The above article mentions that Komarov's Soyuz 1 can be said to have had various faults. Half of the solar panels cannot be expanded, resulting in insufficient power, and the equipment can only be turned on half. In the event that the instrument did not work, Komarov could only manually return to the atmosphere. But there was a problem on the way back. As a result, he had to go around twice, which meant that the landing point had to be recalculated.
The Soviet Union suffered a loss in launching spacecraft because the latitude of the launch site was too high. Baikonur has a latitude similar to that of Harbin. Therefore, the rockets are all vertically circling the earth. You're going in circles, and the earth below is spinning. So one more lap, the earth will turn a block, and the landing point will definitely be crooked. The Americans launched from Cape Canaveral, the latitude is relatively low, roughly on a latitude line with Changsha, and the rocket launched can circle the earth horizontally, which is relatively easy to do.
No way Komarov's technique is really hard. The failure of Union No. 1 Ding Zero Dang. He was able to make it up until he re-entered the atmosphere. However, because he flew two more laps, he had to face the dark environment and begin the process of re-entering the atmosphere. The reverse thrust rocket slowed down, and the spacecraft naturally began to fall, waiting until it entered the dense atmosphere. Komarov saw only a fire outside the window. This is the burning of the ablative material caused by friction with the air, and the vaporization takes away the heat. During this time, due to the extremely high temperature, the air outside the spacecraft has entered a state of ionization. Because the plasma could eat the wireless radio waves, the radio communication between the spacecraft and the ground was interrupted, and the ground could not hear from him. Therefore, this period of time is called "black barrier" and is also the most dangerous time period. Fortunately, Komarov survived this stage.
It stands to reason that the parachute should be opened at an altitude of about 7,000 meters. First the small guide umbrella pops up, begins the initial deceleration, then pulls out the large guide umbrella, and then after a period of deceleration, and then pulls out the larger deceleration umbrella. At this point, the ship's speed gradually decreased from 180 m/s to 80 m/s. Just such a first-level buffer, and finally pull out the main umbrella, the area of the main umbrella is as high as 1000 square meters. Such a large umbrella, if it is pulled out at once, the rope cannot withstand it at all. Therefore, it is necessary to slow down the parachute step by step.
The process of the spacecraft landing and opening the parachute
The spacecraft uses a very safe round umbrella, at first the main umbrella is not fully opened, can only reduce the speed to 40 m / s, and then fully open. The landing speed can be reduced to 8 to 10 m/s, which is safe at this time. However, the astronauts would still be mounded when they landed, so the Soviets installed a pole under the spacecraft. Just this 1 meter long pole pokes into the ground. Immediately, it will trigger a counter-thrust rocket, and the role of the counter-thrust rocket is to finally buffer it and play the role of an air cushion. Wouldn't that be perfect?
This time, however, the main parachute was not released. The monitors on the ground were dumbfounded, they stared at the surveillance signal, and just watched as Komarov crashed into the ground at a speed of 40 m/s. Komarov immediately put the backup umbrella, but unfortunately the backup umbrella could not be opened. Not only did the spacecraft fall down and smash it, but it also lit up with reverse rocket fuel, and finally blew up black. Komarov's body was completely charred, and the largest fragment that survived was only 30 centimeters in size, showing how tragic the scene was. If you don't count the others who died during ground testing, Komarov was the first astronaut to die in space activity.
Charred corpses
Three hours later, Kamanin led the men to the landing site in Orenburg. They carefully collected all the wreckage. Little by little, Komarov's body was gathered. It was transported to the airport and boarded by an Il-18 and later switched to an An-12 transport aircraft.
Due to the weather, several airports in Moscow could not land, and finally landed at Sheremetyevo Airport. The order from above was to conduct an autopsy on the spot, take pictures, and then quickly cremate the body. The next day, Komarov's body was cremated. It was then returned to Moscow for a burial ceremony.
Komarov funeral
Komarov was also buried by the walls of the Kremlin. Pravda published a large article of mourning in which Komarov's was highly praised. After all, astronauts are all risky, the way forward is not smooth, there will always be difficulties and setbacks, and even pay the price of life. Komarov is a pioneer in this dangerous path of exploration.
Gagarin and Komarov
This is the tone of the tribute article in Pravda anyway. Gagarin, as a good friend of Komarov's, is of course filled with outrage. He bluntly pointed out to the reporter of the Komsomolskaya Pravda that the superior leaders did not pay attention to the various questions raised by the astronauts, they did not care about the lives of the astronauts, and he later directly pointed the spearhead at the leader of the design bureau, Mission. The leader said "knows little about the soyuz spacecraft and the details of its operation, and lacks cooperation with astronauts in flight and training activities."
The lesson this time is profound, and Gagarin was deeply involved in the investigation of the entire Union 1 accident. The ship was almost entirely ill, despite Komarov's skill. He survived almost all obstacles, but finally died in the last step of landing.
Why didn't the parachute open? Later, examining the wreckage of the Soyuz 1 spacecraft and analyzing it bit by bit, it was found that this may be a low-level error. The outside of the spacecraft is sprayed with a very thick layer of ablative material. Supposedly, the inside of the parachute cabin does not need to be painted. The lid of the parachute compartment should not be opened. But in the process of spraying the ablative material, the lid was left open, resulting in the ablation material being coated into the parachute compartment.
The wreckage of a squashed spaceship
When the spacecraft returned, a large amount of air friction produced a very high temperature, and the ablative material was constantly evaporating and sublimating, taking away the heat. But the temperature in the parachute compartment is not so high. The ablative material sprayed on the inside melts into something sticky. Stuck to the parachute. So the main umbrella could not be opened, and the backup umbrella also failed, causing Komarov to crash directly into the ground.
Leonov, the first to perform a spacewalk, later described the impact of the event on astronauts. At that time, everyone's morale was very low. Everyone only cared about the bright side of the astronauts, not paying any attention to the pressure and risk they took, and the person who was most stressed was probably Gagarin at that time.
The pressure on Gagarin at the time came from several sources. On the one hand, Komarov's death, he was very guilty. He even told his friends that he should go to Brezhnev to reflect on the situation below, and he felt responsible. But he was also worried that Brezhnev would not see him. Others still wonder, didn't you just stand on the top of Lenin's Tomb with Brezhnev to attend the event, why didn't you tell him?
Gagarin also had a hard time, and he and Brezhnev did not say anything serious. Even if he wanted to say it, people didn't want to hear it. Although he is a hero of the country, in the end he is still a chess piece, a signboard, and people are too lazy to listen to him.
Since it is a signboard, Gagarin has actually lost the qualification to go back to space. From any point of view, it will not let him take any more risks, or as a mascot. Being a mascot is actually quite uncomfortable, and he became the deputy director of the Astronaut Training Center. However, he was very young, and his seniority could not be suppressed by the people below.
Gagarin was an Air Force pilot before becoming an astronaut, and together he flew only 252 hours. The flying jet MiG 15 is only 75 hours long, and the rest are flying propeller trainers, estimated to be Jacques 18. In the eight years from 1960 to 1968, he flew a total of 78 hours, averaging less than 10 hours a year. And not once did he fly alone, he flew with the instructor.
What about the other astronauts? Many are veterans of flying for 1500 hours, and Komarov is even a test pilot. You say, apart from the aura of the first person in space above gagarin's head, what point can he suppress the trained veterans under his command? This is another source of pressure for Gagarin. Therefore, Gagarin actively demanded flight training. Space couldn't go on, it was always okay to fly an airplane, so his request was granted.
MiG-15uti, two-seat coaching type
On the morning of March 27, 1968, Gagarin and instructor Seryyon were seated in the cockpit of a MiG 15 two-seat trainer. Two men took off directly in the MiG 15 and rushed into the sky, and at 10:30, Gagarin contacted the ground tower to ask permission to return to the 320° course. Then the radio suddenly interrupted, and the tower lost their radio signal. Meanwhile, residents near the new village of Vladimir on the outskirts of Moscow heard a loud explosion.
The residents immediately came out to see what was going on. But they soon discovered that the army had sealed off the place. The military had just learned that something might have happened to Gagarin's plane and immediately took action. This place is actually not very far from the airport. According to the general people's thinking, if the plane crashes, the pilot must have parachuted, just look for a parachute. As a result, I didn't see the parachute this time.
The big pit at the site of the crash
In the past air disaster search, the wreckage of aircraft was often scattered in a large area. Because of the plane crash, the pilot always wants to save the plane, will try to pull the plane up, this process will definitely wipe the ground and fly, either turn over, or explode in the air, anyway, the wreckage will be more scattered, but this time, the military people searched around, found that all the wreckage is in a big pit, this pit must be the plane planted when it was knocked out.
Therefore, according to the situation of this large pit, it can only be judged that this aircraft was directly rooted in the clouds at an angle of 70 to 90. In the end, the bodies of two people were found in the pit, and after examination, they were Gagarin and his instructor Sheliokin. The Soviet accident investigation department also took samples of their muscle tissue back for testing. If their muscle tissue is rich in lactic acid, it means that they are still trying their best to control the plane at the last minute. If the muscles are forced, there will be lactic acid accumulation. If they were already in a coma and did not control the plane at all, then the excess lactic acid would not be detected. After examination, it was found that they were still awake until the moment they finally crashed into the ground, and they were still trying to control the plane.
Speculate on the impact
So how could this MiG-15 hit the ground at such a strange angle? This problem is still difficult to explain. The Soviet Union immediately set up an accident investigation department, after all, Gagarin is a celebrity, and they need to give everyone an explanation. In the end, their announcement was simple, stating that Gagarin and Seryokin had died in a flight accident and said nothing else. Gagarin, of course, enjoyed a very high honor and was buried by the walls of the Kremlin. The Astronaut Training Center was renamed the Gagarin Training Center, and a crater on the moon was named after him. After all, he was the first man in space and made a significant contribution to all mankind.
Gagarin and Sheliokin's funeral
Gagarin wrote a suicide note before going into space and gave it to a friend to keep. In case he could not come back, then give the letter to his wife. I thought the suicide note would not be useful, after all, Gagarin had successfully returned to the ground from space. Didn't expect an accident this time. This time, his friend fulfilled his promise to Gagarin by taking out gagarin's suicide note and handing it to his wife. The suicide note said that if he encountered misfortune, his wife could remarry. He also told his wife to educate her children well, "Don't let them be princesses, but become real people."
Gagarin and two daughters
However, his wife did not remarry, so she pulled her two daughters up, and both daughters received higher education. One majored in economics, is now a professor and head of the department of Plekhanov University of Economics, and one majored in art history, and is the director of the State Museum of History and Culture of the Kremlin. Neither of the children disappointed Gagarin.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of the archives of that year were gradually revealed. But the Russian government has refused to reopen an investigation into Gagarin's death. They didn't think there was anything wrong with the 1968 survey and didn't need to do it again. Some things can only be maintained as they were. They probably tried to dodge a weather balloon, but the action was so intense that the plane got out of control. There were many other explanations at the time, such as the poor maintenance of the aircraft, the failure of the rainy weather to inform them, the failure of the oxygen system, or the operation of these two people. Anyway, many of the statements are inconclusive.
Leonov in his later years
It wasn't until 2013 that Leonov offered a new theory, the first to complete a spacewalk, a man who lived a long time and experienced too much. He was training in a parachute nearby when he heard two explosions. The next one should be gagarin's MiG 15 falling to the ground. What was the sound of an explosion in front of it? Leonov said it was supposed to be the sound of a sonic boom, and there was another plane doing supersonic flight.
There may have been a Su-15 supersonic interceptor doing test flights nearby. However, the Pilots of the Su-15 flew too low, so it coincided with the training airspace of the MiG-15 trainer aircraft that Gagarin flew. So, the Su-15 just happened to be flying supersonic near the MiG 15, setting off a strong interference with the MiG 15. So, Gagarin and their plane got out of control.
Gagarin was planning to return and had already begun to lower his altitude, so the altitude of the plane was only 600 meters. Suddenly, a fighter jet suddenly sprang out of the clouds next to it, swooped down to a low altitude, and played with the afterburner, Gagarin They must have been caught off guard, directly overturned by the air wave, into a state of spiral falling. At this time, the plane was not very high, and Gagarin Amen never had time to change out of this state, so he crashed directly into the ground.
Su-15 interceptor
Witnesses said they saw a plane in the sky on fire and then climbed up into the clouds and disappeared. It is likely that witnesses saw the Su-15 interceptor that had sneaked low. After the engine's rear burner is turned on, you can indeed see the butt spitting fire.
Who the hell is this person? Leonov did not know. But he could understand that this guy would certainly not dare to admit that his own mistake had led to Gagarin's death for the rest of his life.
However, Leonov's statement is not conclusive. There are some things in history that are missing a lot of information themselves, and we can't spell out a particularly reliable truth. We still can't say for sure how Gagarin died. But we know that the Soviet space industry was unfavorable in those years, and there was a strong accident. The Americans have cleared up all the bad luck and began to get more and more comfortable. We'll talk about it next time.
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