Georgy Beregovoy
Georgy Beregovoy is the only two-time Hero of the Soviet Union in the history of Soviet cosmonautics to receive one gold star—for the Great Patriotic War and a second—for space exploration. At a critical moment for Soviet cosmonautics, he took on the most complex and risky mission. He was forced to "tame" a then-unruly, cutting-edge spacecraft. Today, Soviet-made Soyuz spacecraft are the world's most famous and reliable orbital transport vehicles. But their development was beset by a dark period: after the death of chief designer Sergei Korolev, work stalled. Meanwhile, their rivals in the space race, the Americans, were rapidly gaining ground. The rush to "catch up" with America resulted in a series of setbacks: a series of unmanned Soyuz launches, followed by a terrible tragedy—the death of the spacecraft's commander, Vladimir Komarov. Next to depart on the Soyuz-3 spacecraft was the only veteran in the detachment, Georgy Beregovoy. Half a century ago, in October 1968, the fate of an entire program was at stake. In our film, we'll explain why those in the know considered Beregovoy a suicide bomber before the launch. What unusual phenomenon did the Soyuz-3 commander encounter during the flight, what did Beregovoy dare to tell the designers about it, and why did he remain convinced to the end that he had failed the mission?