Russian Astronaut, Vladimir Komarov Solo space flight was drawing to it's close. It had been any thing but an easy mission. After the launch from the Soviet base on April 23, 1967. Komarov had been plagued by many technical problems but after 27 hours in space and 18 orbits around earth, Komarov was headed back home.
Komarov flight aboard the Soyuz rocket came about the time the US and Soviet Union were locked in a battle for supremacy in space, what came to be known as the space race. The Soviets were keen on this elaborate mission partly to get one up on the Americans and partly because 1967 was marked the 50th anniversary of the communist Revolution. As we shall see this complex mission did not go to plan but who was the Astronaut that was launched into space aboard Soyuz 1craft. Vladimir Komarov, was born in Moscow 1927. His father was a laborer and the family was far from wealthy. He started schooling at the local elementary but his education was interrupted by the world war 2. In 1941 age 14, Komarov had to leave school to work out on the farm but then when he was 15, he got a place at the first Moscow special air Force school. In 1945, Komarov graduated from flight school with honors. Upon graduation he went to Chkalov Higher Air Force School. In 1949 he qualified as a pilot and entered the the Soviet Air Force with the rank of lieutenant. In 1950, he got married. His Air force career flourished and he was promoted to chief pilot. In 1959, Komarov took on the roll of test pilot at the Soviet Union's Central Scientific Research Institute, later that year came an even greater honour, he was invited to join some 3000 other pilot for consideration as an astronaut on the Soviet Space Program. He succeeded in getting into the final 20 and despite some of his shortcomings he was chosen to Astronaut training, thanks to his determination and perseverance. In 1964, Komarov was selected for his first mission, he was the commander of the craft and flew alongside with 2 other crew members, the flight was a success and was the first flight to include more than one astronaut. Nicely for him he was promoted to Cornel, was awarded and named a hero of the Soviet Union. Komarov was assigned to the Soviet Soyuz Program along with his old friend Yuri Gagarin Komarov was selected to pilot the first Soyuz Mission "Solo Flight" and Astronaut Gagarin was made as his reserve should in any case Komarov had to withdraw. As the flight drew near both Komarov and some other cosmonauts became increasingly concerned about what they saw as designed defects in the Soyuz 1 craft. In which Yuri Gagarin had wrote to Soyuz president about his reservation. It was said the Komarov decided pilot the Soyuz 1 craft because if he Withdrew Gagarin would have to take the job. His loyalty to his friend would not make him do this, infact he was anxious about the shortcomings of the Soyuz 1 craft that he stated that "if he died during this mission, his funeral should be with an open coffin, that would demonstrate the danger that the authorities had put him in" With this strong misgivings, Komarov prepared for his mission.
The launch was on April 23 1967 and things started to go wrong from the outset. The manual controls were compromised and it was now clear that the mission was going badly wrong. After orbiting earth 18 times, Komarov was headed home but there was another devastating equipment failure. The two parachute designed to slow the craft down failed to deploy as intended. His capsule crashed with full speed into earth and burst into flames which claimed his life. The remains of his body are in the photo below Sadly he paid for the poor designs of the space craft with his life..***prbxselfnetwork***
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