On June 29, 1971, the three astronauts aboard Soyuz 11 completed more than 20 days of space life.
All content in this article is based on official and reliable sources, and the specific information is detailed at the end of the article.
At this time, they were preparing to leave the Salyut 1 space station and return to Earth.
At the same time, the ground control center broadcast the whole process, ready to welcome the space heroes home with the Soviet people.
However, when the ground command center tried to get in touch with the three astronauts, they found that the communication was suddenly cut off.
At this time, the staff already had a bad premonition, but there was no abnormality in the return procedure.
They can only hope that this is just an ordinary communication program and that the three astronauts are all right.
When the return capsule landed successfully, people opened the hatch and saw a scene they didn't want to see.
The three astronauts sat in their safety seats with grim faces, bleeding from their noses and ears to varying degrees.
Doctors at the scene hurriedly rescued them, but with little success.
At this moment, suddenly a voice appeared in the crowd, "They shouldn't have died".
The news of the sacrifice of three Soviet cosmonauts for the sake of space shocked the world.
While people mourn the three astronauts, they are also eager to know the cause of their deaths.
What was the cause of their deaths, and why did some people say, "They didn't deserve to die"?
The United States and the Soviet Union compete for the "crazy devil" of competition
After the bipolar pattern was formed, the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, held many "competitions" around the world.
In addition to building military bases around the world to demonstrate military capabilities.
It is also playing in the distant space field, trying to achieve domination of the earth by conquering space.
In 1969, the United States successfully landed on the moon with Apollo, and he had a slight advantage in the military game with the Soviet Union.
The success of the American Apollo made the Soviet Union slightly inferior in the space race.
This naturally made the Soviet Union very anxious, and even revised the original more secure plan and launched the Salute plan.
Now it seems that this plan is very advanced, although it was proposed to suppress the United States.
But the idea of a space station also became the most important step in the conquest of space.
After more than a year of hard work, in April 1971, the Soviet Union successfully launched Salyut One.
It also became the first space station in human history.
On April 22, 1971, the Soviet Union successfully launched Soyuz X.
The original plan was for the spacecraft to dock with the space station and allow the astronauts to live on the space station for more than 20 days before returning home.
However, there was an accident during docking, and the mission was forced to return less than 48 hours later.
The failure of Soyuz X disgraced the Soviet space agency.
In order to save face, in less than two months, the Soviet space agency launched another Soyuz-11 program.
It is a pity that the Soviet space agency first took into account the elements of the US-Soviet struggle for hegemony when promoting the human space industry.
Therefore, it is also doomed to the failure of Soyuz Eleven.
So what happened to Soyuz 11 on the day of the accident?
The accident suddenly killed the astronaut
June 6, 1971, was the proposed date of launch.
But just a week before the launch, there was a twist and turn, and one of the astronauts had problems with his lungs.
According to the requirements of the medical examination, this situation cannot go to heaven, and the best way is to postpone the plan.
However, the Soviet space agency chose temporary replacements for the sake of competition, and they chose to replace the entire group due to the cooperation of the team.
In this way, Volkov and the other three replaced the original astronauts like ducks on the shelves.
It was up to them to save face for the USSR in the space race with the United States and demonstrate the strength of a superpower!
Although Volkov and the other three received systematic professional training.
But they don't have space experience, and they are a bit of a scramble when they first go into space.
And there were many problems with the space station at that time, such as the shaking of the space station and fire.
Fortunately, under the guidance of the ground control personnel, these problems have been effectively solved.
During the 23-day life of the space station, the three astronauts brilliantly completed several tasks.
They observed the growth of plants in weightlessness and also fulfilled other tasks assigned to them by the state.
On June 29, 1971, as originally planned, the three astronauts were about to return home.
Excited and apprehensive, they re-entered the space station and checked the values of the instruments on the control panel.
After making sure there was no problem, they began to try to disengage from the space station, but unexpectedly, an accident happened.
The twelve explosives that were supposed to be opened in turn turned out to be opened at the same time.
The violent shaking directly caused the ventilation valve under the seat of one of the astronauts to be shaken open.
Due to the problem of the ventilation valve, the pressure balance value of the closed return capsule is directly unbalanced, and the oxygen is becoming less and less.
The astronauts' bodies also experienced varying degrees of stress.
In this case, the professionally trained astronauts only need to close the breather valve in a dozen seconds to save themselves.
But the Soviet space agency was too confident.
At the beginning of the design, they did not expect the snorkel valve to be opened.
They anticipated the only safety issue the astronauts would encounter when they returned home.
It was the violent shaking that caused the astronauts to rock back and forth in the capsule, so they reinforced their seat belts.
As a direct result of this reinforcement, the astronauts were unable to break free from their seat belts.
I could only watch as the oxygen in the cabin gradually lost and entered a vacuum.
It only takes 34 seconds from the time the vent valve is opened to the time when the chamber is fully under vacuum.
What's even more fatal is that the three astronauts did not wear spacesuits, and it is very dangerous to enter the space environment without wearing spacesuits.
And this is exactly another ingenious "design" of the Soviet space agency.
The cabin was originally designed for two astronauts, too many people, there is not enough space.
However, in order to ensure the completion of the space docking program, the Soviet space agency changed the two-person trip to a three-person trip regardless of the danger.
In this case, if the astronauts were asked to wear bulky spacesuits, they would not be able to move.
Therefore, the Soviet space agency decided to let them carry out space operations without wearing spacesuits.
Without the protection of a spacesuit, the three astronauts endured the limits of their bodies in 34 seconds.
The air pressure inside the body is greater than the air pressure outside, which also causes their lungs to burst and their blood to boil and vaporize.
They ended their journey into space in a wail.
The three astronauts landed successfully, but their remains were brought back by the return capsule.
It's happened, but who's responsible?
The Lesson of Blood Who is responsible for the accident
On July 1, 1971, the Soviet government held a farewell ceremony for the remains of the three cosmonauts in Moscow.
The funeral was attended by senior Soviet leaders, as well as representatives of all walks of life and relatives of the three cosmonauts.
On July 2, the Soviet government came forward to hold a solemn funeral for the three cosmonauts who died for their country.
The senior leaders of the Soviet Union were all present, and the general secretary of the CPSU, Leonid Brynev, personally carried their coffins to see them off.
The Soyuz-11 accident was the most tragic accident in the history of Soviet spaceflight, and they cost the Soviet Union three astronauts at once.
At the same time, it also led to the temporary shelving of the Soviet manned space program.
In the aftermath of the disaster, the Soviet government intervened to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident.
In the end, it was discovered that the leaders of the Soviet space department were eager to compete with the United States for hegemony and changed the space program without authorization.
The failure to put the lives of astronauts first led to the most tragic tragedy in the history of the Soviet Union.
In order to appease the people's emotions, and also to give an explanation to the astronauts who sacrificed.
The Soviet government removed the head of the Soviet space sector, Colonel-General Nikolai, from his post and investigated him.
With the failure of Soyuz XI, the Soviet Union also had to abandon the Salyut 1 space station program.
Salyut One was eventually scrapped in the Pacific Ocean after more than 170 days of operation.
Later, the Soviet Union spent two years upgrading the Soyuz series, so that the security index of the Soyuz series has been comprehensively improved.
In addition to this, the Soviet authorities made it mandatory for cosmonauts to wear spacesuits when they lifted off and returned to Earth.
And the number of astronauts was reduced from three to two.
The times are developing rapidly, and human beings are constantly trying to achieve manned space programs, trying to conquer outer space, and finally realize life in space.
When more and more countries have made breakthroughs in the field of manned spaceflight, we have an illusion.
It seems that stepping into space is no longer a difficult task, so many times we let our guard down.
At the time of the Soviet Union's arms race with the United States.
It was the miscalculation of the situation by the leadership of the space agency that led to the Soyuz-11 tragedy.
But it is also not excluded that the leadership of the Soviet space agency after seeing the successful landing of the United States on the moon.
It is a possibility to mistakenly think that a human trip to space is a very simple thing.
At all times, we should maintain a sufficient sense of reverence for nature.
Only in this way can we make progress and development in our aerospace industry, and at the same time, we can ensure the safety of astronauts.
Aerospace accidents are not the only one
In the less than 100-year history of human spaceflight, there have been a total of five accidents, which directly led to the death of 22 astronauts.
When we look into the reasons for this, we find that the reasons for the astronauts' sacrifices are actually small things.
For example, if a screw is not tightened, this is not alarmist, such a thing has happened in recent years.
We all know that Musk has his own space program, after the first launch of his rocket.
In just 25 seconds, the rocket crashed, and the investigation turned out to be due to a nut corroded by salt.
Yang Liwei, I believe every Chinese knows, but do you know?
Before he lifted off, he actually had a Type 64 pistol in his entourage list, and this was not to fight aliens.
Rather, it comes from the experience and lessons of the Soviet cosmonauts in 1965.
In 1965, the Soviet cosmonauts deviated from their intended landing orbit when they returned to the capsule.
The capsule unexpectedly fell into the depths of the Siberian forest, deep in the unexplored jungle.
The special anomaly of the return capsule attracted the nearby wolves, because the quality of the return capsule at that time was not as good as it is now.
Under the corrosion of the high temperature of the falling friction, only a thin layer remains, so the astronauts are not well protected.
When rescuers arrived, the astronauts were being besieged by wolves.
If it weren't for the timely arrival of rescuers, he would most likely become the meat in the mouths and the food on the plate of the wolves.
So, our astronauts are equipped with this pistol precisely for safety reasons.
Including any irrational manipulation that we see in the history of manned spaceflight today.
In fact, it is all the experience left to us by the bloody lessons of countless aerospace predecessors.
epilogue
Manned space flight has a long way to go, and it should not be taken lightly at any time.
In addition to pinning hopes on the success of the manned space program can enhance the comprehensive national strength.
While realizing the manned space program, the safety of astronauts should be put first.
Only in this way can the probability of astronaut sacrifice be minimized.
It takes a lot of time and effort for a country to train an astronaut.
Protecting astronauts is also protecting the country's property, and it is more important to practice people-oriented!
Reference Sources:
Reference News 2023-04-27 - "Inventory of Tragic Events in Foreign Aerospace History"
Ma'anshan Procuratorate 2019-02-20 - "The spacecraft that was once the most proud carried back three corpses, they were victims of the great power race"
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