Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 53rd Anniversary of Soyuz 11
Fifty-three 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-three 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
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