Vladimir Yazdovsky Vladimir Yazdovsky Vladimir Yazdovsky (1913–1999) was a Soviet space program medical scientist. Yazdovsky was a veteran surgeon and army doctor who joined the Institute for Aviation and Medeicine in Moscow in 1948.There, in the early 1950s, Yazdovsky assisted Sergei Korolev in tests using small animals in sub-orbital spaceflight. His team of researchers helped gather strays from Moscow and helped design various safety measures such as space suits and life-support systems. In 1957 he prepared the dog Laika, the first animal to orbit, the Earth for Sputnik 2. In 1960 Yazdovsky prepared the dogs Belka and Strelka for Korabl-Sputnik 2, the
Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR the honorary title "Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR". Georgy Dobrovolsky and Viktor Patsayev, who were killed during the Soyuz 11 reentry, did not receive the title. Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR The honorary title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR () was a state award of the Soviet Union presented to all cosmonauts who flew for the Soviet Space Agency. Usually accompanying the distinction was the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest title that could be awarded to a Soviet citizen for performing heroic deeds while in service of the state. The title was established by Decree of the Presidium of