In the early 60s, the Soviets convinced the world their space program worked flawlessly by only announcing successes and covering up all failures. This policy extended to the people who worked for them.

In this short series, we'll be looking at all the cosmonauts who were written out of history, starting with the first cosmonaut to ever die in the line of duty: Valentin Bondarenko.

Sources

- The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team, Colin Burgess

- The Cosmonauts Who Weren't There, James Oberg