Soyuz 18a crew: Vasily Lazarev, Oleg Makarov
Soyuz 18a, launched and landed April 5, 1975 to Salyut 4, lasted only 21 minutes. Its crew consisted of Commander Vasily Lazarev and Oleg Makarov. The spacecraft exceeded an altitude of 100 km, which is the threshold for a sub-orbital flight.
About 90 miles up, when the second and third stages of the booster separate, only three of the six locks released. The third stage ignited with the second stage still attached. The thrust broke the remaining locks but caused the spacecraft deviating from its proper trajectory. An automatic abort program activated. Because the capsule was already pointed downward, the cosmonauts experienced a significant acceleration, beyond what was expected. They experienced up to 21.3 g. Fortunately, the parachutes opened properly and slowed their descent to a safe landing, 21 minutes after lift-off.
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