Kubasov Valery Nikolayevich (1935-2014)

Pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Soviet cosmonaut No. 18. He was born in the town of Vyazniki, Vladimir region. There he graduated from secondary school with a silver medal. After graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1958, he was assigned to the department of ballistics EDB-1 (Experimental Design Bureau of Sergey Korolev), which was engaged in the development of space technology. V.N. Kubasov became one of the first "space engineers". He made three flights into space, with a total duration of 18 days 17 hours 59 minutes. In 1969, Kubasov together with G.S. Shonin for the first time in the world conducted experiments on welding in space. In 1975, together with A.A. Leonov he performed the world's first docking of the Soviet (Soyuz-19) and American (Apollo-18) spacecrafts. In 1980, Kubasov became commander of the Soyuz-36 spacecraft as part of the "Intercosmos" program and made an expedition to the Salyut-6 station together with the first Hungarian cosmonaut B. Farkash. V.N. Kubasov is an Honorary Citizen of Vyazniki and the Vladimir Region. During his lifetime a memorable bust was installed to Kubasov as twice Hero of the Soviet Union in his native city Vyazniki. Kubasov’s cosmic spacesuit is kept in the museum exposition of the Golden Gate in Vladimir.