Bidspirit auction | Soyuz 21 Crew Cosmonauts Boris

Soyuz 21 Crew Cosmonauts Boris Volynov, Vitaly Zholobov signed rare Russian space cover, comm their mission. Zholobov served as the Flight Engineer on Soyuz 21. Zholobov joined the space programme from the Soviet Air Force where he held the rank of Colonel-engineer. His only trip to space involved a two-month stay on the Salyut 5 space station (Soyuz 21 mission). The flight was scheduled to last for 60 days but lasted for only 49. The reason for the cancellation was the detection of a noxious odour on board. Zholobov reported to the Mission Control Center that the smell was similar to that of a propellant which was known to be toxic. The Control Center decided to abort the mission to avoid exposing the crew to further risk and because the research and technology programs were already successfully finished. He was in orbit from 6 June 1976 to 24 August 1976. Although he never flew again, Zholobov stayed in the space programme until 1981 when he resigned to become director of a geological science research group. Boris Valentinovich Volynov (born 18 December 1934) is a Soviet cosmonaut who flew two space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 5, and Soyuz 21. Following the death of Alexei Leonov in October 2019, he is the last surviving member of the original group of cosmonauts. He is also considered to be the first Jew in space.