Vladimir Komarov - cosmonaut, who became the first victim of space race

On April 23, 1967, the first manned spacecraft from the Soyuz series was launched. On board was Vladimir Komarov, an astronaut who personally piloted the ship. This flight was the first in history, as a result of which a man died. The true reasons that led to the terrible tragedy, and now are not known reliably. At the same time, there are many assumptions. Some experts believe that the reasons are reduced to excessive haste, dictated by the rivalry between the USSR and the US in space, and others insist that this led to a fateful combination of circumstances.

The idea of creating a completely new space ship "Soyuz" belonged to Sergei Korolyov and appeared only a few months after Yuri Gagarin first visited the space. Parallel to this, American scientists actively worked on their lunar program, which they intended to ensure that astronauts landed on the moon. The government of the Soviet Union planned at all costs to outstrip the overseas opponents. This can explain his secret decision, dated 1963, according to which the Soviet cosmonaut should be the first to fly around the earthly satellite. Komarov for this role was ideal. The tests for the intended flight of the Soyuz spacecraft were scheduled for 1964, and the launch - for 1965, a maximum of 1966. The same mission was assigned to the mission, associated with the flight of the moon in 1967 and landing on it in 1968.

Vladimir Komarov is an astronaut who died in large part because the preparation of the ship was carried out in conditions of great haste. According to unofficial data, engineers repeatedly warned about the detection of a large number of defects in the design before the flight. There is information that there were about 100 such malfunctions. Despite this, the government of the USSR insisted on the timetable. In his opinion, it was necessary to get ahead of the Americans at any cost. Unfortunately, at the time of the launch, Chief Designer Sergey Korolyov has already died, and only the government could refuse to respond to it. Since he did not miss even trifles, Vladimir Komarov could survive. The cosmonaut simply would not fly on that fateful day.

The first unmanned launches of the Soyuz spacecraft were produced in 1966-1967. There were three of them. However, none of them was successful. Yuri Gagarin was also very worried about such plans, who did not approve of excessive risk for human life. However, even these facts did not force the government to change the decision: Komarov - the cosmonaut, who was supposed to fly first on the manned spacecraft Soyuz-1. Much to our regret, he was not saved by the highest qualification and wide experience. Already in the first minutes of the flight, the malfunction of the spacecraft became evident. And then Its exit into orbit it turned out that the orientation system and one of the two panels of solar panels do not work. Despite this, almost blindly the astronaut was able to adjust everything. Everything went to a successful return. But at a distance of seven kilometers from the Earth, the main parachute did not open, and the spare parachute was entangled with the braking lines. As it turned out, a very soft material was used to produce its container, which clamped the parachute.

The next piloted launch of the "Union" occurred only after a year and a half. The device was significantly improved and is being successfully used even now. The only thing that grieves in this case is that cosmonaut Komarov, who died in 1967, gave his own life for the first test of a space ship.