Space Program Fatalities Codexery

Vladimir Komarov

One of the first humans to die in a space flight incident.

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Vladimir Komarov

Почта России · Public domain

Vladimir Komarov was a Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut who commanded the first multi-crew spaceflight, Voskhod 1, in October 1964.[1] He became the first human to die in a space flight incident when his Soyuz 1 capsule crashed after a parachute failure on 24 April 1967.[1][2]

Key facts and history

In September 1959, he was promoted to engineer-captain and selected among twenty candidates for Air Force Group One.[3] On Soyuz 1, a solar panel failed to deploy, and Komarov could not orient the spacecraft for five hours.[4] His remains were cremated and interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis at Red Square on 26 April 1967.[5][6] Komarov came into the world on 16 March 1927 in Moscow, and his time in school started in 1935.[7]

Card russia2017 vladimir mihailovich komarov exploring cosmos
Card russia2017 vladimir mihailovich komarov exploring cosmos. Image: Почта России · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Because of World War II, he stopped attending school in 1941 and took a job as a manual worker on a collective farm.[7] By being picked as the lone pilot for Soyuz 1, its first crewed test, he became the initial Soviet cosmonaut to travel into space on two separate occasions.[1] After his 19th orbit, he managed to come back into the atmosphere, but the parachutes did not open as they should have.[8]

What the cited sources add

An On This Day article from 1967 notes that objections from engineers were overruled by political pressures for space feats to mark Lenin's birthday.[9] Kamanin's diary recorded that the capsule crashed at 30–40 m/s and Komarov's remains were an irregular lump 30 cm in diameter and 80 cm long.[6] A memorial service at the crash site near Orsk on 25 April 1968 drew over 10,000 people.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Vladimir Komarov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Space Exploration Reference Library", 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. "The remains of the astronaut Vladimir Komarov, a man who fell from space, 1967 - Rare Historical Photos", 18 August 2014. facts only, no text reused. rarehistoricalphotos.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Vladimir Komarov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Burgess and Hall, p. 54 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Vladimir Komarov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kamanin Diary, 23 April 1967 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Vladimir Komarov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The remains of the astronaut Vladimir Komarov, a man who fell from space, 1967 - Rare Historical Photos", 18 August 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Vladimir Komarov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Siddiqi, "Soyuz 1 The Death of Vladimir Komarov Pressure, Politics, and Parachutes", SpaceHistory101.com Press, 2020, p. 45–46; "Kamanin Diaries", www.astronautix.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Vladimir Komarov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Burgess and Hall, p. 52 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Vladimir Komarov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kamanin Diary, 24 April 1967 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. "24 April 1967: Russian cosmonaut dies in space crash", On This Day, 24 April 1967. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
  10. Wikipedia, "Vladimir Komarov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kamanin Diary, 25 April 1968 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Vladimir Komarov (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In which place was Vladimir Komarov born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Moscow, Soviet Union.

2. In what year did Vladimir Komarov die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1967.

3. In what year was Vladimir Komarov born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1927.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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