Many names have emerged over the years of Cosmonauts who allegedly perished in space, or disappeared suddenly from the scene.
These names come from a wide variety of sources, some more reliable than others. They are offered here without comment nor proof of their true existence.
It is likely, however, that the names of the people whose voice and heartbeat were received by the Judica-Cordiglia brothers may be found among those on the list.
Presumed lost in Sub-Orbital Flights
- Aleksei Ledovsky (Late 1957)
- Serenti Shiborin (February 1958)
- Andrei Mitkoff (January 1959)
Presumed lost in a Winged Rocket-powered Aircraft
- Mirya Gromova (1959?)
Presumed lost in Orbital Flights
- Piotr Dolgoff (October 11, 1960)
- Gennady Mikhailoff (February, 1961)
- Alexis Gracioff (December 1960)
- Alexis Belokonioff (May 15, 1962)
- Ivan Kachur (September 27, 1960)
- V. Zavadowsky
- Ludmila ? (1961)
Presumed lost during Cosmonaut Training
- Valentin Bondarenko (1961)
- N.K. Nikitin
- Anatoly Tokoff
Expelled from the Cosmonauts Corps or suddenly disappeared from the scene
- Valentin Filatyeff
- Grigory Nelyuboff (1966)
- Ivan Anikeyeff
- Mars Rofikoff
- Valentin Varlamoff
- Anatoly Kartashoff
- Dmitry Zaikin
A FOOTNOTE FROM HAVANA
In September of 1980 a Cuban “guest cosmonaut”, Arnaldo Tamayo-Mendez, was launched aboard the “Soyuz 38” capsule. After his successful flight, he received a heros welcome back in Havana.
Fidel Castro gave a moving speech, in which he described his visit to the Cosmonaut Training Center in Zvezdny Gorodok (Star City). He had been greatly impressed by the faithful reproduction of Yuri Gagarins office, where, on the eve of their space missions, cosmonauts go to meditate. In a continuing tradition, they leave on Gagarin’s desk a letter in which they pledge to honor and uphold the great tradition of valor of the soviet cosmonauts who have preceded them. The office is exactly how it was at the time of Gagarins death on March 27, 1968: his notes are still on the desk, his appointment book lies open on the table, his uniform hangs from the clothes-stand, all the clocks are stopped at the exact hour of his accident.
Castro went on to describe another room, that he called the “room of martyrs”. Access to this room is strictly controlled. On the walls of the room are the photographs of all the cosmonauts who have given their lives in the course of the soviet space program. Castro was deeply moved by the display of heroism presented in this very special shrine; he added: “Many are the heroes who sacrificed their lives at the beginning of the space age!”