Gagarin's second backup, the cosmonaut ranked third for the first flight who never reached orbit
On 18 February 1966, the note he left his wife before leaving home: "Zinok! You were always the best. You'd have to search to find a woman like you. Forgive me."
In January 1961 the State Commission ranked the first-flight candidates: Gagarin, Titov, Nelyubov. He was the second backup for Vostok 1 and later trained as backup for the Vostok 3/4 dual flight, but in March 1963 a clash with a military patrol at Chkalovskaya station (drunk, and refusing to apologize) cost him his place in the cosmonaut corps. Exiled to a fighter unit in the Far East, he fell into alcoholism and depression; on 18 February 1966 he stepped in front of a train, aged thirty-one. His existence was kept secret until glasnost, his image airbrushed from the 'Sochi Six' photograph and his name erased from official histories.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1957Graduated Yeysk Naval Aviation School; naval aviation pilot
- 1960.03Selected for first cosmonaut group (Vanguard Six)
- 1961.01State Commission ranks candidates: Gagarin, Titov, Nelyubov
- 1961.04Second backup for Vostok 1 (Gagarin)
- 1962.06Removed from Vostok 3/4 training for health reasons
- 1963.04Dismissed from cosmonaut corps after Chkalovskaya incident
- 1963–66Fighter pilot, Far East air defence unit
Related historical events
Joining the corps and ranking third for the first flight
Nelyubov was one of the twelve men enrolled in the first cosmonaut corps on 7 March 1960. In the summer of 1960 a group of six was formed to prepare for the first flight, listing Gagarin, Titov, Nikolayev, Popovich, Kartashov and Varlamov. When Kartashov dropped out on medical grounds, Nelyubov took his place.
From December 1960 to January 1961 the six candidates trained at Zhukovsky. The work was done mainly at Laboratory No. 47 of the Flight Research Institute, using a mock-up of the Vostok 3A vehicle. In the graduation examinations of 17–18 January 1961, Gagarin, Titov, Nikolayev and Popovich were marked "excellent" while Nelyubov and Bykovsky received "good". Reviewing the personal files and training results, the reception commission recommended the order of use as Gagarin, Titov, Nelyubov, Nikolayev, Bykovsky, Popovich. Nelyubov was Gagarin's second backup for the first manned flight, and in June 1962 he was withdrawn from the Vostok 3 and 4 training group on health grounds. Until then he remained one of the corps' strongest candidates, and his 1963 expulsion cut off that accumulated standing.