Jump to content

Vladimir Komarov


GordonD

Recommended Posts

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Vladimir Komarov, the first spaceman to die in an in-flight accident. He was killed when his Soyuz 1 spacecraft crashed on landing after both main and reserve parachutes failed to open properly.

And yet the incident could have been much worse. The original flight plan was for three cosmonauts to be launched in Soyuz 2 and for the two craft to dock; two cosmonauts would then make an EVA transfer (that version of Soyuz had docking facilities but no internal tunnel) to join Komarov and the three would return together. (This plan was eventually carried out on Soyuz 4/5.) However one of Komarov's solar panels failed to deploy and various other minor problems cropped up so the decision was taken to cancel the Soyuz 2 flight and bring Komarov down. Unfortunately his main parachute failed to open and when he attempted to deploy the backup 'chute it became entangled with the first one. The capsule crashed and exploded. When the Soyuz 2 craft was examined it was found to have the same parachute fault as Komarov's capsule, so had the original flight plan been carried out four men would have been lost instead of just one.

Nobody can know what thoughts went through Komarov's mind in the last terrifying moments of his plunge to Earth (stories that he cursed his superiors all the way down are just myth) but his courage is beyond question. As the first man to orbit the Earth twice, his place in space history is assured.

Покойся с миром, товарищ

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This Day in Space History

Hi Gordon,

I haven't been on here long so I don't know how long you have been providing history. It is new to me so I want to just tell you I enjoy it and find it informative.

Thanks,

Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't do it on a regular basis, only when there's a significant anniversary. But if people enjoy reading it I'd be happy to post something more often.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes - I enjoy it too.

 

I'm old enough to remember the space tragedies of 1967. They are amongst my earliest "!news" memories. I was already a bit of space geek even then - at the age of 9.

 

The crash of Soyuz 1 and the fire on Apollo 1 were both an indication that the two manned programmes were pushing too hard and too fast and that they needed to step back, take a deep breath, and assess how and what they were doing.

Edited by Eric Mc
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...