The youngest astronaut in the world

German Titov

Titov's father was a teacher. He started learning German when his son was in fifth grade, with the purpose of teaching his son German.

At that time, there was a driver in his hometown who signed up for the Air Force. When he returned home, he was wearing a military uniform with epaulets on his shoulders and gold buttons shining. Although he was just a soldier asked by the munitions department at a certain airport, in the eyes of his hometown people, it could be said that he had returned home in glory. Titov graduated, and at the Medical Committee of the Military Service Committee, he chose the Air Force without hesitation.

Titov graduated from the Stalingrad Pilot School and served in the town of Siversky on the outskirts of Leningrad. His pilot career has been going smoothly. He is a second-level pilot. He has obtained two Leningrad Communist Youth League Municipal Committee Certificates after serving for two years. He was also scouted by "Successor".

One day in October 1959, the deputy commander invited him to talk and asked him if he would like to fly on a new aircraft. By rocket or satellite? Titov felt curious. He has flown MiG-17 and MiG-15, both of which weigh several tons and are much larger than the first satellite. Space flight seemed unthinkable at the time. He spent much of the next time in the library. He fell in love with Tsiolkovsky's book "Fantasy on Earth and Sky".

Almost didn't become an astronaut

In December 1959, Titov came back from vacation. The original regiment he was in had been cancelled, and he was assigned to another regiment. At the time, all he could think about was space flight. When he learned that he had been offered a transfer to the astronaut squadron during his leave, but that the notice had been sent back, he was furious. He resolutely pursued the notice. On December 25, he reported to the pilot squadron. There are 20 young pilots there. At that time, they did not have a dedicated training base, so they could only go to the army not far from where they lived for training. The subsequent training ground was formed on this basis.

The secret spacecraft "Helix"

Titov once wanted to fly to space for the second time, but at that time he hoped to send more people into orbit. So after the space flight, Titov set out to solve the problem of rocket vehicles.

Since 1964, they began to develop the "Helix" spacecraft that can be used multiple times before the United States. But the work failed, and its prospects were not recognized by the military. Later, Artyom Mikoyan died, Gagarin was killed, and the project was aborted.

Titov’s flights were officially stopped after Gagarin’s death. He first studied at the Academy of Sciences of the General Staff and later worked on the Gagarin Death Investigation Committee. From 1972 to 1979, he served as the first deputy director of the Aerospace Equipment Administration of the Ministry of National Defense, in charge of scientific and technological work.

In orbit

Even sleep has a time limit during space flight. But once he actually slept for 35 minutes longer. The planned sleeping time was from 19:00 to 2:00 in the morning, but there was something wrong with the temperature control system. He woke up at 10 to 2:00 and wanted to squint for a while, but ended up oversleeping.

He is so nostalgic about space flight, and he always seems to be in high spirits when talking about it. Looking at the Earth from a spaceship is like looking down at the Earth from an airplane, only slightly smaller. The interplay of light and shadow on the earth is like the twilight moment. There are white clouds all around, and the eyes are always bright; there is a light blue border in the distance. Titov carried a camera and a 6x telescope with him.

His unfulfilled ideal

Titov’s biggest ideal in his later years was to fly into space again when he was 78 years old. In 1998, American astronaut Glenn flew into space at the age of 77. Titov is the youngest astronaut in the Guinness Book of World Records. He was not yet 26 years old when he first flew into space in August 1961.

) He wanted to set another record, but he left, leaving with regret...