Cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov, who led 3 Soyuz missions, dies at 93Cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov aboard Soyuz 4 in January 1969, the first mission to dock two crewed spacecraft. (Roscosmos)June 15, 2021 — Vladimir Shatalov, a Soviet-era cosmonaut who achieved the first-ever docking between two crewed spacecraft, has died at the age of 93.
Shatalov's death on Tuesday (June 15) was reported by Roscosmos, Russia's federal space corporation.
"The Roscosmos state corporation expresses condolences to the family and friends of Vladimir Shatalov. Everlasting memory!" the space agency wrote on its website.
Shatalov was chosen to train as a cosmonaut with the Soviet Union's second class of Air Force recruits in January 1963. Six years later, he launched alone on his first spaceflight, Soyuz 4, on a mission to rendezvous and manually dock with the Soyuz 5 spacecraft. On Jan. 16, 1969, the two vehicles met in orbit, beating the U.S. to the same feat by two months. (...)
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