Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov lost his life during a flight celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Soviet Union. Find out more about the accident
Vladimir Komarov was one of the Soviet Union’s best test pilots, but became popularly known as “the man who fell from space”. The reason? During the celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Soviet Union, Komarov participated in a mission that had a fatal outcome.
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Blockade celebrations took place in 1967. Many of them took place on the ground, but some also included a space mission. The idea was to send two spacecraft Earth orbit: one was Soyuz-1, with Komarov on board; the second was Soyuz-2, which would arrive the next day with another cosmonaut.
The goal was for the two spacecraft to meet. Next, Komarov would leave Soyuz-1, do a spacewalk and go to Soyuz-2, while one of the 2 cosmonauts would go to 1, and then both spacecraft would return to Earth.
51 years ago #Today, Vladimir Komarov became the first person to die on a space mission (arguably avoiding a bigger disaster in the process). RIP to a brave pioneer. https://t.co/e1af3SSDBI pic.twitter.com/yWD8GzkZPA
— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) April 24, 2018
The problem, however, is that there were a number of flaws in the plan. In the book Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, Science journalist Piers Bizony and producer Jamie Doran report that when Gagarin and other technicians inspected the spacecraft, they found more than 200 structural defects.
Some of them were so serious that they would have jeopardized the mission if the spacecraft had gone into space. Although a 10-page report was written pointing out each of the problems, there were no changes.
In the work, the authors claim that Komarov’s friends tried to convince him to refuse to fly on the spacecraft. However, the cosmonaut knew that if he refused the mission, Gagarin would go in his place and, aware of the great risks this entailed, Komarov stood by his decision.
Eventually, Komarov went into space, and it wasn’t long before problems began: the ship’s solar panels failed to open, and the ship was left with little power for its operations. He was ordered to return, but the capsule began to spin and Komarov lost control of it.
As a result, the spacecraft fell to the ground with a force comparable to that of a meteorite of 2.8 tons. According to the book, detectors in the United States detected Komarov’s last words, which were said to be “This damn ship! Nothing I put my hands on works properly”, along with screams of rage.
Official Soviet records report that Komarov said he “felt great, everything was in order.” He then added: “Thank you for broadcasting all this. [A separação] occurred”.
In the video below, hear Komarov’s last words (in Russian), translated into English:
Source: IFLScience
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Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
