 |
During World War 2, Belyayev saw action as a fighter pilot and stayed with his unit till 1956. He then went to the Red Banner
Air Force Academy, graduating in 1959.
Belyayev's flight was as commander on Voskhod 2, launched 18 March 1965. This was
a two man flight with Leonov. After Leonov's space walk, the cabin filled with oxygen causing a serious fire hazard. Retrorockets
failed on re-entry and had to be fired manually. The service module did not separate and they landed in heavy forest spending
the night surrounded by wolves. The recovery crew had to ski to the site and then chopped down trees for the helicopter to
recover the crew and space-craft.
In 1969, Belyayev became seriosly ill and was hospitalised. Following an operation,
he developed Peritonitis and died on 10 Jan 1970.
|
