June 29, 1971: The Soyuz 11 Disaster

Left to right: Georgy Doborvolsky,

Viktor Patsayev & Vladislav Volkov

June 29, 1971: For the 1st time, human beings from planet Earth die in space travel. So far, it remains the only time.

Kosmicheskaya programma, the space agency of the Soviet Union, had wanted to launch Salyut 1, the 1st intended-permanent space station, on April 12, 1971, to coincide with the 10th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin becoming the 1st man in space, but had to delay it until April 19. ("Salyut" means "salute" or "fireworks.")

The 1st mission launched toward it, Soyuz 10, was unable to dock with it. So Soyuz 11 was set up. The original crew was supposed to be Alexei Leonov (who, in 1965, had made the 1st spacewalk), Valeri Kubasov and Pyotr Kolodin. But, 4 days before the scheduled launch, an X-ray suggested that Kubasov might have tuberculosis. According to the mission rules, the entire prime crew was grounded, and replaced with the backup crew.

In his memoir Two Sides of the Moon, Leonov would later write, "It turned out later, that he was allergic to a chemical insecticide used to spray trees." That allergy saved his life -- and Leonov's, and Kolodin's.

The backup crew was Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Doborvolsky, Soviet Air Force, age 43; Vladislav Volkov, a civilian aviation engineer, 35; and Viktor Patsayev, also a civilian aviation engineer, 38. It was the 2nd spaceflight for Volkov, and the 1st for Dobrovolsky and Patsayev.

The Soyuz 7-OKS rocket was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 6, 1971. The next day, they safely docked with Salyut 1. On board the station, Patsayev became the 1st person to operate a telescope outside the Earth's atmosphere.

After loading scientific specimens, films, tapes and other gear into the Soyuz 11 capsule, they undocked at 1:28 PM U.S. Eastern Time on June 29, setting a spaceflight longevity record that would stand for 2 years, until the American Skylab 2 mission.

The Soviet system is that spacecraft land on Earth on land, while American vehicles, at least until the Space Shuttles could land on their own, landed on water. This made the Soviet landings more dangerous. At first, Soyuz 11's landing, at 6:16 PM U.S. Eastern, seemed normal. But when the recovery team opened the capsule, they found all 3 men dead.

Kerim Kerimov, chair of the State Commission, recalled: "Outwardly, there was no damage whatsoever. They knocked on the side, but there was no response from within. On opening the hatch, they found all three men in their couches, motionless, with dark-blue patches on their faces and trails of blood from their noses and ears. They removed them from the descent module. Dobrovolsky was still warm. The doctors gave artificial respiration. Based on their reports, the cause of death was suffocation."

The fault was traced to a breathing ventilation valve, located between the orbital module and the descent module, that had been jolted open as the descent module separated from the service module. The modules were held together by explosive bolts designed to fire sequentially. Instead, they had fired simultaneously. The explosive force of the simultaneous bolt firing caused the internal mechanism of the pressure equalization valve to loosen a seal that was usually discarded later, and which normally allowed for automatic adjustment of the cabin pressure.

The valve opened at an altitude of 104 miles, and the resultant loss of pressure was fatal in less than a minute. The valve was located beneath the seats, and was impossible to find and block before the air was lost. 

As of June 29, 2022, Soyuz 11 is still the worst disaster in the history of the Soviet or Russian space program, and the only in-space fatality. The U.S. program lost 3 astronauts in a test in 1967, 7 in a Space Shuttle launch in 1986, and 7 in a Space Shuttle landing attempt in 2003.

Leonov and Kubasov were assigned to Soyuz 19 for the Apollo-Soyuz joint mission in 1975. Kolodin never flew in space.

Kosmicheskaya programma decided to start over, and cut off Salyut 1's support, allowing it to fall to Earth on October 11, not even 6 months later. Salyut 6 was launched in 1977, and lasted almost 5 years -- the Soviets' best attempt yet, but still not as long as Skylab. It hosted Soyuz 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40 (but not 33, which failed to dock and had to abort its mission).

Salyut 7 topped this by being launched in 1982, and lasted until 1991, almost 9 years. It hosted 6 missions, labeled Soyuz T-5, T-9, T-10, T-13, T-14 and T-15. Soyuz T-15 remains the only spacecraft, from any country, to dock at 2 different space stations: It was the 1st to dock at the Soviets' new Mir, on March 15, 1986; and then became the last to dock at Salyut 7, on May 6.

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June 29, 1971 was a Tuesday. Canadian singer Matthew Good was born. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-2 at Yankee Stadium. Steve Kline went the distance for the win. Felipe Alou and Ron Blomberg each had 3 hits. Future Yankee Graig Nettles had 2 hits for the Indians, while future Yankee Chris Chambliss had none.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Tom Seaver pitched a 4-hit, 1-walk, 13-strikeout shutout. The Mets got home runs from Cleon Jones, Jerry Grote and Ed Kranepool.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 14-0 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Yes, that's baseball, not football. Pete Rose went 3-for-5 with a solo home run. Johnny Bench went 3-for-5 with a walk and 3 RBIs. Buddy Bradford went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Tommy Helms went 4-for-6 with an RBI.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 6-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. John Kennedy hit a home run for Boston. No, not that John Kennedy. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 15-6 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson hit a home run. Frank Robinson went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Al Kaline did not play, despite Baltimore being his hometown.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks, in his last season, did not play.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock and Joe Torre hit home runs. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. Hank Aaron went 2-for-4, but did not hit a home run.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 6-4 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Willie Mays hit his 640th career home run.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* And the Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Harmon Killebrew did not play, Rod Carew was 0-for-1 with 2 walks, and had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-2 with 3 walks.