April 24, 1967 -- Death of cosmonaut Komarov, first spaceflight fatality

49 years ago -- I was in grad school on a NASA fellowship, and was following [by radio] the flight of the new Soyuz-1, when the shocking news greeted me on the radio.


Soyuz-1 mission
www.russianspaceweb.com...

What we can do in his honor, aside from never forgetting, is to vigorously stomp out the resurgent nonsense about secret earlier fatalities.

www.jamesoberg.com...

upload.wikimedia.org...

a reply to: JimOberg



There needs to be no "nonsense" about space fatalities. All you need to do is to remember the death-trap shuttle disasters
of the Challenger and the Columbia. The odds stand at 2 failures in 135 flights for the shuttle. Would you drive even to the grocery store if the odds were 1 in 67 that you would be obliterated? Would the most daring air force pilot get into a cockpit if the odds of him not returning were 1 in 67.

The reality of rocket-powered space flight is that it is inherently dangerous. We won't be able to call the Soviets reckless in the way they did their rocket flights when it is eventually learned that we had capabilities with the up and coming and then operational black triangles even while the shuttles were still lofting. Our astronauts were sacrificed for the sake of secrecy, nothing more. NASA will be forever tainted by the simple facts of the matter once the whole situation is understood by the average American.

You do realize I ended my career at NASA in 1997 when I testified to Congress about NASA's self-delusional decay in safety culture?

a reply to: Aliensun
Are these "black triangles" you mentioned LEO-capable?

a reply to: JimOberg

Jim, can you give us a few paragraphs from your sources, and a bit more about the history? thanks. Some of us don't click on every link.

edit, [en.wikipedia.org... Here's the Wikipedia link to Vladimir Komarov, who was selected to the Cosmonaut corp. in 1960].

Komarov was declared medically unfit for training or spaceflight twice while he was in the program, but his perseverance and superior skills and his knowledge as an engineer allowed him to continue playing an active role. During his time at the Cosmonaut Training Center, he contributed to space vehicle design, cosmonaut training and evaluation and public relations. He was eventually selected to command the first Soviet multiman Voskhod 1 spaceflight that presented a number of technical innovations in the Space Race. Komarov was later chosen for the rigorous task of commanding Soyuz 1 as part of the Soviet Union's bid to reach the Moon first.

His spaceflight on Soyuz 1 made him the first Soviet cosmonaut to fly into outer space more than once, and he became the first human to die on a space mission—he was killed when the Soyuz 1 space capsule crashed after re-entry on 24 April 1967 due to a parachute failure. However, because he died when the capsule crashed into the ground, he is not considered to be the first human fatality in outer space.

a reply to: Aleister

However, because he died when the capsule crashed into the ground, he is not considered to be the first human fatality in outer space.

Lol. That line is quite funny. Who did the writer want to give this single honor too.

We could say the same about both Shuttle 'accidents'. They died while within the atmosphere.

Crap ... we can't have the Russians getting this accolade..

P

Soyuz is spacecraft for girl.

originally posted by: pheonix358
a reply to: Aleister

However, because he died when the capsule crashed into the ground, he is not considered to be the first human fatality in outer space.

Lol. That line is quite funny. Who did the writer want to give this single honor too.

Crap ... we can't have the Russians getting this accolade..

P

That tragic "honor" goes to the Soyuz 11 crew. Their capsule depressurised before they re-entered the atmosphere, killing all onboard within seconds. en.wikipedia.org...

The fault was traced to a breathing ventilation valve, located between the orbital module and the descent module, that had been jolted open as the descent module separated from the service module, 12m 3s seconds after retrofire. The two were held together by explosive bolts designed to fire sequentially; in fact, they fired simultaneously. The force of this caused the internal mechanism of the pressure equalization valve to loosen a seal that was usually discarded later and normally allowed automatic adjustment of the cabin pressure. The valve opened at an altitude of 168 kilometres (104 mi), and the resultant loss of pressure was fatal within seconds. The valve was located beneath the seats and was impossible to find and block before the air was lost. Flight recorder data from the single cosmonaut outfitted with biomedical sensors showed cardiac arrest occurred within 40 seconds of pressure loss. By 15m 35s seconds after the retrofire, the cabin pressure was zero, and remained there until the capsule entered the Earth's atmosphere. Patsayev's body was found positioned near the valve, and he may have been attempting to close or block the valve at the time he lost consciousness.

They also (luckily) remain the only people to have died in space to date.