Viktor Vasilevich Gorbatko

Born Dec. 3, 1934, in the settlement of Ventsy-Zaria, Krasnodar Krai. Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR; colonel. Hero of the Soviet Union (Oct. 22, 1969). Member of the CPSU since 1959.

In 1952, Gorbatko entered a military aviation school for preliminary training and in 1953, the Bataisk Military Aviation School. Upon finishing school in 1956, he served in aviation units of the Soviet Army. In 1960 he joined the cosmonaut detachment. In 1968, Gorbatko graduated from the N. E. Zhukovskii Air Force Academy. From Oct. 12 to Oct. 17, 1969, he made a space flight as research engineer on the orbital spacecraft Soyuz 7 with A. V. Filipchenko and V. N. Volkov. Gorbatko conducted scientific and technological experiments and investigations in near space. Out of five days in space, he completed a three-day group flight with the spacecraft Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8; he completed 80 orbits around the earth. Gorbatko has been awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star.