[1][2][3][4] Dolgov was born into a family of farmers in the village of Bogoyavlenskoye (now Dolgovo) in Zemetchinsky District, Penza Oblast.

[5] On 1 November 1962, Dolgov and major Yevgeni Nikolayevich Andreyev ascended in a Volga balloon gondola from Volsk, near Saratov,[6] to make high-altitude parachute jumps.

The current world record is held by Alan Eustace (41,425 metres (135,909 ft), 24 October 2014).

At the time of Dolgov's death, the Soviet Army newspaper Red Star announced that he had died in the course of "carrying out his duties".

[5] Over the years there have been false reports that Dolgov actually died on 11 October 1960, in a failed flight of a Vostok spacecraft.