Author
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Topic: IIyushin 1st in space: Fact or Fiction?
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dbeigie Member Posts: 160 From: Seattle, WA USA Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 10-11-2003 11:56 PM
I was surfing the Web and stumpled across speculation that another Soviet by the name of Sergei Vladimir IIyushin was launched into space before Gagarin.According to the discussion, Ilyushin returned from space disoriented and Soviet leaders decided to publicize Gagarin's mission a few days later. Anyone heard of this and have a perspective? Is this possibly true... or hogwash? |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42986 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 10-12-2003 12:02 AM
Hogwash. http://www.astronautix.com/astros/ilyushin.htm |
dbeigie Member Posts: 160 From: Seattle, WA USA Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 10-12-2003 10:59 AM
Or perhaps Robert, you are part of the coverup?... Just kidding. Thanks for the additional information. |
Shuttlefan Member Posts: 173 From: 41366 Schwalmtal, Germany Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 10-12-2003 04:16 PM
Hi dbeigie, I just read the book "Fallen astronauts" by Burgess and Doolan with contributions of Bert Vis and there is some information in chapter 4 about those rumours about pre-Gagarin cosmonauts. Especially Ilyushin is mentioned (p. 160) and it is lined out why he surely was n o t an early space travel victim. According to Vis´ convincing arguments the case about those ´dead cosmonauts´ is done. |
nelyubov Member Posts: 131 From: USA Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 10-16-2003 08:14 AM
Even though the Vladimir Illyushin theory may not be true -- Pravda or its new title only recently -- within the last two years --has admitted for the first time that several men may have perished on sub-orbital flights in the late 1950's. This was the first time a Russian newspaper has ever run a story about the possibilty of "possible" cosmonauts before Gagarin. The mystery is certainly still "ALIVE". |
pokey Member Posts: 361 From: Houston, TX, USA Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 10-16-2003 12:22 PM
Oberg has a write up on Soviet space myths that mentions the Ilyushin story. http://www.jamesoberg.com/usd10.html |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42986 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 10-16-2003 12:37 PM
quote: Originally posted by nelyubov: has admitted for the first time that several men may have perished on sub-orbital flights in the late 1950's
Who are they to admit anything? Last time I looked, they had no official standing on controlling state secrets or had more expertise than those who run Rosaviakosmos or RSC Energia, both of whom have stated unequivocally that Gagarin was not only the first cosmonaut in space, he was the first to be launched. Regardless, the story of failed Russian suborbital flights is a badly written urban legend. Mitkov, Shiborin, and Ledovsky never lived to die in flight. Literally, the three never existed. They were first (and only) reported as suborbital fatalities in 1959 by an Italian tabloid. [This message has been edited by Robert Pearlman (edited October 16, 2003).] |
dtemple Member Posts: 729 From: Longview, Texas, USA Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 10-17-2003 09:30 PM
If there were fatalities in Soviet sub-orbital attempts, why then, did they follow up with a more risky orbital mission for Gagarin? I think we would now know without a doubt if these old rumors were true. What gave these rumors credibility as I recall were the retouched photos of the first cosmonaut group. If I remember correctly, three were kicked out of the program in 1960, and their images were removed from the group photo. |
eurospace Member Posts: 2610 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Dec 2000
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posted 10-17-2003 09:59 PM
quote: Originally posted by dtemple: If I remember correctly, three were kicked out of the program in 1960, and their images were removed from the group photo.
But those were not the names quoted in the context of the alleged sub-orbital fatalities.
------------------ Jürgen P Esders Berlin, Germany http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Astroaddies |
Ed beck Member Posts: 227 From: Florida Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 10-17-2003 11:15 PM
Hey! Let's face it. This is just one of those situations where it is just fun to believe. Sometimes the truth is too boring. Next your going to tell me that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole gunman in the JFK assassination, no flying saucer crashed in Roswell New Mexico, and that there is no tooth fairy. OK, maybe there is'nt a tooth fairy, but it is just fun to believe, in spite of what the facts may show. Or, depending on the credability of those "facts", what they don't show. ------------------ "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalms 19:1 NIV |
dtemple Member Posts: 729 From: Longview, Texas, USA Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 10-17-2003 11:40 PM
Read this from Jim Oberg's website. www.igs.net/~hwt/oberg/deadcosm.htm If this direct link does not work just go to www.jamesoberg.com/ and then click on UFOs & spaceage myths. Afterwards, scroll to "Dead Cosmonauts, Gemini UFOs and Others". The first link here is about dead cosmonauts. |