Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov’s charred remains resembled a ‘lump’ and only his heel bone was recognisable after the horror space crash
A cosmonaut who holds the unenviable title of being the first known human to die during a space flight managed to make one final transmission before he tumbled back down to Earth.
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov is considered a hero in his native Russia as well as across the world due to his contributions to space exploration, but sadly, his illustrious career came to quite the tragic end.
He was something of a pioneer during the Soviet’s space race against the US, becoming the first man to ever fly into space twice, as well as leading the Voskhod 1 flight in October 1964.
Komarov and his close pal Yuri Gagarin – the first ever man to go into space – were regarded as quite the formidable duo and it was thought they could be pivotal in securing Russia’s success up in the solar system.
Unfortunately for the late cosmonaut though, he is now known in the history books as the ‘man who fell from space’. Have a listen to this:
So, for those who aren’t aware of the terrifying tale, let’s fill you in.
Soyuz 1 was a crewed spaceflight of the Soviet space program which Komarov was commanding, while Gagarin was his backup cosmonaut – and before it took off, they were both grafting for up to 14 hours each day to get everything ready.
But it seems that the spacecraft might have been doomed from the start.
For starters, previous uncrewed tests of the 7K-OK, Kosmos 133 and Kosmos 140 had all failed beforehand.
But more importantly, historians have claimed that engineers working on the Soyuz 1 had raised concerns that there were flaws in its designs – but these were supposedly brushed off due to ‘political pressures’.
Both cosmonauts are said to have been aware that the spacecraft didn’t seem fit for purpose and shared their worries, but for some reason, no one put a stop to the test flight.
Although the dramatic story of Komarov’s death is known across the globe, the precise details of it remain very hazy due to the Soviet Union’s strict secrecy surrounding its projects.
Vladimir Komarov’s final transmission was picked up by US listening posts (Getty Images)
But what we do know is on 23 April, 1967, the 40-year-old aerospace engineer headed on his final space mission.
It took place over a 24-hour period and he orbited the Earth 16 times.
The spacecraft was kitted out with two solar panels, which supplied the energy to complete the manoeuvre – but one of them failed to deploy, stopping the cosmonaut from completing his mission.
He was instructed to make his way back to Earth, but Komarov took another two spins around the planet in an attempt to re-enter the atmosphere and complete his mission.
But his fateful final attempt didn’t prove to be third time lucky.
The Soyuz 1 reached an altitude of 23,000 feet (7010 metres) when it made its descent, but the parachute failed to deploy as the lines had got tangled up following the re-entry issues.
It meant there was only one way down for Komarov – and he was seemingly well aware of what was about to happen.
The cosmonaut was killed when the spacecraft’s parachute failed (ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
US listening posts in Turkey overheard the cosmonaut furiously discussing the problems he had encountered during the space flight with Alexei Kosygin, who was a high ranking official of the Soviet Union at the time.
According to the controversial 2011 history book Starman, Komarov yelled as the spacecraft began crashing down: “This devil ship! Nothing I lay my hands on works properly.”
Ultimately, he plummeted to the ground in the spacecraft before dying in an explosion.
According to reports, his charred remains resembled a ‘lump’ and only his heel bone was recognisable.
Starman also claims that Komarov’s spacecraft had ‘203 structural problems’ that became evident before the fateful flight.
However, despite the claims in the book, the official transcript of Komarov’s final moments from the Russian State Archive tells a very different story.
He apparently told his colleagues: “I feel excellent, everything’s in order.”
Just a few moments later he reportedly said: “Thank you for transmitting all of that. [Separation] occurred.”
We’ll let you make your own minds up about which one to believe.
Featured Image Credit: ullstein bild via Getty Images/Bettmann via Getty Images
