried on ourselves.
And IT WAS not easy. Fell and died 36-year-old Gena Druzhinin. Thrombus in an artery. A year after his dismissal from the institute in the morning, going to work, Sasha Ogurtsov fell at the entrance. In the hospital, he died the next day. An autopsy revealed a brain tumor. Boris Pashkin climbed into the loop. He was a good radio engineer... Albert Ayupov died in 1990. Misha Grishkov was motionless for many years, he died in 1996. Igor Dikov jumped out of the window... Their "terrestrial space" turned out to be dangerous, like penetrating radiation or like an abyss that sucks...
“But we were proud of our work: after all, we were ahead of the cosmonauts,” says Kiryushin. - Based on the data obtained with our help, the designers created qualitatively new launch vehicles, the calculators changed the trajectories of launch, launch into orbit and descent. Improved life support systems. Well, how many doctoral and master's theses were defended on us, how many "space" careers were made - this is a completely different conversation. And is it really bad if a person defended with your help scientific work?
- The ONLY thing you can regret, - says Evgeny Aleksandrovich, - is that the merits of space testers are generally not known to the people and are only appreciated by specialists who worked with us. Heroes were assigned to us only in 1997, and then after a long red tape, and besides, only four. But there were other real heroes with us who went through the same test program with me and Sergei Ivanovich Nefyodov. This is unfair and short-sighted: after all, then we on Earth were ahead of the rest of the planet - is it not prestigious for modern Russia? And who today dares to do such a thing, looking at the forgotten?
Taking this opportunity, I want to congratulate everyone who was and remains involved in the wonderful, huge and harsh work to explore the Universe on the future anniversary of the first flight into space, be healthy and happy!
In the photograph of the early 1960s: future Heroes of Russia Sergey Ivanovich NEFEDOV and Evgeny Aleksandrovich KIRYUSHIN; E.A. KIRYUSHIN with the President of Russia after the Golden Star award. Kremlin. November 17, 1997
USSR USSR, Russia Russia
Biography
Born on October 6, 1949 in the village of Potapovka, Krasnoyarsk District, Samara Region, in a peasant family. Russian. He graduated from school, planned to enter an aviation school, become a pilot.
In the spring of 1968 he was drafted into the Soviet Army. He served in the 50th school of junior aviation specialists in the city of Vinnitsa. In the same year, he passed a special selection, a medical commission and was transferred for further service to Moscow, to the Institute of Space Medicine. Participated in tests of space equipment, studies of the impact of various overloads and emergency situations on the human body.
After demobilization in 1970, he went to work as a full-time tester at the Institute of Biomedical Problems. For several years he participated in testing various flight programs and special equipment for astronauts.
He made more than 200 pressure chamber rises to a height of up to 40,000 meters, about 150 rotations on a centrifuge with overloads of 10-12 units. Participated in lengthy experiments to simulate weightlessness. Conducted a full range of tests of the Mir orbital station, manned descent from orbit and safe landing of astronauts. They worked for a month in a chamber with a carbon dioxide content of 4%. Evgeny Kiryushin and his fellow testers were space pioneers in the truest sense of the word. It was to him that the world-famous Soviet cosmonauts repeatedly said: “Thank you, Zhenya!”.
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 17, 1997, for courage and heroism shown during tests related to the exploration of outer space, Kiryushin Evgeny Aleksandrovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with the award of the Gold Star medal.
Currently, Evgeny Alexandrovich Kiryushin lives in the hero city of Moscow. Participates in social and political life. He is the chairman of the Council of the Association of Heroes of the Russian Federation, Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of Socialist Labor. He was one of the organizers and the first director of the Museum of Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation and full holders of the Order of Glory.
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Links
. Site "Heroes of the Country". Retrieved June 9, 2014.
Literature
An excerpt characterizing Kiryushin, Evgeny Alexandrovich
- And from what?“From the feeling that is in me, in him,” he pointed to Timokhin, “in every soldier.
Prince Andrei glanced at Timokhin, who looked at his commander in fright and bewilderment. In contrast to his former restrained silence, Prince Andrei now seemed agitated. He apparently could not refrain from expressing those thoughts that suddenly came to him.
The battle will be won by the one who is determined to win it. Why did we lose the battle near Austerlitz? Our loss was almost equal to that of the French, but we told ourselves very early that we had lost the battle—and we did. And we said this because we had no reason to fight there: we wanted to leave the battlefield as soon as possible. “We lost - well, run like that!” - we ran. If we had not said this before evening, God knows what would have happened. We won't say that tomorrow. You say: our position, the left flank is weak, the right flank is extended,” he continued, “all this is nonsense, there is nothing of it. And what do we have tomorrow? One hundred million of the most varied accidents that will be solved instantly by the fact that they or ours ran or run, that they kill one, kill another; and what is being done now is all fun. The fact is that those with whom you traveled around the position not only do not contribute to the general course of affairs, but interfere with it. They are only concerned with their little interests.
- At a moment like this? Pierre said reproachfully.
“At such a moment,” Prince Andrei repeated, “for them, this is only such a moment in which you can dig under the enemy and get an extra cross or ribbon. For me, this is what tomorrow is: a hundred thousand Russian and a hundred thousand French troops have come together to fight, and the fact is that these two hundred thousand are fighting, and whoever fights harder and feels less sorry for himself will win. And if you want, I'll tell you that no matter what happens, no matter what is confused up there, we will win the battle tomorrow. Tomorrow, whatever it is, we will win the battle!
“Here, Your Excellency, the truth, the true truth,” said Timokhin. - Why feel sorry for yourself now! The soldiers in my battalion, believe me, did not begin to drink vodka: not such a day, they say. - Everyone was silent.
The officers got up. Prince Andrei went out with them outside the shed, giving his last orders to the adjutant. When the officers left, Pierre went up to Prince Andrei and just wanted to start a conversation, when the hooves of three horses clattered along the road not far from the barn, and, looking in this direction, Prince Andrei recognized Wolzogen and Clausewitz, accompanied by a Cossack. They drove close, continuing to talk, and Pierre and Andrei involuntarily heard the following phrases:
– Der Krieg muss im Raum verlegt werden. Der Ansicht kann ich nicht genug Preis geben, [The war must be transferred into space. This view I cannot praise enough (German)] - said one.
“O ja,” said another voice, “da der Zweck ist nur den Feind zu schwachen, so kann man gewiss nicht den Verlust der Privatpersonen in Achtung nehmen.” [Oh yes, since the goal is to weaken the enemy, then private casualties cannot be taken into account (German)]
