Rozhdestvensky was selected as a cosmonaut on 23 October 1965 and flew as Flight Engineer on Soyuz 23.[1] After his space flight he continued to work with the space program at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He retired on 24 June 1986 and worked with Metropolis Industries.
He was married with one child. He died on 31 August 2011 at the age of 72.[2]