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Petr KlimukAstronaut
Date of Birth: 10.07.1942
Country:  Belarus |
Content:
Biography of Petr Klimuk
Petr Klimuk is a former Soviet cosmonaut and a Lieutenant General. He was born in the village of Komarovka in the Brest region of the Belarusian SSR (now the Republic of Belarus). His father was a partisan who died in 1944 during the liberation of the Polish city of Radom. Klimuk spent his early years under occupation and his childhood and school years in his hometown. In 1959, he graduated from high school and enrolled in a school for initial pilot training, and later became a cadet at the Chernihiv Higher Military Aviation School named after Lenin's Komsomol. He graduated from the school with distinction in 1964 and served in the aviation units of the Soviet Army.
Cosmonaut Career
In 1965, Klimuk was selected as a cosmonaut and completed the full course of general space training and training for flights on Soyuz spacecraft. His first space flight took place from December 18 to 26, 1973, as the commander of the Soyuz 13 spacecraft, alongside Valentin Lebedev. During the flight, they conducted astrophysical research using the Orion equipment. His second space flight lasted from May 24 to July 26, 1975, as the commander of the Soyuz 18-2 spacecraft and the Salyut 4 orbital station, alongside Vitaly Sevastyanov. After further training, Klimuk flew for the third time from June 27 to July 5, 1978, as the commander of the Soyuz 30 spacecraft, working on board the Salyut 6 orbital station with Polish cosmonaut Miroslaw Hermaszewski.
Post-Cosmonaut Career
In 1978, Klimuk left the cosmonaut corps and started working at the Y.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He served as the Chief of the Political Department and Deputy Chief of the Center. In 1991, he became the Chief of the Center. In addition to his space achievements, Klimuk graduated from the Y.A. Gagarin Air Force Academy in 1977 and the V.I. Lenin Military-Political Academy in 1983, without interrupting his main work. He was also a deputy of the USSR Supreme Soviet of the 10th convocation.
Accomplishments and Awards
Klimuk was recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union twice, awarded the Orders of Lenin three times, and received various medals and one foreign order. He was bestowed with the Gold Medal named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky by the USSR Academy of Sciences, the Gold Medal of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Gold Medal named after Y.A. Gagarin, and the honorary diploma named after V.M. Komarov (FAI). He was also a laureate of the USSR State Prizes in 1978 and 1981. Klimuk is an honorary citizen of Kaluga and Gagarin (Russia) and Jezkazgan (Kazakhstan).
