Vladimir Shatalov

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov, cyrillic Владимир Александрович Шаталов, (born December 8, 1927 in Petropavlovsk) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew three space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 4, Soyuz 8, and Soyuz 10.

From 1971 to 1987 he was Commander of Cosmonaut Training, and Director of the Cosmonaut Training Centre from then until 1991.

Quote: "When we look into the sky it seems to us to be endless. We breath without thinking about it, as is natural... and then you sit aboard a spacecraft, you tear away from Earth, and within ten minutes you have been carried straight through the layer of air and beyond there is nothing! The "boundless" blue sky, the ocean which gives us breath and protects us from endless black and death, is but an infinitesimally thin film. How dangerous it is to threaten even the smallest part of this gossamer covering, this conserver of life."