Two years ago, on October 26, 2020, Oleksandr Serhiyovich Boltenko, the Head of the Department of History of Aviation and Cosmonautics of the Borys Paton State Polytechnic Museum at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute during 2008–2020, passed away.
A person to whom the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute owes an amazing acquaintance with the history of space.
Oleksandr Serhiyovich Boltenko, a retired Pidpolkovnyk, devoted his life to space. He served at the Baikonur Cosmodrome for 20 years. At first, he serviced the launch facilities and participated in the preparation and launch of S.P. Korolev’s R-9 missiles. In 1969, he was appointed a crew commander of space probe (AMC) orbital maneuvering engines. Later, Boltenko became the operations engineering company commander, whose soldiers serviced life-supporting infrastructure of all the military units and launch facilities at Baikonur.
The memory of the legendary man is engraved in the history of Ukrainian cosmonautics and the university forever.