- Pavel Popovich
Infobox Astronaut
name =Pavel Romanovich Popovich
|100px
type =Cosmonaut
nationality =Soviet
date_birth =October 5 ,1930
place_birth =Kiev Oblast ,Ukrainian SSR
occupation =Pilot
rank =Major General ,Soviet Air Force
selection =Air Force Group 1
time =18d 16h 27m
mission =Vostok 4 ,Soyuz 14
insignia =|Pavel Romanovich Popovich ( _ru. Па́вел Рома́нович Попо́вич, "Pavel Romanovich Popovich"; born
October 5 ,1930 inUzyn ,Kiev Oblast ofUkrainian SSR ) was a Sovietcosmonaut of Ukrainian descent, arguably the first ethnic Ukrainian to fly in space.Popovich commanded two space flights,
Vostok 4 andSoyuz 14 . His call sign in these flights wasGolden eagle ( _ru. Бе́ркут).In 1960, he was selected as one of a group of twenty air force pilots that would train as the first cosmonauts. Vostok 4 was part of the first dual space flight, with
Andrian Nikolayev onVostok 3 .He retired from the space programme in 1982. In 1984 Popovich joined the Academy of Sciences newly created All-Union Investigation Committee for Anomalous Aerial Phenomena and became head of the Academy's
UFO Commission. Nowadays he is the president of UFO association of Russia and the chairman of Ukrainian diaspora organisation in Russia.He is married to
Marina Popovich , a retired Soviet Air Force colonel, engineer, and legendary Soviet test pilot who has been outspoken about UFO reality. They have two daughters.External links
* [http://dayton.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2002-000172.html Image of Cosmonaut Pavel Popovich during Vostok 4 flight]
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