- Titov, Gherman Stepanovich
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▪ 2001Russian cosmonaut (b. Sept. 11, 1935, Verkhneye Zhilino, Russia, U.S.S.R.—d. Sept. 20, 2000, Moscow, Russia), as pilot of the Vostok 2 spacecraft on its Aug. 6–7, 1961, orbital flight of 25 hours 18 minutes, was the second human to orbit the Earth. He was the first person to orbit more than once, the first to spend more than a day in space, and the first to sleep in space, and in 2000 he still held the distinction of having been the youngest to go into space. In addition, though he jubilantly called out his radio identification, “I am Eagle,” during his flight, he shortly thereafter became the first to suffer the nausea of space sickness. Titov graduated from the Stalingrad Flying Academy as a jet fighter pilot in 1957 and in 1960 was chosen for cosmonaut training. During his training an engineering proposal he made gained him the Order of Lenin, and he was named backup cosmonaut for the first spaceflight, which Yury Gagarin made on April 12, 1961. Following Titov's flight, the only one he made, he was named a Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded a second Order of Lenin. He served as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet during 1962–70, and in 1968 he graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. He thereafter worked on the design and research aspects of the space program, and in 1975 he became a major general. By the time he retired in 1992, he had attained the rank of colonel general. Titov then entered politics and in 1995 ran successfully on the Communist Party ticket for a seat in the State Duma; he did not run for reelection in 1999. A crater on the far side of the Moon was named for Titov to commemorate his accomplishments.
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▪ Soviet cosmonautborn September 11, 1935, Verkhneye Zhilino, near Barnaul, Russia, U.S.S.R.died September 20, 2000, MoscowSoviet cosmonaut who piloted the Vostok 2 spacecraft, launched on August 6, 1961, on the first manned spaceflight of more than a single orbit; Yury Gagarin (Gagarin, Yury Alekseyevich) had made the first orbit of Earth on April 12, 1961.Titov was accepted in 1953 for aviation cadet training, graduating in 1957 as a jet fighter pilot from the Stalingrad Flying Academy. In 1960 he entered cosmonaut training, during the course of which he received the Order of Lenin for an engineering proposal and was selected as the back-up cosmonaut to Gagarin for Vostok 1.During the Vostok 2 flight of 25 hours 18 minutes, Titov was assigned the communications code name Eagle. His radio identification, “I am Eagle!,” was spoken with intense excitement and made an impression on listeners around the world. Following his flight Titov was named a Hero of the Soviet Union and received another Order of Lenin. In 1962 he became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet, a position that he held until 1970, and in 1968 he graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. Titov became a major general in 1975. In subsequent years he worked as an assistant to the chief editor of the Journal of Aviation and Cosmonautics. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Titov entered politics and was elected to the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, in 1995; he did not run for a second term in 1999. His writings in English translation include I Am Eagle (1962) and Seventeen Cosmic Dawns (1963).* * *
Universalium. 2010.
