Boris Nikolayevich Belousov

Above: longhand letter of Boris Belousov, soviet unflown cosmonaut, with some remarks about is life, telling he had a serious accident in November 1989. In the meantime, his health has improved. During that time, he had not written any letters, not even to friends. He still has problems and headaches. "God leads life. I have never done anything bad to anyone... Write again, if you absolutely have to..." A touching document from an unflown cosmonaut who's identity had been revealed only recently. An extremely rare document of space memorabilia and one of the rarest pieces of my collection. The photo is signed and inscribed on the back. Belousov perished a few years ago.

In October/November 1965, the so-called "Young Guards" group was selected, with 22 men reporting to Star Town. All were young pilots and military engineers, (plus one military doctor - Degtyarov). It is believed that the Soviets had decided to see what results could be achieved by choosing an especially young group of men in preparation for the forthcoming Soyuz program. The identities of most of the unflown cosmonauts were only revealed in late 1980's or mid 1990's, nearly 30 years after they had been selected. Very few of this men actually made a spaceflight, only 4 pilots: Kizim, Klimuk, Sarafanov and Zudov, and 2 engineers: Glazkov and Rozhdestvenky. Belousov was not one of the elected ones, just like Kolesnikov or Lisun.

Colonel, Air Force, Reserve; graduated from Military Engineering Academy, Leningrad, 1960; Test-engineer in Kapustin Yar and then in Baikonur; was selected on 28.10.1965 (TsPK-3); OKP (cosmonaut basic training): 11/65 - 12/67; retired on 05.01.1968 because of supposed weight problems (85 Kilograms); retired from Air Force 1981 und taught then Physics in the School of Monina. Died in June 1998.