Astronauts should be one of the most risky occupations in the world, and while manned spacecraft are now very advanced, there are some potential risks during the launch phase and the return to Earth phase. Former NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, recalling his return to Earth from the International Space Station aboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft in 2017, said that the spacecraft's entry into the atmosphere was like "a series of car accidents." Jack Fischer also shared a video they captured on their return in the spacecraft, where astronauts inside the spacecraft could visibly feel the jolt as they traveled through Earth's atmosphere, as if bouncing up.
In addition to the obvious bumps, the temperature outside the spacecraft will also rise sharply, the temperature outside the cabin is as high as thousands of degrees Celsius, if the heat-resistant materials and insulation materials are not passed, the spacecraft will burn down. The exterior of general spacecraft (such as satellites) does not have these insulating materials, so they will burn up when they fall into the atmosphere. When the spacecraft returns to the capsule and enters the atmosphere at a very fast speed, the heat generated by the spacecraft will also form a high-temperature plasma gas layer on the surface of the spacecraft, which will block out electromagnetic waves and cause the spacecraft to lose contact with the ground, which is known as the "black barrier". Due to the thrills of the spacecraft's return, there have been many accidents in history.
Everyone knows that the world's first astronaut to enter space was Yuri Alexievich Gagarin, and we also know that the spacecraft he was riding on is called the Vostok-1 spacecraft, and many friends may not know that Gagarin also encountered danger in the process of returning to Earth. Fortunately, as the spacecraft entered the atmosphere, the temperature of the spacecraft rose sharply, and finally with the help of heat cauterization, the return capsule and the propulsion module of the Vostok-1 spacecraft were successfully separated, and Gagarin ejected the spacecraft in the spacecraft returning to a height of several kilometers and landed on the ground by parachuting.
Another Soviet cosmonaut, Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov, was a good friend of Gagarin's, the first Soviet cosmonaut to enter outer space multiple times a spacecraft, and completed his first space flight in 1964 with 2 other astronauts, Vkotistov and Jyegrov, in the ascending 1 spacecraft, and when he was performing the second flight, the Soyuz 1 spacecraft he was riding failed during the return to Earth, and he did not return to the ground safely. Before the launch, he already knew that he would not be able to return to Earth, but he chose to carry out the mission without hesitation, which was the most tragic astronaut.
In the 1960s, the United States proposed to implement a manned moon landing program, and the Soviet Union also had plans to send astronauts to the moon, so both countries were racing against the clock to achieve this great feat at an early date. The Soyuz 1 spacecraft is some of the soviet top-secret missions, according to the plan, the Soviet Union first launched the Soyuz 1 spacecraft to send Komarov into space, and then launched another spacecraft to complete the rendezvous and docking, and Komarov returned to Earth in a second spacecraft.
Before the Launch of the Soyuz 1 spacecraft, the staff conducted a routine inspection of it and found that there were 203 structural problems in the spacecraft, and the existence of these structural problems caused the flight process of the spacecraft to become extremely difficult. However, because it was racing against the clock to complete the mission, the staff did not report these problems, so the spacecraft can be said to have taken off with problems.
Before the launch, Komarov already knew that the spacecraft he was about to take had many technical flaws, and he had also said that he would not come back alive on this mission. Although he knew that he would never return from this flight, he had no hesitation in choosing to take the risk, because if he chose to quit, his substitute Gagarin would have to go on this mission, and Gagarin was his good friend, and he did not want his good friend to take this risk.
On April 23, 1967, the Soyuz 1 spacecraft was successfully launched, and there were no problems in the launch phase of the spacecraft, but in the process of spaceflight, many problems appeared, such as the lack of power of the spacecraft, the failure to open the antenna again, and so on. Due to a series of problems with the spacecraft, another spacecraft that was preparing to go to space to dock with it was also canceled, so Komarov could not return in the new spacecraft as planned. When Komarov returned in the Soyuz 1 spacecraft, the parachute could not be opened smoothly, and eventually, the spacecraft landed on the ground at a faster speed, the spacecraft was knocked flat, and Komarov gave his precious life.