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Zond program

Crew designation

In January 1968 after controverse debates Kamanin and Mishin nominated 14 cosmonauts at all intended preparing the manned circumlunar flights using the UR-500/L-1 to beat the NASA with a manned mission around but not onto the moon.
Commander candidates included

• Waleri Bykowski
• Georgi Dobrowolski
• Pjotr Klimuk
• Anatoli Kuklin
• Alexei Leonow
• Pawel Popowitsch
• Waleri Woloschin

Candidates for the board engineers (mainly from ZKBEM) included

• Juri Artjuchin
• Georgi Gretschko
• Oleg Makarov
• Nikolai Rukawischnikow
• Witali Sewastjanow
• Anatoli Woronow
• Walentin Jerschow

Woronw got the nomination as the only one air force member in the engineers group. The planned missions were valued as higly risky. Only in 1970 the system became flightworthy after the succesful missions of Zond-7 and Zond-8. Never a Soviet Cosmonaut lifted off on board of a 7K-L1 (a downgraded version of the early Soyuz 7K-OK) to fly around the moon. In November 1968 just three crews were left in this program. As commanders would act

• Leonow (group leader and candidate for the first piloted mission)
• Bykowski (first backup)
• Popowitsch,

whereas the engineers from ZKBEM

• Makarow
• Rukawischnikow
• Sewastjanow

should act as board engineers.