Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Soyuz 10
22-24 April 1971:
Soyuz 10 lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying CDR Vladimir Shatalov, Flight Engineer Aleksei Yeliseyev, & Systems Engineer Nikolai Rukavishnikov aboard a
Soyuz 7K-OKS capsule atop a
Soyuz rocket; their attempt to dock with & board
Salyut 1 failed; during reentry & landing, toxic fumes in the capsule overcame Rukavishnikov, but not fatally.
Commentary: In typical Communist fashion, after Soyuz
10 failed to dock with the Salyut
station, Soviet officials claimed the Soyuz
10 cosmonauts had never been intended to board the Salyut
, merely to rendezvous as a "dress rehearsal" for Soyuz
11. Had the docking been successful, it would have allowed for the Soviets' first internal crew transfer, like American astronauts did between the Apollo Command & Lunar Modules. All previous Soviet crew transfers had involved spacewalks.
Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Soyuz 10
The Hold Steady, "Stuck Between Stations" from
Boys and Girls in America (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)
Semper exploro.
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