Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Vladimir Komarov

Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov (1927 – 1967) was a Soviet test pilot-engineer and cosmonaut in the first Soviet cosmonaut intake in 1960. 
Komarov was selected to command the first Soviet multi-man Voskhod 1 mission which heralded a number technical innovations in the space race. He was subsequently chosen for the rigorous task of commanding Soyuz 1 as part of the Soviet Union's bid to reach the moon. His flight on Soyuz 1 made him the first Soviet cosmonaut to travel into space more than once, and the first human to die during a space mission, when the Soyuz module crashed after re-entry on 24 April 1967.
Gagarin (left) and Komarov out hunting
Read this fascinating article on NPR about the last minutes of Komrov's life, crying in rage, "cursing the people who had put him inside a botched spaceship."

Thanks, Matt M.

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