Oleg Ivanovsky

Oleg Genrikhovich Ivanovsky (18 January 1922 to 18 September 2014) was a Russian engineer in the Soviet space program who played a pioneering role in spacecraft construction. After graduating from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute in 1953 he was recruited by Sergei Korolev, the Chief Designer, and rose to become a chief designer at OKB-1, Korolev's design bureau. He was deputy principal designer of the first and second Sputniks, principal designer of the Vostok crewed spacecraft, and creator of space probes. On launch day he helped Yuri Gagarin mount the gantry and climb into Vostok 1, and he helped rebolt the hatch after Gagarin reported that it had not been sealed correctly. He is said to have been the last person to shake Gagarin's hand before the flight. He received the Lenin Prize in 1960 and the USSR State Prize in 1977.