Svetlana Savitskaya: biography, photo

She was twice recognized as the Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports and was never deprived of attention - her appearance in the public always caused delight, as if she had some special attraction. And the sky itself always shaped it - such a beautiful, native and boundless. Svetlana Savitskaya appears first to us in the history of space exploration after Tereshkova, a woman-cosmonaut, who made her way to open space. The cosmonaut visited outer space during her second flight.

Childhood and youth

Svetlana Was born August 8, 1948 in the capital, in the family of the military commander, the marshal of aviation - Yevgeny Yakovlevich Savitsky. In the family discipline and order prevailed. Svetlana's mother, Lydia Pavlovna, served with her husband in the war years. And such circumstances predetermined the future hobbies of their daughter.

Savitskaya Svetlana Evgenievna received a certificate in 1966. After that, she was enrolled in the Moscow Aviation Institute. Having successfully defended her diploma (in 1972), she received a specialty in flight engineering. She combined the studies at the institute with the Kaluga Aircraft Technical School, where she subsequently qualified as an instructor pilot.

While still a secondary school student, she started practicing aerobatics and entered the current national team. Svetlana Savitskaya quickly gained experience and already in 1970 in England won the world championship in aerobatics on piston aircraft. She also managed to make three record-breaking parachute jumps from the stratosphere and perform eighteen airplane flights on jet-powered aircraft. And in 1970 she already had the title of Master of Sports of the USSR.

Work as a pilot

After receiving the diploma Svetlana Savitskaya worked as a pilot-instructor for a while, receiving additional qualification of a test pilot. In 1976 she began to work in the Scientific and Production Association "Vzlet". A little later, already having considerable experience - a test pilot at the machine-building plant "Speed" in the city of Moscow. In August 1980, Svetlana was delegated to the cosmonauts, and a little later she was appointed astronaut researcher from the "Speed".

"Space Road"

On July 17, 1984, Soyuz T-12, which had three experienced astronauts and among them - Svetlana Savitskaya, was launched from the Baikonur station. The photo, made shortly before takeoff, is still stored in the archives of the Baikonur cosmodrome. On the orbit, for the first time, such a large group of pioneering explorers, distinguished by their high qualifications, was aimed at carrying out the necessary experiments in various fields of scientific activity.

"Space Squad", which included Savitskaya, was to conduct a series of events to monitor human health, health and the state of the organism as a whole in a space environment, to obtain more reliable information about the person's adaptation to weightlessness. During the flight, the researchers carried out corresponding experiments that helped to identify various kinds of deviations in the functioning of the organs of hearing, vision, cardiovascular system, determine the degree of human endurance in the space environment and its susceptibility to excessive weakness and lethargy in conditions of work in space. Savitskaya Svetlana Evgenievna also monitored the impact of the open space environment on materials used in the construction of various technical structures.

The main task of the team, however, was to enter the open space. And on July 25, 1984, together with Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Stavitskaya left the station Salyut-7 and made an exit into outer space. They also conducted a unique experiment, which consisted in the application of a wide-universal hand tool designed to work in space conditions. This device was equipped with an electronic power supply, four tablets, a control panel, which includes switches for possible modes of operation. In the end, the following operations were carried out by the space engineer Soyuz T-12: cutting, soldering, spraying and welding.

Return to Earth

The stay in flight of the "space crew" lasted for twelve days. July 29, 1984, they returned safely to Earth. The specialists of the leading crew decided to continue their usual work in orbit, preparing for the next spacewalk. Svetlana Savitskaya meanwhile demonstrated the success of the implementation in outer space of those "earthly" works, which were usually carried out in the usual factory workshop. It was only necessary to show the appropriate skill and be ready for any situation.

Political activity of Savitskaya

In politics, Savitskaya became a prominent figure in the late 1980s and then, in 1989, became a people's deputy of the USSR, as well as a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. She was a member of the Communist Party. In 1993, she nominated her person at the elections to the State Duma of the first convocation, but failed. At the end of December 1995, Svetlana Savitskaya was elected a deputy of the third convocation and again became a member of the Communist Party faction. In 2003, 2007 and 2011, she was again elected acting deputy of the State Duma from the Communist Party. She is currently deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly Commission on Security, Defense and Crime Control.

Finally

The second female cosmonaut after Valentina Tereshkova was Svetlana Savitskaya. Her biography is full of significant events. She completed her career in 1993 (in the rank of major) in connection with a deserved retirement. Svetlana Evgenievna was awarded many titles and awards, behind her shoulders - going into open space, a large number of observations and experiments conducted, teaching activities.