Anatoly Semyonovich Levchenko (Russian: Анатолий Семёнович Левченко; May 5, 1941 – August 6, 1988) was a Soviet cosmonaut in the Buran programme.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Anatoly Semyonovich Levchenko
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Levchenko in 1987
Born(1941-05-05)May 5, 1941
Died6 August 1988(1988-08-06) (aged 47)
NationalitySoviet
OccupationTest Pilot
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union
Space career
Cosmonaut
RankCaptain, Soviet Air Force
Time in space
7d 21h 58m
Selection1988 Cosmonaut Group
MissionsMir LII-1 (Soyuz TM-4 / Soyuz TM-3)
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Trained as a test pilot and selected as a cosmonaut on 12 July 1980,[1] Levchenko was planned to be the back-up commander of the first Buran space shuttle flight. As part of his preparations, he also accomplished test-flights with Buran's counterpart OK-GLI aircraft.

In March 1987, Levchenko began extensive training for a Soyuz spaceflight, intended to give him some experience in space.[2] In December 1987, he occupied the third seat aboard the spacecraft Soyuz TM-4 to the space station Mir, and returned to Earth about a week later on Soyuz TM-3. His mission is sometimes called Mir LII-1, after the Gromov Flight Research Institute shorthand.[3]

In the year following his spaceflight, Anatoly Levchenko died of a brain tumor, in the Nikolay Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute in Moscow.[4]

He was married with one child.[1]

Awards

He was awarded the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR and the Order of Lenin.

Commemoration

  • Anatoly Levchenko is buried at the Bykovskoye Memorial Cemetery in Zhukovsky.
  • There is a memorial plate with his image installed on the wall of house 2 at Chkalova Street where Anatoly once lived in Zhukovsky.

See also

References

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