Vladimir Komarov: The man who fell from space
Of all the ways a person can die, falling from space is one of the most extravagant forms, so to speak, be falling and know that nothing can save you, you only have to hold on to the closest you have, must be a maximum sensation of terror.
This happened to Vladimir Komarov, who in 1967 had a tragic outcome, due to a failure in its parachute caused that its capsule crashes against the ground, destroying it completely.
That Komarov was led into space was the product of a plan to send two Soviet spacecraft into space, whose astronauts who were in their respective ships had to make an orbital coupling, that is to say, perform maneuvers in order to exchange places between the astronauts of these two spacecraft.
The spacecraft in which Komarov was sent into space was named Soyuz 1, and from the outset he knew that this ship was not optimal for a trip to space, because the tests performed with this spacecraft did not yield encouraging results, but even though he knew that there was a great chance that he would die, with all the courage of the world he went to fulfill this mission.
When the day of takeoff came, the atmosphere was depressing, although a few minutes later his fellow astronauts lift his spirits, something that improved somewhat the environment in which they were.
In minutes the spacecraft took off and placed in orbit, but that was when the problem came up that would end Komarov's life. One of the two solar panels of the spacecraft did not activate, causing that it was not supplied of energy and therefore the navigation equipment did not light.
As if that were not enough, the spacecraft began to turn on itself, in addition to communication problems and lack of orientation because it was not being supplied with energy, were one of the many problems he was suffering.
All this was the beginning of the end for Komarov, trying to orient the ship without success, the capsule where he was, fell the chopped until it hit the surface of the earth, putting an end to the life of this brave but tragic astronaut, a man who, on falling, cursed all those people who put him in this destiny of death, leaving only charred remains of what was once a person.
Would you fulfill a mission even though it would possibly kill them? Was it really worthwhile to send Komarov into space, even though it was known that the ship was not optimal for this voyage? Without doubt this is a great failure that will remain in history for many years.
Oh gosh. I really think that if they knew, that there were a (higher) chance of failure they shouldn't have had launched the expedition. It feels bad to hear about preventable deaths. Nice article though!
The fear that man felt, is something I cannot imagine.
Thanks.