09:11, 23 November 2009 | GMT +5
One of first Soviet astronauts Feoktistov dies
MOSCOW. November 23. KAZINFORM Konstantin Feoktistov, one of the first Soviet astronauts and Hero of the Soviet Union, died at the age of 82 on Sunday, the Vesti news channel said; Kazinform refers to ITAR-TASS.
He was the first 'civilian' astronaut in the former USSR. Previously, all the Soviet astronauts had been military men.
Feoktistov was a crewmember of the first Voskhod spaceship, which had the mission on October 12-13, 1964. That was the first crew to travel without spacesuits.
Besides, Feoktistov was the first designer of spaceships who tested his products himself; Kazinform cites ITAR-TASS.
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