posted 06-22-2021 03:59 AM               

At first, the idea of approaching this famous Soviet cosmonaut was a little daunting, as I had met only a few of his colleagues in the past, but I found him a warm personality and quite engaging in his response to my questions. (It was a similar experience I found when interviewing Deke Slayton in Houston in 1991 where the daunting image I had of meeting Slayton was far removed from the man I actually interviewed.)

At first, it was a challenge to have the famous cosmonaut expand on his answers, mainly as he repeated the known facts, especially regarding the failed docking with Soyuz 8 and the problems of Soyuz 10.

However, he enjoyed meeting and speaking with Jerry Carr, whom I had arranged to attend the Show, and after that, he became more relaxed as the weekend progressed. Another privilege was presenting him with a copy of the Rocket Men book I had co-authored with Rex Hall the year before. One of my most memorable memories of Vladimir Aleksandrovich was his open recollection of the early landing of Soyuz 10 in April 1971.

His two colleagues, Alexei Yeliseyev and Nikolai Rukavishnikov, noticed they were heading towards a great expanse of water in the landing area of Kazakhstan. Both quizzed Shatalov on what should be done, which I found strange from Yeliseyev who had experienced landing with Shatalov on Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 8, but understandable for rookie Rukavishnikov. In response, Shatalov said he calmly shrugged his shoulders and told them there was nothing they could do except wait for impact either on land as normal or on water. In the event they landed on dry land...just, finding out once they exited the Descent Module they had missed a lake by only 50 metres.

I feel fortunate to have met and spoken with such a pioneering cosmonaut. RIP Vladimir Aleksandrovich.