Valery Pavlovich Burdakov passed away on April 22, 2014.
Professor Valery P. Burdakov was a Ph.D. of Engineering Sciences, a distinguished Russian scientist, and co-author of an immensely popular book Rockets of the Future.
He personally knew many of those who had created Soviet ballistic missiles and the nation’s space exploration program.
For thirty two years, Valery P. Burdakov had worked in Korolyov’s design bureau. It was Sergey Korolyov who led the development of several generations of ballistic missiles, launch vehicles, scientific, military and communications satellites, interplanetary probes and manned spacecraft in the USSR.
Professor of Moscow Aviation Institute Valery P. Burdakov had also had participated in the creation of the Energiya-Buran shuttle complex.
Valery P. Burdakov was author of more than 400 works in engineering sciences: monographs, articles, inventions, and patents, manuals for aerospace engineering, economics, energy, and thermodynamics.
In the course of his career, Professor Burdakov had often met and communicated with Soviet and Russian cosmonauts. He learned much from them, including information about very unusual experiences.
Professor Burdakov had studied UFOs for over sixty years. He was against pseudoscience and hoaxes. He believed that 97% of all alien stories are fairy tales. But 3% are real messages from extraterrestrial civilizations. We should listen to such messages, believed the Russian scientist.
I exchanged letters with Valery Burdakov, and received important information from him, which I shared in my articles and books. In October of 1996, Professor Burdakov published his memoirs in Anomaliya Magazine (not to be confused with the newspaper ANOMALIYA) in Moscow. He sent me signed copies of the magazine issues containing the memoirs.
Among many materials and information Professor Burdakov brought to light, two, in my opinion, are significant.
The first one revealed Stalin’s interest in UFOlogy.
According to Burdakov, Sergey Korolyov was summoned, and informed that it was by Comrade Stalin’s request and that he was needed at the Kremlin.
There, Korolyov was provided with two female translators to assist him; was given a stack of foreign newspapers, books, and three days to complete the job.
At the time it was rumored that a “saucer” was captured near Roswell, New Mexico. In the stack of papers, Korolyov saw many published materials, as well as documentary testimonies. Among the materials there were reports of sightings over the USSR, too. Korolyov asked if he could take everything home with him, study the materials quietly, thoroughly, and consult specialists. Stalin rejected the request and instead provided Korolyov with a special apartment for his work at the Kremlin. In a few days he was again summoned before the dictator.
Stalin asked Korolyov’s opinion. The scientist offered his views, stated that UFOs were not weapons of some potential adversary, and did not pose a serious threat to the country. However, the phenomenon itself does exist, added Korolyov.
Stalin thanked him, and said that other experts were of similar opinion. S. Korolyov assumed that Stalin asked such Soviet giants of science as Kurchatov, Topchiyev, and Keldish to perform similar analyses.
The second information had to do with the failure of the Phobos 1989 mission. Valery Burdakov made direct inquiries about the loss of Phobos 2 probe, and discussed the matter with the original designers of the project, as well as those who had tested the spacecraft. Suspicious of official explanations, Professor Burdakov questioned the series of strange events that led to the destruction of Phobos 2. He knew nothing about the photo images taken by Phobos 2, and was unaware that certain individuals in the West discussed possible reasons why the probe perished. The Professor came up with a hypothesis: if Mars is inhabited, the intelligent beings who exist there would not like the idea of a device placed on the surface of their moonlet for purposes of constant observation. Consequently, in his opinion, they did something about it. Burdakov’s views were expressed in an article published in 1992 in a Russian magazine Quant.
Valery P. Burdakov was a full member and Presidium member of the A.M. Prokhorov Russian Academy of Engineering
His influence, research and knowledge have made him part of the history of Soviet and Russian UFOlogy.
For those who speak Russian, some of his most important works are listed below.
Валерий Павлович Бурдаков (25 июня 1934 – 22 апреля 2014) – советский, российский учёный в области авиационно-космического машиностроения и энергетики.
- «Использование земной атмосферы в ракетных двигательных установках». Оборонгиз, 1966;
- «Физические основы космической тяговой энергетики». М. Атомиздат, 1969;
- «Внешние ресурсы и космонавтика». М. Атомиздат, 1976;
- «Электроэнергия из космоса». М. Энергоатомиздат, 1991;
- «Ракеты будущего». М. Энергоатомиздат, 1991;
- «Физические основы космонавтики». М. Атомиздат, 1975;
- «Первый космонавт планеты». М. Знание, 1981;
- «Новая профессия — космонавт». М. Знание, 1985;
- «Расширяющаяся Вселенная». М. Знание, 1977;
- «Орбитальные станции». М. Знание, 1977;
- «Основы неравновесной термодинамики». М. Издательство МАИ, 1989;
- «Эффективность жизни. Введение в экоматермику». М. Энергоатомиздат, 1997;
- «Основы биологической термодинамики». М., Издательство МАИ, 2004 г. и др.
