Could have been in Gagarin’s place: the tragic fate of the Soviet cosmonaut, who never became the first in space

Valentin Bondarenko was a Soviet fighter pilot when he received an invitation to become a “student-cosmonaut” in a group that was to prepare participants for the first and subsequent spaceflights in the Union. His candidacy seemed to be a perfect fit, as Korolev himself said that “a fighter pilot is most suitable for such a thing.”

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

Bondarenko’s features were brilliant, even though he was the youngest of the group. At the time of registration, he was only 23 years old.

“Hard worker. He loves to fly, he doesn’t get tired in the flights. He flies boldly, skillfully, confidently,” he said in his pilot certification sheet.

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

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

To test physical abilities, the air pressure in the depressurization chamber was reduced by 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 away the cotton – and he fell on the spiral of a hot electric stove. Immediately a fire broke out, which engulfed Bondarenko’s entire body.

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

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

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