Top Secret Service and Character References for Core Group of Six Cosmonauts Training for the First Human Spaceflight

September 27, 1960^[1]

TOP SECRET

Copy Nº 3

Captain BYKOVSKIY, Valeriy Fedorovich, Born 1934, a native of Pavlovskiy Posad, Moscow Oblast’, a Russian, [parents were] office workers, a Komsomol member since 1952. Graduated the 10^th grade in Moscow in 1952, the Kacha Military Aviation School in 1955; in the Soviet Army since 1952. Unmarried.

Physically well-developed. Height 170 cm, weight 64 kg. Strong, has great endurance with well-coordinated movements. He treats physical training lessons conscientiously. A good athlete, his health is good. He was not ill in 1960. He endures special forms of training exercises (flights, parachute training, and bench exercises) easily, with a normal physiological reaction of the organism. He is well-developed intellectually. [His] emotional reactions correspond to the nature of the influencing stimuli. [His] volitional processes are stable. [He] is disciplined. [His] outer appearance is orderly and [his] military bearing is good. He is polite in dealing with comrades and enjoys deserved authority. He is tactful with comrades and seniors. He is favorably described as a fighter pilot and is a military pilot second class. He has 337 flying hours. [His] theoretical level is good. He masters presented material well, but can study better. He has 42 parachute jumps, and the quality is good. Courageous and decisive. He does not lose himself in a difficult situation. Sociable. His character is quiet. He reacts correctly to criticisms. He is a member of the Komsomol bureau of the unit. He understands the policy of our Party correctly. [He] is ideologically steadfast and morally steady. He is able to keep a military secret. He is devoted to the cause of the Party and the socialist Motherland. During [his] time at the Center he has increased personal discipline and has become much more conscientious toward theoretical training, special training exercises, and tests, which has allowed [him] to become one of the best prepared students.

Captain KARTASHOV, Anatoliy Yakovlevich,^[2] Born 1932, a native of Voronezh Oblast’, Sadovskiy Rayon, the village of Pervoye Sadovoye. A Russian, [parents were] office workers, a Komsomol member since 1952. He graduated a special aviation technical school in 1952 and the Chuguyev Military Aviation School in 1954. He has been in the Soviet Army since 1952. He is married and has a daughter.

Physically well-developed. Height 171 cm, weight 69 kg. He has great endurance and is strong. A good runner at long distances. He is conscientious toward physical training lessons. He was not ill in 1960. His health is good. He endures special forms of training exercises (flights, parachute training, and bench exercises) easily, with a normal physiological reaction of the organism. [His] intellectual development is high. [His] emotional and vegetative reactions are distinguished by a moderate expression of excitability. [His] volitional processes are stable. [He] is a disciplined, industrious officer. [His] outer appearance is orderly and [his] military bearing is good. He knows the Soviet Army regulations. He has a commendation from the Command for a conscientious attitude toward weightlessness flights. He bears the difficulties of military life easily. He is polite in dealing with comrades and enjoys deserved authority. He is a military pilot second class and a total flying time of 428 hours. He is trained to the level of military pilot first class, and has the title of “instructor of the Airborne Service of the Air Force.” [His] theoretical training is good. He arrived in the Center in July of this year, that is, three months after the group’s lessons began. Thanks to persistence and industriousness he managed to catch up to his comrades in theoretical training. He passed his tests with an evaluation of “good.”

Brave, decisive. He accepts criticism correctly. By character [he] is calm and cheerful. The collective respects [him]. Politically [he] is developed and ideologically steadfast. [He] is morally steady. He is devoted to the cause of the Party and the socialist Motherland. He is able to keep a military secret. He is one of the promising students.

Captain NIKOLAYEV, Andriyan Grigor’yevich, Born 1929. a native of the Chuvash ASSR, Mar-Posadskiy Rayon, the village of Shorshely. He is a Chuvash, [parents were] office workers. A CPSU member since 1957. Graduated a specialized wood technology school in 1947 and the Frunze Military Aviation School in 1954. In the Soviet Army since 1950. Unmarried.

[His] physical development is good. Height 168 cm, weight 69 kg. He has a striving toward perfection. He bears workloads well. His health is good. He was not ill in 1960. He endures special forms of training exercises (flights, parachute training, exercises in a centrifuge, and on other benches) easily, with a normal physiological reaction of the organism. [His] intellectual development is high. [His] emotional and volitional sphere is stable. [He] is a disciplined, diligent officer. [His] outer appearance is orderly and [his] military bearing is good. He is tactful with comrades and seniors. He is “a military pilot second class.” He has 370 total flight hours. He is characterized favorably as a pilot. He has 43 parachute jumps, and the quality is good. He treats theoretical lessons conscientiously. He is distinguished by perseverance. He passed examinations with an overall score of 4.4.

His character is calm. He reacts correctly to criticisms. The collective respects [him]. He is well-developed politically and is ideologically steadfast. He is able to keep a military secret. He is devoted to the cause of the Party and the socialist Motherland. He has a desire to be a cosmonaut. Among [his] comrades he stands out by [his] diligence, perseverance, and industriousness, for which he can be listed among the best students.

Captain POPOVICH, Pavel Romanovich, Born 1930, a native of Kiev Oblast’, Uzinskiy Rayon, the village of Uzin. He is a Ukrainian from a family of workers. He has been a CPSU member since 1957. He graduated a specialized industrial school in 1957 and the Higher Officers’ Instructor’s School in 1954. He has been in the Soviet Army since 1951. He is married and has a daughter.

[His] physical development is good. Height 170 cm, weight 73 kg. He displays diligence in physical training lessons. He is a rated athlete in weightlifting and skiing. He bears workloads easily. His health is good. He was not ill in 1960. He endures special forms of training exercises (flights, parachute training, exercises on various benches) easily, with a normal physiological reaction of the organism. [His] intellectual development is high. [His] emotional and volitional processes are stable. [He] is a disciplined officer with initiative. He knows the Soviet Army regulations. [His] outer appearance is orderly and [his] military bearing is good. He is courteous in [his] relations. He is described favorably as a fighter pilot. He is a military pilot third class and has a total flying time of 310 hours and 40 parachute jumps, with good quality.

[His] overall theoretical training is good. He passed examinations and tests with an overall score of 5. His character is calm and persistent. He reacts correctly to criticisms. The collective respects [him]. He displays much energy in the defense of the everyday material interests of the students. He is the secretary of the Party organization of the department. He is well-developed politically and is ideologically steadfast. He is devoted to the cause of the Party and the socialist Motherland. He is able to keep a military secret. During the time in the Center he has shown himself to be an industrious officer with initiative. He has a desire to be first in everything.

Senior Lieutenant GAGARIN, Yuriy Alekseyevich, Born 1934, a native of Smolensk Oblast’, Gzhatsk Raion, the village of Klushino. He is a Russian from among the peasantry. He has been a CPSU member since 1960. He graduated a special technical school in 1955 and the Chkalovskoye Military School in 1957. He has been in the Soviet Amy since 1955. He is married and has a daughter.

[His] physical development is good. Height 165 cm, weight 68 kg. He is a rated athlete in basketball. He has a good coordination of movements. His health is good. He was not ill in 1960. He endures special forms of training exercises (flights, parachute training, exercises in a centrifuge, and on other benches) easily, with a normal physiological reaction of the organism. His intellectual development is high. [His] emotional reactions correspond to the nature of the influencing stimuli. [His] volitional processes are stable. Sociability, optimism, and healthy humor dominate in the structure of [his] personality. [His] outer appearance is orderly and [his] military bearing is good. A disciplined and competent officer. He treats questions of service conscientiously. He is sociable with comrades and courteous in dealings [with others]. He is described favorably as a fighter pilot. He is a military pilot third class. His total flying time is 257 hours. He has 41 parachute jumps with good quality. [His] overall theoretical training is good. He masters the material easily. He has passed examinations with an overall score of 4.8.

He is calm and cheerful by nature. He reacts correctly to criticisms. He treats the collective with respect. He participates in the social life of the subunit. [He] is politically developed and ideologically steadfast. He is able to keep a military secret. He is devoted to the cause of the Party and the socialist Motherland. During [his] time in the Center he has shown himself to be one of the best-prepared students.

Senior Lieutenant TITOV, German Stepanovich, DOB 1935, a native of Altay Kray, Kasikhinskiy Rayon, the village of Bol’shoye Zhilino. A Russian, he is from [a family] of office workers. He has been a Komsomol member since 1949. He graduated the 10^th grade in 1953 and the Stalingrad Military Aviation School in 1957. He has been in the Soviet Army since 1953. He is married and has a son.

[His] physical development is good. Height 166 cm, weight 60 kg. He likes gymnastics and acrobatics. He has a good coordination of movements. His health is good. He was not ill in 1960. He endures special forms of training exercises (flights, parachute training, exercises in a centrifuge, and on other benches) easily, with a normal physiological reaction of the organism. His intellectual development is high. [His] emotional reactions correspond to the nature of the influencing stimuli. His volitional processes are stable. He is distinguished by logic, accuracy, and consistency of thought, “a research mind.” A disciplined, competent officer. He knows the Soviet Army regulations. He is tactful with comrades and seniors.  He has good qualities as a fighter pilot and is a military pilot third class. He has 284 hours of total flying time, and 42 parachute jumps with good quality.

[His] overall theoretical level is high. He masters theoretical material easily. He has passed examinations with an overall score of 5. He has a calm nature. He is stubborn in the achievement of an assigned goal. [He] is self-critical and modest. The collective respects [him]. He is a group Komsomol organizer of a department. Politically [he] is developed and ideologically steadfast. [He] is morally steady. He is devoted to the cause of the Party and the socialist Motherland. He is able to keep a military secret. He has shown himself to be a rising officer. He is the best-prepared student in all questions.

Archival source: TsAMO, f. 83140, op. 4, d. 1, ll. 31-37. Original

^[1] On September 27, 1960 the management of the TsPK [Cosmonaut Training Center] held a special discussion with the trainee cosmonauts and selected the six best-trained for accelerated training for spaceflight. The service and political references of these students were sent to Major-General A. N. Babiychuk, Chief of the Aviation Medicine Service of the Air Force, on September 29, 1960 by Colonel Ye. A. Karpov, Chief of the TsPK for a report to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. The reference for each student was printed on a separate sheet. There are no signatures to the references. Order Nº 00176 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of October 11, 1960 established the measures to accelerate the training of the cosmonauts for the first flight.

^[2] Due to a training injury, by early October 1960, Kartashov was replaced in this core group by Senior Lieutenant Grigoriy Grigor’evich Nelyubov (born 1934).