Georgy Dobrovolsky, born June 1, 1928 in Odessa, Ukraine, was commander of the ill-fated Soyuz 11 mission. He and fellow cosmonauts Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev took off June 6, 1971 and became the first crew to successfully dock with Salyut 1. Unfortunately, he and his crew perished when a valve accidentally opened up during re-entry, suffocating the crew. Dobrovolsky and his comrades as of now are the only people to have died in space.
Cosmonaut Nikolai Rukavishnikov, born September 18, 1932, is a veteran of three Soyuz missions, only one of which was successful.
His first mission was aboard Soyuz 10 in April 1971 as Test Engineer. The Soyuz crew tried to dock with Salyut 1, but failed. They returned two days later.
His second mission was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz 16 in December 1974. It was a test flight for the Apollo-Soyuz mission the following year. The mission was successful and the crew returned after almost 6 days in space.
His third and final mission was as Commander aboard Soyuz 33 in April 1979. They attempted to dock with Salyut 6 but an engine failure forced the mission to be aborted. They returned to Earth after less than two days.
Soyuz 10, launched April 22, 1971, was the first mission to the world's first space station. Her crew consisted of Vladimir Shatalov, Flight Engineer Aleksei Yeliseyev, and Test Engineer Nikolai Rukavishnikov.
The crew was unable to dock with Salyut 1 and had to return to Earth.
Salyut 1, the
first space station ever, was launched by the Soviet Union April 19, 1971.
After Apollo 11 landed on the moon in
July 1969, the Soviets shifted the emphasis of their space program to orbiting
stations, with a possible moon landing later in the 1970s.
They began construction of Salyut 1 in early 1970 and planned to launch on April 12 to
coincide with Yuri Gagarin’s history flight on Vostok 1 technical problems postponed the launch until April 19.
The first crew to arrive was aboard Soyuz 10, launched April 22 with Vladimir Shatalov, Aleksei
Yeliseyev and Nikolai Rikavishnikov.
They managed to ‘soft-dock’ with Salyut
1 but hard-docking had to be aborted due to technical malfunctions. However, after undocking, toxic fumes began
to fill the capsule during re-entry and Rukavishnikov lost consciousness, but
all crew members were recovered successfully.
The second crew, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and
Viktor Patsayev, launched in Soyuz 11
June 6, 1971 and docked with Salyut 1
and transferred to the space station.
They were able to carry out some of their tasks but after 23 days, their
mission was cut short due to problems aboard the station. They transferred back to Soyuz 11 and re-entered Earth’s atmosphere. A pressure relief valve malfunctioned during
the descent, depressurizing the capsule, suffocating the crew.
The Soviets then moved Salyut
1 to a higher orbit to be sure it would not be destroyed too early through
orbital decay. While this maneuver was
being fulfilled, the Soviets worked on an effort to redesign the capsules so
pressure suits could be worn during launch, docking, re-entry, etc.
Their efforts took too much time and in September, Salyut 1 was running low on attitude
control gas. On October 11, 1971, the
Soviets fired the main engines for a deorbit maneuver and the space station
burned up over the Pacific Ocean.
Vladimir Shatalov, born December 8, 1927 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three Soyuz missions. His first flight was aboard Soyuz 4 where he was the only cosmonaut launched in the spacecraft. Soyuz 4 rendezvoused with Soyuz 5 in January 1969 and performed the first successful docking between two spacecraft.
His second mission was as commander of Soyuz 8, with fellow cosmonaut Aleksei Yeliseyev. It was a joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 7, the first time three Soyuz spacecraft were in orbit simultaneously with a total of 7 cosmonauts.
Shatalov's third and final mission was on Soyuz 10, with Yeliseyev and Nikolai Rukavishnikov on what would be the first mission to the first space station, Salyut 1 in April 1971.
Soyuz 11, launched June 6, 1971, was manned by Commander Georgy Dobrovolsky, Flight Engineer Vladislav Volkov and Test Engineer Viktor Patsayev. They docked with Salyut 1 but had to replace part of the ventilation system before they could board her.
Upon re-entry, the capsule depressurized too early, killing the crew. They are the only known humans to have died in space.
