Aleksei Gubarev

Aleksei Aleksandrovich Gubarev (Russian: Алексе́й Алекса́ндрович Гу́барев; 29 March 1931 – 21 February 2015) was aSoviet cosmonaut who flew on two space flights: Soyuz 17 and Soyuz 28.

Biography

Gubarev graduated from the Soviet Naval Aviation School in 1952 and went on to serve with the Soviet Air Force. He undertook further studies at the Gagarin Air Force Academy before acceptance into the space programme.

He was originally trained for the Soviet lunar programme and for military Soyuz flights before training for Salyut missions. His next mission, in 1978, was Soyuz 28, the first Interkosmos flight, where he was accompanied by Vladimír Remek from Czechoslovakia.

He resigned as a cosmonaut in 1981 and took up an administrative position at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.

In the 1980s he worked at the 30th Central Scientific Research Institute, Ministry of Defence (Russia).

His awards include (twice), and the Gagarin Gold Medal. He is an honorary citizen of Kaluga, Arkalyk, Tselinograd, and Prague.

Gubarev published a book, The Attraction of Weightlessness, in 1982.

Honours and awards

• Twice Hero of the Soviet Union
• Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR
• Two Orders of Lenin
• Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (Russian Federation)
• Medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands"

Foreign awards:

• Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
• Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic)
• Medal "For Strengthening Military Cooperation" (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic)
• Medal "For Sino-Soviet Friendship" (People's Republic of China)
• Medal "Brotherhood in Arms" (German Democratic Republic)