Sept. 10, 1933: The birth of Yevgeny Khrunov

Today in the history of astronomy, a pioneering cosmonaut is born. | Published: September 10, 2026 The stamp honoring cosmonaut Yevgeny Khrunov displays the historic link-up of Soyuz 4 and 5 in 1969. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Yevgeny Khrunov was born Sept. 10, 1933, in Prudy, Russia. A Soviet Air Force pilot, he was selected as one of the first cosmonauts on Feb. 25, 1960, along with 19 others including Yuri Gagarin, Aleksei Leonov, and Andriyan Nikolayev. Though not part of the Vanguard Six, Khrunov would make history on the Soyuz 4/Soyuz 5 mission in January 1969. After maneuvering into a coordinated orbit, Soyuz 5 docked with Soyuz 4, and Khrunov and crewmate Aleksei Yeliseyev performed a one-hour spacewalk to transfer from one craft to the other. It was the first docking of two crewed spacecraft, as well as the first EVA transfer of crew between those vehicles. One of the only original cosmonauts to perform just one spaceflight, Khrunov worked in foreign economic relations after leaving the space program, and died in 2000 at age 67. Elisa Neckar is senior production editor of Astronomy magazine, and the editor of the Today in the History of Astronomy feature on Astronomy.com.