On this day: On 30 June 1971, the Soviet Union’s Soyuz spacecraft crashed. Three astronauts died in this accident.
Astronauts Georgi Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsev killed during the Soyuz mission (File Photo)
Space is a cruel place for humans to live. Astronauts from space agencies around the world have traveled to space. But so far only three people have died in space. These three people were astronauts of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. These three astronauts died on this day during the Soyuz 11 mission. These astronauts who died included Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsev. Even though the Soyuz mission had a sad ending, it was for the most part good.
On June 30, 1971, the Soviet Union’s retrieval team was eagerly awaiting the return of Soyuz 11 astronauts to a remote area in Kazakhstan. But then a helicopter of the team saw a burnt parachute of the module of the Soyuz spacecraft nearby. Actually, this spacecraft crashed while entering Earth’s orbit. The team reached the spot and it opened the hatch of the module. After this, what the team saw and it was very sad. All three astronauts aboard this module were killed.
The Soyuz mission was the answer to America’s Moon mission
Until this incident came to light, the Soyuz 11 mission was going well. The team spent more than 23 days in orbit and during this time all three astronauts stayed on the first space station in history. Actually, this mission of the Soviet Union was a response to America’s mission to send humans to the moon. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union sent the first artificial satellite in history, Sputnik, into space. But since then he could not get international fame in the field of space.
Many claims regarding the cause of death
However, even after overtaking the US, the mission rose to fame, as the astronauts of the Soyuz mission were killed on their return to Earth. A heated debate started after this accident. NASA said that these astronauts died due to mental stress. But later it was believed that the cause of his death was a poisonous substance, which had reached the module. Various claims were being made about this accident.
How did the Astronauts die?
The final conclusion regarding the accident was that due to a broken breathing valve, these people had to face decompression, which became the reason for their death. During decompression, there is a sudden drop in air pressure. Due to this, air starts spreading in the lungs of humans and the delicate tissues of the vital organs of the body are torn. Due to decompression, the water inside the soft tissue inside the body starts to evaporate. This causes swelling. At the same time, the astronauts died due to gas leakage and decompression due to valve rupture. He died before entering the Earth’s orbit.
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