The Explorers' Club, № MCLXVII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Soyuz 21
6 July-24 August 1976: Soyuz 21 lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmodrome, with CDR Boris Volynov & F.E. Vitaly Zholobov aboard a Soyuz 7K-T capsule atop a Soyuz rocket; call sign Baikal (Lake Baikal); the duo docked with & boarded the Salyut 5 space station; after forty-eight days, due to toxic fumes in Salyut 5, they emergency evacuated & landed in the Kazakh S.S.R.

Commentary: Soyuz 21 was the Soviets' first crewed flight in almost a year, since the landings of Soyuz 19 (Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) on 21 July 1975 & Soyuz 18 (from Salyut 4) on 26 July 1975. Soyuz 20 was an uncrewed flight that spent three months docked to Salyut 4 (17 November 1975-16 February 1976); this was unusual because most uncrewed test flights of Soyuz spacecraft were given the generic Kosmos designation.

Zholobov's illness from the toxic fumes was worse than Volynov's, & the next crew to visit Salyut 5 wore breathing appartus & vented the contaminated atmosphere into space. There are contrary reports that nothing was wrong with the station's atmosphere & Volynov & Zholobov deteriorated from a lack of exercise & sleep; or, the duo experienced a severe but unspecified interpersonal conflict. Maybe some combination of all three theories? The Soviet space program was always secretive, & a military spy mission like Soyuz 21 all the more so; so, we may never know for sure.

Bonus! Space Age Song o'the Day: Soyuz 21
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Toxic Toast" from Question the Answers (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Johhny Cash (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), "I've Been Everywhere" from American II: Unchained (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary:

"I've been everywhere, man,
I've been everywhere, man,
Crossed the desert's bare, man,
I've breathed the mountain air, man,
Of travel I've a-had my share, man,
I've been everywhere…"

The Stars My Destination: Crew-10

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Space Age
14 March-9 August 2025: Commander Anne McClain (N.A.S.A.), Pilot Nichole Ayers (N.A.S.A.), Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi (J.A.X.A.), & Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos) lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center's LC-39A aboard the Crew Dragon Endurance (C210) atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The quartet docked with the International Space Station for an intended five-month mission to the orbital laboratory.

After one hundred forty-seven days on orbit, the Endurance splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean & was recovered by the M.V. Shannon.

McClain was a veteran of a previous spaceflight (Soyuz MS-11 for Expeditions 58 & 59); Ayers, Onishi, & Peskov were rookies. Crew-10 served as served as part of International Space Station Expeditions 72 & 73.

Crew-10 was the fourth flight of the Endurance C210.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: Crew-10 & the Endurance
Fountains of Wayne, "Red Dragon Tattoo" from Utopia Parkway (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Launch America
2020
Demo-2 Launch
Demo-2 Splashdown
Crew-1 Launch
2021
Crew-1 Relocation
Crew-2 Launch
Crew-1 Splashdown
Inspiration4 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-2 Splashdown
Crew-3 Launch
2022
Ax-1 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-4 Launch
Crew-3 Splashdown
Crew-5 Launch
Crew-4 Splashdown
2023
Crew-6 Scrub
Crew-6 Launch
Crew-5 Splashdown
Ax-2 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-7 Launch
Crew-6 Splashdown
2024
Ax-3 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-7 Splashdown
Crew-8 Launch & Splashdown
Boe-C.F.T. Launch & Landing
Polaris Dawn Launch & Splashdown
Crew-9 Launch & Splashdown

Godspeed & welcome back to the good Earth, Crew-10!

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, "Country Roads" from Have Another Ball (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Country roads, take me home,
To the place where I belong…"

The Stars My Destination: Gemini VI-A

Gemini VI-A (15-16 December 1965)
Walter Schirra, Command Pilot
Thomas Stafford, Pilot

Capsule: SC6

The Wayback Machine Tour of Gemini VI-A
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXIX: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VI, Prelude
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXXVIII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VI-A, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXXIX: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VI-A, Part II
Space Race Song o' the Day

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the XIV Sunday in O.T.

The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sandy Patty, "God & King" from Everlasting (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: A rendtion of "All Creatures of Our God and King," by William Henry Draper based on the poetry of Saint Francis of Assisi. I have no idea why Patty & company chose to truncate the title.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
Major Rodney Bashford & the Band of the Grenadier Guards, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" from Sousa Marches: Starring Marches of the U.S.A. Services (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Saints + Scripture: XIV Sunday in Ordinary Time

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Zechariah, chapter nine, verses nine & ten;
Psalm One Hundred Forty-five (R/. cf. one; or, "Alleluia"), verses one & two, eight & nine, ten & eleven, & thirteen & fourteen;
The Letter to the Romans, chapter eight, verses nine, eleven, twelve, & thirteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter eleven, verses twenty-five thru thirty.

Commentary: Sunday Readings.

Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about his relationship to the Father. Jesus, the Son, was sent by his Father in love. Thus there is in God a play of lover and beloved. But the lover and beloved are connected by the love they have in common. Therefore the God disclosed in Jesus is a family or community of persons: Father, Son, and Spirit.

The ground of being is a communio of being and letting-be. From all eternity, the Father forgets about himself in love and generates the Son; and from all eternity, the Son forgets about himself and looks to the Father; and the mutual love of Father and Son is the Holy Spirit.

Active generation, passive generation; active spiration, passive spiration. Breathing in and breathing out; being and letting-be. God is like a set of lungs, or like a heart—taking in and letting out, a rhythm, a cadence, a back-and-forth of love.

This true God is one who does not insist on hoarding power or defining himself over-and-against. This true God is love, is a communion, a sharing, a family.

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M. (U.S.C.C.B.): Sunday Reflection.

Video reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire): Sunday Sermon.

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXVI

Operation AXIOM: The 50th Anniversary of the United States Bicentennial
Observances included an International Naval Review featuring warships from thirty foreign nations & a parade of sixteen tall ships, both in New York (4 July 1976); a state visit by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (6-11 July); commemorative stamps, coins, & license plates were issued; the Final Four (N.C.A.A.) & the M.L.B., N.H.L., & N.B.A. All-Star Games were all held in Philadelphia, Penn.

Commentary: The N.F.L.'s all-star game, the Pro Bowl, was held in New Orleans, not Philadelphia, presumably because the N.F.L. didn't think the United States's Bicentennial was worth celebrating.

E pluribus unum.

Saints + Scripture

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.Wikipedia-link.

'Tis the First Saturday o' the month: Wikipedia-link First Saturdays.

Saints of the Day
'Tis the festival of Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, T.O.P. (1901-1925, the "Man of the Eight Beatitudes;" A.K.A. Girolamo).

Commentary: Wayback Machine. St. Pier Giorgio was canonized on 7 September 2025, but I have not looked for an updated graphic.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Amos, chapter nine, verses eleven thru fifteen;
Psalm Eighty-five (R/. cf. nine[b]), verses nine & ten, eleven & twelve, thirteen & fourteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter nine, verses fourteen thru seventeen.

Commentary: Daily Readings.

Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us the parable of new wine and old and new wineskins.

The new wine is the Good News, the Incarnation, the reconciliation of the divine and the human. But this powerful elixir cannot be contained in the receptacles of the old consciousness. As long as the ego reigns in the soul, the new wine will prove too strange, too foreign, too threatening—and it will be accordingly rejected.

Before the heady wine of the Gospel can be assimilated, there must be a scouring out of the spirit, a transformation of awareness and attitude, a metanoia. We should examine the stories of Jesus’s confrontations with the demons from this perspective. The demon within us realizes that he is the old wineskin that will be shredded by the inpouring of the new wine, and he consequently reacts in horror.

It is a helpful spiritual exercise to isolate those passages from the New Testament, those sayings and actions of Jesus, that make us most uncomfortable, since they will most effectively indicate how our souls have to be transfigured. They, much more than the passages we instinctively love, will show the path that metanoia must follow.

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Jesus comes to me every morning in Communion, & I return the visit by going to serve the poor."
—Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassatti, T.O.P. (1901-1925, feast: 4 July)

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having ghe right to do what we ought."
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Independence Day

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "The Star-Spangled Banner" from Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary: The above is an instrumental rendition of our national anthem, but I, for one, cannot hear "The Star-Spangled Banner" without recalling the lyrics, the first stanza from Francis Scott Key's poem, "The Defence of Fort M'Henry."

"O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
⁠What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
⁠O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
⁠O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?…"

Happy two hundred fiftieth birthday, America!

The Stars My Destination: Gemini VII

Gemini VII (4-18 December 1965)
Frank Borman, Command Pilot
James Lovell, Pilot

Capsule: SC7

The Wayback Machine Tour of Gemini VII
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXXVII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VII, Part I
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCXC: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VII, Part II

Saints + Scripture: Feast of Saint Thomas

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Saints of the Day
'Tis the Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle (died circa 72, A.K.A. Didymus ["twin"]).

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feast of Saint Thomas
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter two, verses nineteen thru twenty-two;
Psalm One Hundred Seventeen (R/. the Gospel according to Mark, chapter sixteen, verse fifteen), verses one(b/c), two;
The Gospel according to John, chapter twenty, verses twenty-four thru twenty-nine.

Commentary: Festal Readings.

Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today’s Gospel tells of Thomas’s doubting the Resurrection. Indeed, Catholicism has a rich tradition of questioning, seeking understanding. Aquinas, another great St. Thomas, spent much of his life asking and answering hard questions about the faith.

Do you remember Hamlet’s great line, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”? If we stubbornly said—even in the area of science—that we will accept only what we can clearly see and touch and control, we wouldn’t know much about reality.

There is, in most areas of life, a play between knowing and believing. It is not unique to the religious sphere of life. Blaise Pascal summed it up: “The heart has its reasons that reason knows not.”

It is not that we who have not seen and have believed are settling for a poor substitute for vision. No, we are being described as blessed, more blessed than Thomas. God is doing all sorts of things that we cannot see, measure, control, fully understand. But it is an informed faith that allows one to fall in love with such a God.

Video reflection by Deacon Arthur L. Miller (U.S.C.C.B.): Festal Reflection.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "Fanfare/Independence Day" from Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary: The feature film Independence Day was released theatrically thirty years ago today, 3 July 1996.

The Stars My Destination: Gemini V

Gemini V (21-29 August 1965)
Gordon Cooper, Command Pilot
Charles "Pete" Conrad, Pilot

Capsule: SC5

The Wayback Machine Tour of Gemini V
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXVI: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini V, Part I
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXVIII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini V, Part II

Commentary: Gemini V had the first official mission patch. For the flight, the words "8 Days or Bust" were covered up & only unveiled once Cooper & Conrad were safely on the recovery ship.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: America 250

The United States Semiquincentennial (1776-2026)
John Linnell, "The Songs of the 50 States" from State Songs (Mike Patriot Whiskey)

Commentary: E pluribus unum, "out of many, one." Let us celebrate the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the United States of America, originally a loose confederation of thirteen former colonies sandwiched between the Atlantic seaboard & the Appalachian Mountains, now a federal republic of fifty states spanning the North American continent & a Pacific archipeligo—from north of the Arctic Circle to south the Tropic of Cancer. We are abundantly blessed, & "In God we trust."

Saints + Scripture

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Amos, chapter seven, verses ten thru seventeen;
Psalm Nineteen (R/. ten[c/d]), verses eight, nine, ten, & eleven;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter nine, verses one thru eight.

Commentary: Daily Readings.

Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Lord heals a paralytic after first forgiving his sins. Jesus’s initial words to this paralyzed man are, “Your sins are forgiven.” Why does God forgive our sins? Because he wants us alive, he wants us moving, he wants us in action, realizing what we can be.

Jesus comes to liberate us for deeper life, to open a new future to us. Sin is a refusal to live according to God’s purposes and desires. Our obsession with past sins paralyzes us. God is opposed to this obsession with the past because it renders us unable to move.

I can brood over my past sins to such a degree that I become finally paralyzed, unable to move. “Your sins are forgiven” is another way of saying, “Don’t be paralyzed by sins that you undoubtedly worry about far more than God does.”

After saying his sins are forgiven, Jesus says, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” That’s the way it works. First comes the forgiveness of sins, and that is a liberating power in us. Now I can live for the future.

Video reflection by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers (U.S.C.C.B.): Daily Reflection.

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXV

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of AS-203
5 July 1966: AS-203 (Saturn IB S.A.-203), A.K.A. Apollo 3, lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, without an Apollo C.S.M., the first orbital flight of a Saturn IB rocket; the mission tested the S-IVB second stage's* ability to refire once on orbit, necessary for Trans-Lunar Injection on Moon missions; the S-IVB was destroyed on the fourth orbit during a fuel tank pressurization experiment.

Commentary: *The S-IVB was the second stage of a Saturn IB but the third stage of a Saturn V.

Ex Luna, scientia.

Saints + Scripture

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

Saints of the Day
'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Junípero Serra, Priest, O.F.M. (1713-1784, the "Apostle of California;" A.K.A. Miguel José Serra).

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Amos, chapter five, verses fourten, fifteen, & twenty-one thru twenty-four;
Psalm Fifty (R/. twenty-three[b]), verses seven, eight & nine, ten & eleven, twelve & thirteen, & sixteen(b/c) & seventeen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter eight, verses twenty-eight thru thirty-four.

Commentary: Daily Readings.

Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus drives demons out of two possessed persons. Notice that the demons always know who Jesus is. The demonic voice stands for the sinful structure of consciousness; it is the mouthpiece for a soul dominated by the fearful ego.

When the New Being appears, when the new consciousness emerges in the person of Jesus, it is precisely this demonic power that most clearly recognizes it, just as a threatened animal is most acutely aware of the approach of the predator. The ego-dominated psyche knows intuitively what the onset of Jesus means: “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?”

What is important for us spiritually is to listen with great attentiveness to these inner voices of protest, to these demons within us, for they will, paradoxically, facilitate the assimilation of the Christ, showing us clearly where we have to be changed.

Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D. (U.S.C.C.B.): Daily Reflection.

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Always go forward & never turn back."
—Saint Junípero Serra, O.F.M. (1713-1784, feast: 1 July)

Operation ÖSTERREICH

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Canada Day, Eh

The Planet Smashers, "The 80 Bus" from Attack of The Planet Smashers (Mike Papa Canadian Whisky)

Skammentary, eh: Happy Dominion Day, you hosers!

The Stars My Destination: Gemini IV

Gemini IV (3-7 June 1965)
James McDivitt, Command Pilot
Edward White, Pilot

Capsule: SC4

The Wayback Machine Tour of Gemini IV
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLIII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini IV

Commentary: The Gemini IV mission patch is unofficial; it was devised after the flight & was not worn on McDivitt's & White's spacesuits. McDivitt & White were the first astronauts to wear American flags on their spacesuits.

Saints + Scripture

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day!

The Aquabats!, "Hello, Good Night!" from The Aquabats! vs. The Floating Eye of Death! and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 1 (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Commentary:

"And with each passing day,
So goes another life,
Everybody wants to live,
Some people want to die,
So close your eyes, 'cause it's alright
To say, hello, good night.

"Good night,
Good night,
Good night.

"So if this is to be our time,
Just think of what we left behind,
Will they say good of you to last,
Or lose the memory of you fast?

"Forever and ever, a wonderful thing,
Will someone be grateful for what we tried to bring?

"It's late, but just remember then:
This day will never come again.
Everybody wants to live,
Some people wait to die,
So close your eyes, 'cause it's alright
To say, hello, Good night.

"Good night,
Good night,
Hello, Good night…"

The Stars My Destination: Crew-9

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Space Age
28 September 2024-18 March 2025: Commander Nick Hague (N.A.S.A.) & Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov (Roscosmos) lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's SLC-40 aboard the Crew Dragon Freedom (C212) atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The duo docked with the International Space Station for a six-month mission to the orbital laboratory.

Former Boe-C.F.T. astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore (N.A.S.A.) & Suni Williams (N.A.S.A.), already aboard the I.S.S., joined Crew-9 & transferred their seats to the Freedom from Crew-8's Crew Dragon Endeavour. After one hundred seventy-one days on orbit, the Freedom splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean & was recovered by the M.V. Megan.

Hague was a veteran of two previous spaceflights (the Soyuz MS-10 suborbital launch abort & Soyuz MS-12 for Expeditions 59 & 60); Gorbunov was a rookie. Wilmore & Williams served as part of International Space Station Expeditions 71 & 72; Hague & Gorbunov served as part of Expedition 72.

Crew-9 was the fourth flight of the Freedom C212.

The original Crew-9 consisted of Commander Zena Cardman (N.A.S.A.), Pilot Nick Hague (N.A.S.A.), Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson (N.A.S.A.), & M.S. Aleksandr Gorbunov (Roscosmos). Cardman was reassigned to Crew-11; Wilson has not yet been assigned to a replacement spaceflight.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: Crew-9 & the Freedom
Less Than Jake, "Nine-One-One to Anyone" from B is for B-Sides (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Launch America
2020
Demo-2 Launch
Demo-2 Splashdown
Crew-1 Launch
2021
Crew-1 Relocation
Crew-2 Launch
Crew-1 Splashdown
Inspiration4 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-2 Splashdown
Crew-3 Launch
2022
Ax-1 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-4 Launch
Crew-3 Splashdown
Crew-5 Launch
Crew-4 Splashdown
2023
Crew-6 Scrub
Crew-6 Launch
Crew-5 Splashdown
Ax-2 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-7 Launch
Crew-6 Splashdown
2024
Ax-3 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-7 Splashdown
Crew-8 Launch & Splashdown
Boe-C.F.T. Launch & Landing
Polaris Dawn Launch & Splashdown

Godspeed & welcome back to the good Earth, Crew-9!

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day!

The Aquabats!, "Red Sweater!" (live) from The Fury of The Aquabats! Live at The Fonda! (Captain Thumbs Up!)

The Star My Destination: The Soyuz 11 Disaster

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 55th Anniversary of Soyuz 11
Fifty-five years ago to the day, 29 June 1971, the Soyuz 11 capsule vented its internal atmosphere into the vacuum of space, asphyxiating to death its crew of three: Commander Georgy Dobrovolsky, Flight Engineer Vladislav Volkov, & Research Engineer Viktor Patsayev. Soyuz 11 had departed the Salyut 1 space station after a three-week residency & was preparing for atmospheric re-entry.

The Soyuz 11 trio were not wearing pressure suits, leaving them defenseless against the sudden capsule depressurization. Cosmonauts had stopped wearing pressure suits, even during launch & re-entry, in order to squeeze more crew into the Voskhod & Soyuz capsules. After the disaster, the Soyuz capsule was redesigned to accommodate a crew of two, wearing pressure suits. The Soyuz 11 trio remain the only humans to have perished in outer space, above the Kármán line (one hundred kilometers/sixty-two miles above mean sea level).

The Soyuz 11 capsule depressurized just prior to atmospheric re-entry, killing its crew of three, 29 June 1971, fifty-five years ago today.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: The Soyuz 11 Disaster
The Phenomenauts, "Heroes" from For All Mankind (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Soyuz 11 Disaster
№ DCCCXXIII: The 50th Anniversary of Soyuz 11, Part I
№ DCCCXXVII: The 50th Anniversary of Soyuz 11, Part II

Saints + Scripture: Saints Peter & Paul, Apostles

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Explorers' Club, № MCLXIV

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Salyut 5
22 June 1976: Salyut 5 lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Proton-K rocket; "Salyut 5" was a cover name for a military Almaz ("Diamond") spy station, O.P.S.-3, the third & last Almaz station; Salyut 5 was equipped with a KSI descent capsule, to return research materials to Earth; two crews spent sixty-five days aboard; Salyut 5 burned up upon re-entry, 8 August 1977.

Commentary: Photographs of the Soviet space program are hard enough to come by under the best of circumstances, but are even more rare when dealing with an uncrewed flight & a secret military mission. The launch of Salyut 5 checks both of those boxes.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Saylut 5
The Aquabats!, "Hi-Five City!" from Charge!! Special One Year Anniversary Edition (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.