Russia, despite the long time of resuscitation, after the collapse of the USSR, still retained its leading positions in the field of space exploration. However, very few people know at what cost these successes of the then Soviet cosmonautics were given. Space technology is faced with problems that are not always possible to foresee. Therefore, space flights, especially in the early stages, were a very risky business. However, there were people in our country who were ready to sacrifice themselves for the honor of their Motherland. These unknown heroes of space, if necessary, had to go on a flight without return.
The detachment in question was one of the strictest state secrets of the era of stagnation (apparently, it remains so to the present day). According to the former KGB officer V. Petrov, even before Gagarin's flight into space, a detachment of test cosmonauts was created, which only a few knew about. At that time, the KGB was not yet sure that the automation of unmanned stations would work reliably, and the prestige of the Soviet Union was at stake in these flights. Our unmanned space technology (in particular, stations) had to fly flawlessly and be guaranteed to return.
To ensure the required reliability, modules for pilots began to be installed at some of these stations, so that the astronaut in it could correct the station's entry into orbit and other maneuvers in manual mode if necessary, while transmitting all information to Earth. Thus, according to the plan of the KGB leadership, 100% flight reliability was ensured. In addition, in practice, systems for manual and automatic control of spacecraft were tested.
Only volunteers from the KGB were recruited into this detachment. V. Petrov himself was enrolled in the detachment in 1969, when work was actively underway to create a Soviet lunar rover. Two people were preparing to start on the moon - the 13th and 14th. The names of these unknown heroes of space have not been disclosed today. A number of test flights were carried out. The brave guys understood what they were doing: the 13th and 14th were preparing for a flight without a return, they could not return from this extremely difficult flight, since the technology of that time did not allow this. The presence of people was necessary so that, being in the module next to the lunar rover, immediately after landing, to correct the damage to the chassis, to debug the tuning of the solar panels, and also to ensure the aiming of television cameras. And, of course, to be inseparably close to the lunar rover. It was these unknown heroes who made the famous pictures of the lunar rover, which went around the whole world. V. Petrov testified that when they saw off the 13th and 14th on the lunar flight, many colleagues (who had gone through a very harsh school of life) and designers cried. However, the guys did not flinch, brought the ship to the target and ensured the successful completion of all assigned tasks. This episode can be considered one of the most dramatic in the history of astronautics.
It should be noted that the first unmanned flight of Buran was also accompanied by a test cosmonaut, which was not announced. Everything went well: at the right moment, he took control and corrected the position of the ship in orbit. You can treat this circumstance in different ways, but, of course, one thing: these people are real heroes of space, who paved the way for Russia to the spacecraft of the future.