He could have been instead of Gagarin: the tragic fate of the Soviet cosmonaut who never became the first in space Zvezda

Valentin Bondarenko was a Soviet fighter pilot when he was invited to become a “student-cosmonaut” in a group to prepare participants for the first and subsequent space flights in the Union. His candidacy seemed to be a perfect fit, as Korolev himself said that “a fighter pilot is best suited for such a thing”.

Bondarenko was one of the first to join the detachment – on April 28, 1960, a few months before Gagarin.

Bondarenko’s qualities were brilliant even though he was the youngest in the group. He was only 23 years old at the time of enrollment.

“Hard worker. Loves to fly, never gets tired of flights. He flies boldly, competently, confidently,” his pilot’s certificate read.

However, he never had the chance to see space – neither the first nor after Gagarin.

In March 1961, Bondarenko was already finishing his stay in the depressurization chamber, where they tested the psychological resistance of future cosmonauts. Everyone had to spend 10 days in such a cell – alone and in complete silence. The obstinate pilot passed the test almost unscathed when a second of inattention proved fatal.

To test physical capabilities, the air pressure in the decompression chamber was reduced one and a half times and the oxygen concentration was increased to 40%. After completing the test, Bondarenko removed the sensors, wiped them with an alcohol solution and threw a cotton ball – and it fell on the spiral of a hot electric stove. A fire immediately broke out, engulfing Bondarenko’s entire body.

He was still alive when the cell was opened. With burns that were 98%, he was taken to the hospital, where doctors fought for his life for eight hours, but unfortunately the efforts were in vain.

Bondarenko, who had just turned 24, died 19 days before man finally conquered space. And that person was Yuri Gagarin.

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