January 28, 2021, marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of the first astronaut of independent Ukraine - Leonid Kostyantynovych Kadenyuk. Unfortunately, he did not live to see his anniversary. He died suddenly on January 31, 2018. This loss came as a shock to all who knew him. Leonid Kadenyuk seemed to be in good health as a pilot, an astronaut, but it was too much for his heart. The heart, which has withstood many physical stresses, is not always able to withstand moral blows. Everyone has their own destiny…
On January 28, 1951, in the village of Klishkivtsi, Chernivtsi region, in a family of rural teachers. Kostyantyn Mykytovych and Nina Andriyivna Kadenyuk had two twin boys - Leonid and Serhii.
Leonid, born 15 minutes older, soon began to show remarkable ability to study. In 1967 he graduated from high school with a silver medal. In those days, many schoolchildren dreamed of space travel. The way to them then lay through military aircraft. Perhaps this is what encouraged medalist Kadenyuk to choose his life course. That year he entered the Chernihiv Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. The desire to fly was so great that 16-year-old Leonid managed to correct the birth certificate, making himself a year older.
During his four years of study, Leonid mastered flying on supersonic fighter jets, and in 1971 he was appointed pilot instructor of his native school. And to become a mentor of future pilots is an offer only to the most skilled flight specialists. During five years of working as an instructor, he prepared 15 jet pilots.
In August 1976, an unexpected but dreamy and happy event took place in his life. After a careful selection of Soviet military pilots, Leonid Kadenyuk was included on a team of test pilots for the Soviet Cosmonaut Corps. This event can be compared to the event in 1960 when Yuri Gagarin was elected the first astronaut on the Earth!
This team of astronauts turned out to be unique. Six months before his selection, the government decided to create a reusable space system in the Soviet Union, which was later renamed the Buran programme. It was supposed to create a “space plane” flown by “special pilots”. Leonid Kadenyuk became one of them. The team was purely military and consisted of only 16 people.
The experience of a regular pilot was not enough for such a team, so Leonid Kadenyuk began studying at the school of test pilots of the State Research Institute of the Air Force. In less than a year, he has mastered flights on a variety of aircraft - from several types of fighters to bombers and passenger liners. On January 30, 1979, he completed general space training and qualifying as a test astronaut, and continued active flight testing. Already on January 25, 1982, Leonid Kadenyuk was appointed as a test pilot for reusable space systems of the State Research Institute of the USSR Air Force in Akhtubinsk (Astrakhan region). It seemed that the dream was very close! But suddenly in March 1983, he was expelled from the elite detachment of astronauts after marital issues. Unfortunately, the astronaut's biography had to be impeccable in those times.
It proved to be a shock for him though Leonid Kadenyuk took it with honor. He continued the usual flight test work, mastered new types of aircraft, overcame accidents in flights that could cost him his life.
Leonid Kadenyuk persistently sought to reach into space. To obtain the necessary professional knowledge of a mechanical engineer for an astronaut, he studied again at the Moscow Aviation Institute at the Faculty of Aircraft. Eventually, in October 1988, he was re-enlisted in the Air Force Research Astronaut Squad, where he underwent engineering and flight training under the Buran programme as its commander. He was preparing to fly the transport ship Soyuz-TM.
On November 15, 1988, the spacecraft “Buran” made its first unmanned test flight. Spacecraft flights with astronauts were planned only in orbital operations to practice rescue operations using the Soyuz-TM spacecraft. Leonid Kadenyuk was assigned to a group of rescue astronauts. His first space flight was scheduled for December 1991. Also, he was appointed commander of one of the “Buran” crews in 1993… But in December 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, the Buran programme stopped, and test astronauts were disbanded. Leonid Kadenyuk took it really hard …
Until 1996, he continued his service as a test pilot in the Russian Air Force, then resigned of his own volition and accepted Ukrainian citizenship.
Ever since 1990, when the independence began to sprout confidently in Ukraine, the idea to send a completely Ukrainian crew to the Mir orbital complex arose. It was planned to appoint Kadenyuk as its commander. Even though he did not become the commander, he was noticed by the leadership of the young independent state.
Since 1992, Ukraine has positioned itself in the world as a space power, having inherited a great rocket and space potential from the Soviet Union, but without its own manned spaceflight. Then, only the United States and the Russian Federation could train and send people into space. An agreement was not reached with Russia. After the negotiations with the United States in 1994, a Ukrainian astronaut was decided to fly on the American Shuttle. Leonid Kadenyuk was supposed to join the team as an astronaut-researcher, i.e. payload specialist.
Until 1996, the State Space Agency of Ukraine and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine organized and prepared a scientific flight program.
Among the 28 candidates for the flight, four were selected, among them Leonid Kadenyuk. NASA specialists preferred him because he was fully trained in space, while the “Shuttle” and “Buran” were very similar in their technical capabilities. The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has agreed with NASA on a program of space experiments in the field of botany.
Moreover, test pilot of the 1st class, reserve colonel Leonid Kadenyuk has been appointed a junior researcher at the M. G. Kholodny Institute of Botany of NASU. It was definitely another turning point in Leonid Kadenyuk’s life, but the only chance to realize his dream – a space mission. Although he wasn’t appointed the commander of the ship just only a botanist…
At the end of 1996, Leonid Kadenyuk together with the backup Yaroslav Pustovyi arrived at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston (USA) to get prepared for the space flight.
The Space Shuttle system STS-87 mission was launched on November 19, 1997. The crew consists of 6 people: four Americans, a Japanese, and a Ukrainian. The flight lasted almost 16 days. Kadenyuk performed all the planned experiments with plants. Besides, he demonstrated in space the state symbols of the new Ukraine - the flag and anthem. The reusable spacecraft Columbia STS-87 returned to Earth on December 5, 1997. It was not only the success of the state but also the personal success of the new astronaut. He obviously earned a relevant reward. One of the rewards became a beautiful suit, which a famous fashion designer sewed for Kadenyuk in agreement with NSAU. Despite being famous and having made a name for his country, Leonid Kadenyuk had no money for it …
Then, he worked as a senior researcher at the Institute of Space Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Only in January 1998, he was appointed Head of the aviation department of the Air Defense Forces of Ukraine. On January 20, 1998, Kadenyuk became Major general of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Deputy Inspector General of the General Military Inspectorate under the President of Ukraine for Aviation and Cosmonautics. Leonid Kadenyuk also had the duties of a freelance aviation and astronaut assistant. Leonid Kadenyuk received the title “Hero of Ukraine” only on December 3, 1999. He has been awarded the Order of the Golden Star for services to the Ukrainian state in the development of astronautics, an outstanding personal contribution to strengthening international cooperation in space.
In May 2002, Kadenyuk was elected to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from the Chernivtsi region. He was fascinated by political life and passionately worked on the problems of his constituents. As deputy chairman of the Committee on National Security and Defense, he initiated the idea of creating his own detachment of astronauts in Ukraine. This expedition of the Ukrainian astronaut to the International Space Station was planned for 2006-2008. The expedition required considerable public funds, which, unfortunately, were not found…
His career as a deputy ended in 2006. Leonid Kadenyuk continued to work in the commission on space activities under the President of Ukraine. Since 2011 he has been an adviser to the Prime Minister of Ukraine on aviation and cosmonautics. However, his duty was to offer but not to decide. And there was no position for him in the State Space Agency of Ukraine…
Leonid Kadenyuk's activity continued voluntarily. He worked as a member of the board of the Ukrainian Youth Aerospace Association “Syzirya”. Since 2015 he was President of the Aerospace Society of Ukraine. These were public organizations that had almost no influence on state-space policy. In the last 20 years of his life, he has experienced so many blows - they are hard to count, you could only ask him…
Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute did not only deeply honor him as the first astronaut of independent Ukraine, but also rightly considered a colleague and friend: he was Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the University, Adviser to the Rector and Honorary Doctor of the Faculty of Aerospace Systems. He is a frequent participant of scientific readings at the State Polytechnic Museum and in activities dedicated to historical space events. He dreamed of a new space flight. But it was not meant to be. On January 31, 2018, during a morning run, his heart stopped….
On April 4, 2020, a bas-relief with a portrait of Leonid Konstantinovich Kadenyuk was installed in the first building of the University. The Department of Aviation and Cosmonautics of the State Polytechnic Museum has a bronze bust of Leonid Kadenyuk performed by the sculptor, People's Artist of Ukraine Valentyn Ivanovych Znoba. The famous sculptor created the bust just after the triumphant Ukrainian space mission. On January 28, on the birthday of the Ukrainian astronaut, flowers are always near him…