Gherman Stepanovich Titov

Gherman Stepanovich Titov – a Soviet cosmonaut, the first person to undertake a long-duration space flight, the second Soviet cosmonaut, the second person in the world to make an orbital space flight, Hero of the Soviet Union, Yuri Gagarin's backup, Doctor of Military Sciences. The future cosmonaut was born into the family of a village teacher in the village of Verkhnee Zhilino in Altai Krai. After finishing school, Titov entered the Stalingrad Military Aviation School, which he successfully graduated from with the qualification of a military pilot.

By that time the young pilot had hundreds of flight hours and many parachute jumps. In 1960 Titov was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps as Yuri Gagarin's backup. On August 6, 1961, Gherman Titov made the first long-duration (more than a day) space flight in history aboard the Vostok-2 spacecraft. During this time he completed 17 orbits around the Earth and covered over 700,000 kilometers. The first photographs of Earth were taken from space. Titov landed in the Saratov region. At the time of the flight he was 25 years old – he became the youngest person in space.

After his triumphant flight Titov continued his service in the space sector. Until 1991 he held various leadership positions in cosmonautics and the USSR Ministry of Defense. His merits were recognized with the title Hero of the Soviet Union, and his name has been immortalized in the names of geographical features – a lunar crater, an island and many sites in the Altai. In 2011 a memorial museum dedicated to the life and achievements of Gherman Titov opened in the village of Polkovnikovo.