Lead
On June 30, 1971, the Soviet spacecraft flew to Earth and began its own return program.
When the Soviets opened the hatch of the re-entry capsule, they found a harrowing scene, all three astronauts had unknowingly lost their lives in the re-entry capsule.
Who are these three astronauts?
Why did they suffocate in the return capsule?
1. The U.S.-Soviet space race.
Helen Sherman was America's first space rover, and after she returned to Earth, people were asking her what it was like to see Earth in the universe for the first time.
"What I saw was a very beautiful blue ocean, and there were islands in the ocean, and it was very beautiful," Sherman said.
Sherman's words have made people feel a sense of cherishing the earth and yearning for beauty.
Human beings have been exploring the space field since the 60s of the last century, and in the process of this exploration, every exploration has painful sacrifices, but human beings have never stopped exploring space.
The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union was the hero of mankind's exploration of space.
Between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union was the first country in human history to launch an artificial satellite into space, called "Spunik-1".
The United States and the Soviet Union were comparable in diplomatic, military, and scientific and technological aspects, so this achievement of the Soviet Union attracted great attention from the Americans, and the United States also began to conduct research in space.
On July 29, 1958, the United States launched its first artificial satellite, Explorer 1, but this time the launch was unsuccessful, and the rocket crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after launch.
In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the world's first cosmonaut to go into space, and his spacecraft circled the Earth before returning safely to the ground, a day known to the Soviets as "Cosmonaut Day."
Less than a month later, American astronaut Alan Shepard also went into space and completed several walks on the spacecraft landing craft.
At the height of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States announced that it would launch a spacecraft to the moon, and on July 20, 1969, American astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin became the first astronauts to land on the moon in human history.
This moment is known to Americans as the moon landing day of "Apollo 11".
The achievements of the Soviet Union and the United States in the space race were very large, the Soviet Union launched the world's first spacecraft and sent astronauts into space in 1961, and in 1963, the female cosmonaut Tretchenko also became the world's first female astronaut.
The United States sent astronauts to the moon in 1969, at this time the United States and the Soviet Union have reached the peak of space research, at this time the United States launched the "Apollo 11" successfully landed on the moon, this moment made the United States occupy an absolute dominant position in the field of space.
The United States and the Soviet Union are both laureates in space exploration, but because of the different technical levels and research directions of different countries, the spacecraft and spacecraft of the United States and the Soviet Union have their own characteristics.
Soviet spacecraft were designed with astronaut safety in mind, while American spacecraft focused more on astronaut comfort, which led to technological differences between the United States and the Soviet Union.
II. The Soviet Tragedy.
The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union began as a way to show the world its strength, but in the course of the space race, it was full of wasted human lives and money.
In 1971, the Soviet spacecraft flew to Earth, but when the cosmonauts opened the hatch of the re-entry capsule, they found that all three cosmonauts had lost their lives in the re-entry capsule.
The three cosmonauts were Soviet cosmonauts Gibasov, Armatov and Shatalov, who were launched from the ground on June 6, 1971 by Soviet cosmonauts Koltelin and Fechtov, and then docked with the Salyut 1 space station, which was already in space.
At this time, there were already two cosmonauts living in the Salyut 1 space station, and due to the limited conditions of the space station, the working hours of the two astronauts were also up, so after docking with the Salyut 1 space station, Kolderin and Fechtov immediately entered the return capsule with the two cosmonauts and ascended from the space station to orbit.
After the successful return of the two cosmonauts from the space station, Soviet cosmonaut Patzlian launched the Soyuz-11 spacecraft from the ground and docked with Salyut 1 in space with three cosmonauts, namely Gibasov, Almatov and Shatalov.
After docking with the Salyut 1 space station on June 15, 1971, they entered the space station for a week of scientific research, and on June 22, Patzlian launched the "Soyuz-12" from the ground with three astronauts and sent them to the Salyut 1 space station, these three astronauts were Koltelin, Fechtov and Patslian.
Patzlian stayed in the "Soyuz-12" spacecraft for three months, and during these three months, they completed a lot of scientific research, but when Patzlian was on the ground, because his physical condition was not very good, their spacecraft was also facing the danger of air leakage, but in order to complete the mission, Patzliang finally lifted off from the ground and docked with the Salyut 1 space station.
When the three cosmonauts of Soyuz-12 successfully returned to Earth, Soviet cosmonauts Koltelin and Fechtov sent them from the ground into space, successfully docked with the Salyut 1 space station, and then entered the Salyut 1 space station, and it was at this time that the tragedy struck.
Salyut 1 was the first space station launched by the Soviet Union, and this space station was not like later space stations, which could be continuously expanded according to demand, but was a space experiment station that did not have a re-docking space.
However, the Soviet Union carried out 13 manned missions on this space station, of which the astronauts of the first manned mission docked with the "Soyuz" spacecraft twice in two months, and the second docking successfully allowed the astronauts to enter the space station.
During the second docking process, there was a spark in the interface between the spacecraft and the space station, which made the astronauts very nervous, but after inspection, no problems were found, and the docking of the space station continued.
In the process of docking with the space station, the astronauts found a problem, the interface of the space station and the spacecraft have a plastic cap, but this hat is deformed in the docking process, although the hat is only used to cover the dust, but its deformation has brought great danger to the astronauts.
After the astronauts entered the space station, the Soviet command center on the ground checked the interface between the space station and the spacecraft, but found no problems, so the astronauts were relieved to continue their scientific research work on the space station.
When the "Soyuz-12" spacecraft successfully sent three astronauts to Earth, as soon as the hatch opened, a strong stench came to the face, and it turned out that in the return capsule, the valve of the oxygen tank failed, resulting in the combustion of oxygen, and then the carbon dioxide in the air was sprayed into the return capsule.
Since carbon dioxide is a colorless and odorless gas, the astronauts did not notice a sharp drop in the concentration of oxygen in the air, and it was not until three cosmonauts suffocated in the return capsule that the Soviet command center on the ground realized the seriousness of the problem.
As for the cause of death of the three astronauts, the Soviet command center on the ground claimed that it was due to the failure of the rocket engine, which caused the three astronauts to lose contact with the ground, and finally died in the return capsule.
III. Conclusion
The cause of the death of the Soviet cosmonaut is unknown, but the Soviet cosmonaut left a directive to space before he died, hoping that future cosmonauts can explore space to their heart's content, but must protect their own lives.
The tragic sacrifice of Soviet cosmonauts exposed serious problems in spacecraft design and operating procedures, and as a result, greater attention was paid to spacecraft safety.
The occurrence of spacecraft accidents has led countries to review and improve their own spacecraft design, testing and operating procedures, which provides a guarantee for future space missions.
On the road of space exploration, it is inseparable from those brave men who are desperate to move forward, who have made indelible contributions to the space cause of mankind, and they deserve to be remembered and respected forever.