It was not customary to talk about failures in space flights under the Soviet regime, many facts were even hidden. How Vladimir Komarov, a true Hero of the Soviet Union, an astronaut, died, the country did not immediately recognize. Space at the initial stage of development was almost incomprehensible, and the ships had many flaws, omissions on the part of the designers.
Victims for space exploration in Soviet times
The names of many heroes-cosmonauts are known to everyone, but how many people remain unknown to this day, whose profession has become space and whose life was cut short in the sky.
The death of cosmonaut Komarov became one of the disparate victims for the sake of sensing infinite space. He, like many other outstanding masters, devoted to their transcendental business, devoted himself entirely to research and the search for answers to questions that humanity has long been asking.
First fatal cases
Like Vladimir Komarov, whose biography deserves special attention, Valentin Bondarenko was tragically killed. His death was the first in the course of space exploration: in 1961, the hero fell victim to a fire in the sound chamber of a scientific institute during a training session. Valentine was just getting ready to become an astronaut while studying. When the medical sensors were disconnected from the body, he wiped his body with a cotton moistened with alcohol, which flared up, hitting a nearby heater. A chamber saturated with oxygen caught fire, the fire quickly spread in a confined space. The flame spread to the clothes, which immediately broke out: the astronaut received severe burns. As soon as the sound chamber was opened, Valentine was urgently sent to the hospital. After a desperate eight-hour struggle for life, Bondarenko died, the cause of death was a burn shock.
This case was the first and was not publicly voiced by the government of the Soviet Union. But it became a lesson for the authorities and the reason for the rejection of the design of spacecraft in rooms saturated with oxygen.
Later, in a similar way and under similar circumstances, three more astronauts from America died, and if it were not for the secrecy of the first tragic incident in the history of astronautics, this catastrophe could have been avoided.
About the astronaut burned alive during landing
The Soyuz-1 ship, returning to Earth on April 23, 1967, crashed due to the failure of the parachute system. The death of cosmonaut Komarov during the test of this ship was another blow to the entire Soviet country. Of course, the first launches were not fully thought out and studied. The unmanned mode was dangerous, and therefore a failure occurred. The year before this incident, on November 28, 1966, the first automatic Soyuz-1, or Cosmos-133, made an emergency landing from orbit, as reported by TASS. A little later, in December of the same year, it crashed due to the destruction of the Soyuz-2 launch pad.
A small background to the tragedy with Komarov
But the Soviet government wanted new achievements in astronautics, and in a hurry it was decided to prepare the rocket for launch by May 1, although it had enough problems. Having learned about the number of malfunctions, the astronaut, called to fly into space, became ill, increased blood pressure, and he fell ill. Another tester was appointed, Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov, a fairly experienced and trained pilot who was already in orbit as an understudy with Yuri Gagarin in April 1966.
How did everything really happen?
After the ship went into orbit due to malfunctions, Komarov decided to urgently land, but the disaster could not be avoided. This fact was again hidden. The encyclopedia says that the flight was successful and the program was completed. There were actually several versions.
One of them is the carelessness of the installer, who, having drilled a hole in the screen, because he could not get to the desired unit, eventually hammered it with a steel blank. The disc melted, falling into a dense atmospheric layer during the descent of the ship, and air entered the atmospheric compartment. The created pressure led to squeezing the container with a parachute, which failed to exit and open. A new tragedy has occurred.
The last minutes before the death of the hero-cosmonaut
The death of cosmonaut Komarov was practically inevitable. He managed to release a reserve parachute, but he was immediately paid off first as a result of getting on the slings. There were practically no chances to survive, and all because of the negligence of the installer, who casually reacted to his work.
During the descent, the apparatus hit the ground, and the pilot Komarov died.
Always remember: who is to blame for what happened?
Responsibility for the parachute system in the Soviet Union lay with Minaviaprom. The version of what happened was voiced by him completely different: supposedly the lid of the glass with parachutes inside fired, hitting the ship in a rarefied atmosphere. Due to a sharp pressure drop, the glass was deformed, and since it was mounted in the scope of the device, it jammed the main parachute. When descending at high speed, the vehicle began to balance and crashed when it came into contact with the ground.
The place where the disaster occurred is called the Adamovsky district of the Orenburg region. Since then, a memorial complex has been installed in the village of Karabutak, to which they come every year on April 23 to honor the memory of the deceased hero. In the steppe near Orsk, the first obelisk first appeared on June 11, 1967. Its installation was organized by colleagues of the deceased astronaut.
History teaches nothing, or How not to repeat mistakes
A little later, in June 1971, another tragedy occurred in astronautics - the death of three heroes at once: Viktor Patsayev, Vladislav Volkov and George Dobrovolsky, when they descended to the ground from the Soyuz-1 orbital station. Then the spacecraft Soyuz-1 crashed. The astronauts were understudies who flew instead of the main crew, with Valery Kubasov, Peter Kolodin and Alexei Leonov. The cause of death is again the ambitions of our Soviet politicians.
Taking the example of the Americans who flew to the moon in a 3-seater ship, the authorities decided that it was just three people who should fly ours. If two flew in spacesuits, then the tragedy would not have happened. 3 spacesuits simply could not be combined with all the conditions in flight, they did not fit in the dimensions and dimensions of the cabin. The astronauts flew in tracksuits, which absolutely could not be done.
Following the example of Gagarin, again, consisting of three people, in 1964, Boris Yegorov, Konstantin Feoktistov and Vladimir Komarov flew up the Voskhod. The one-person cabin, of course, was incredibly cramped for three, and the astronauts chose to fly not in spacesuits, but in tracksuits, and they also removed the only ejection chair to somehow increase the space. Complete violation of all conditions in flight.
They simply endangered their lives in the first place. By chance, this flight ended successfully. But because of a violation of the rules and because of such a negligent attitude to the conditions before the tragedy, it was a stone's throw.
Korolev, feeling guilty in advance, asked for forgiveness just in case, escorting the astronauts on the flight. This incident, of course, was also hidden by the authorities of that time.
The causes of the death of cosmonaut Komarov
During the descent, Soyuz-1 crashed. Vladimir Komarov could not immediately notice the complications in the operation of the device. At first, up to an altitude of 150 km from the Earth, everything was fine, but upon entering the atmosphere it was necessary to divide the ship into three parts, that is, to separate the cabin from the household appliance and compartments. It was at the moment of separation that the ventilation valve worked prematurely, although its opening was to happen later, near the Earth itself.
The reason for this unexpected valve opening has not yet been established. Experts believe that when the ship was divided into compartments, pyro-bolts from shock loads broke, the window could open from the explosion of the respiratory ventilation valve and the movement of the locking rod. During the descent, the pressure in the apparatus dropped significantly, and the astronaut simply did not have time to unfasten the belts in order to close the hole (window) which formed, and as a result lost consciousness.
Upon detection of the deceased, doctors noted the presence of nitrogen in the blood, hemorrhage in the brain, blood in the lungs. After this incident, manned flights for 2 years were interrupted. Soviet space technology urgently needed improvements. This incident affected the authorities. Cosmonauts began to be given special suits, other clothing in flight was unacceptable. Measures for the safety of people were taken urgently.
Short biography of the great astronaut
The deceased Vladimir Komarov devoted all his life to flying. The biography of the hero confirms this. The astronaut was born in 1927. At the age of 16, after completing a seven-year school program, he entered the specialized school of the Air Force in Moscow with only one purpose: to be on a par with the legendary Soviet military pilots, but he received the corresponding diploma only at the end of hostilities.
The year after Komarov’s graduation, he was transferred to Bataysk. After graduating from the Serov Military Aviation School in the city in 1949, he entered the service of a military fighter pilot in the North Caucasus District. Soon in Grozny, he met Valentina. The school teacher married Vladimir Mikhailovich.
From a military fighter to a space tester
In 1952, Komarov was reassigned again. This time, his new residence was in the western Ukrainian town of Mukachevo. Being a senior pilot for about seven years, Komarov continued to develop, study and grow as a professional. In 1959, the astronaut received higher education, graduating from the N.E. Zhukovsky Academy. Further, his career continued at the State Red Banner Air Force Research Institute.
The institution differed from previous research institutes in its focus on testing the latest aircraft models. The transition here became in some sense fatal for Komarov - it was here that he was offered work on testing spacecraft, which was forbidden to spread about. Already in 1961, he began to prepare for flights in the "East" and "Sunrise".
The last minutes of Komarov’s life
Vladimir Komarov was negotiating with Yuri Gagarin, and the original record is still preserved. It was about that Komarov could not open the left battery. Before landing, Gagarin ordered to prepare for the final operations, carefully and calmly relate to the automatic descent, focusing on the moon. Komarov said that everything was in order, allegedly he was in an armchair and fastened with seat belts. Gagarin wished to breathe deeper upon landing, and after Komarov’s response: “Thank you, tell everyone ...” - the connection with him instantly broke. This is all that Vladimir Komarov managed to say at that moment. The astronaut, whose last words the dispatchers managed to hear, remained forever in the memory of people who knew him.
The device began to descend after entering the atmosphere. It was visible to search aircraft, and the pilots saw the launch of an exhaust parachute. They further reported that the ship was actually burning. The last phrases were fatal. The ship caught fire, and at that moment Komarov Vladimir Mikhailovich knew that he would die. No one knows what he felt in these moments of life. Everything burned out: both the logbook and the on-board tape recorder.
According to legend, pilots from search aircraft allegedly heard the astronaut scolding, but this is a myth. He could hear his voice only through the antenna located on the slings of the main parachute, but he was not destined to open.
On the night of April 25, the remains of Vladimir Komarov were taken to the Burdenko hospital. Commander-in-Chief Vershinin arrived, Air Marshal, to solemnly say goodbye to the deceased, but when he saw what was left of him, he ordered an urgent cremation.
What did the investigation reveal?
A specially appointed commission began to investigate the death of Vladimir Komarov and the catastrophe in general that occurred at the Soyuz. In those years, Ustinov was engaged in space exploration. According to the official version, the tragedy happened by accident, referred to a combination of circumstances.
In fact, the reason is technical. In terms of power, the exhaust parachute was much weaker than the main one and could not pull it out due to pressure jamming in the container walls, which, in turn, lacked rigidity. The charge was brought against the designers, participants in the development of this parachute compartment on the ship, as well as the creators of such a parachute system. The chief designer Tkachev and his deputy Mishin were removed from the post.
Since 1971 - no accidents
1.5 years after the misfortune happened - the death of cosmonaut Komarov on the Soyuz, the next astronaut Georgy Beregovoi flew in early 1969, as well as Khrunov and Eliseev separately. Two spacecraft in orbit still docked, already in open space, the astronauts were able to move from one Soyuz to another. The second flight was also tragic, but the heroes did the almost impossible. The Soyuz was recognized as the most reliable among all spacecraft of those times, and there have been no more tragedies since 1971.
The hero’s courage and courage did not go unnoticed by the state. Komarov was posthumously awarded a second time the Golden Star Medal of Honor. In addition, the order of the astronaut under the amazing name "Wind Rose", provided by the International Committee for Aeronautics and Space Flight, confirms the significance of the feat accomplished by Vladimir Mikhailovich.
Today, his remains rest in the Kremlin wall on the main square of Moscow. The name of the hero has repeatedly sounded from TV screens. Based on documentary events, the film under the symbolic name “Cosmos. First blood". Its creators carried out extensive work to find out the causes of the tragedy and important nuances that were not mentioned in Soviet times. In Germany, ten years ago, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra performed many works written by prominent composers from around the world specifically for the program of the project ast astra. Among them was a creation dedicated to Vladimir Komarov.
If there was no tragedy with Komarov, the Soyuz was supposed to be in flight until 2014. Half a century has passed, and it is unlikely that another ship will be able to exist for so many years. But life (in exchange for his own) was given to him by the same hero - Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov. Isn't that heroism? Unfortunately, few people know about him, undeservedly ... But now, knowing the sad and selfless history of the Russian cosmonaut Komarov, whose name should be on a par with the rest of the great testers, it is necessary to honor his memory.