In a tragic moment of space exploration history, a cosmonaut’s last transmission captured his poignant final words as he fell to his death from space.
Back in April 1967, the mission of Soyuz 1 marked its debut crewed spaceflight, with Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov as its lead astronaut.
Amidst the intense US-Soviet space race, disaster unfolded when the spacecraft, part of the Soviet space program, crashed into an open field around 7 a.m.
Komarov subsequently became known as the ‘man who fell from space.’ Now, 58 years have passed since the incident, yet many aspects of the circumstances surrounding it remain unclear.
The 2011 book, Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, addressed Komarov’s death but faced criticism for alleged inaccuracies.
According to verified NASA reports, Komarov successfully completed several orbits around Earth. However, complications arose during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere following the mission’s conclusion.
On April 23, 1967, Komarov’s mission involved orbiting Earth 16 times within a span of 24 hours.
However, an energy crisis emerged when one of the two solar panels failed to deploy, hindering the mission’s completion.
Unexpectedly, this mishap resulted in a space tragedy that delayed the Soviet lunar program by 18 months, according to NASA.
Komarov was piloting Soyuz 1, which was intended to dock with Soyuz 2 for a crew transfer the next day. However, unforeseen issues led to an unscheduled return to Earth for Soyuz 1.
In addition to the solar panel issue, the spacecraft became difficult to control due to ‘interference of the reaction control system exhaust with the ion flow sensors’.
The malfunctioning sensors, critical for orientation, prompted a decision to bring Komarov back, although re-entry was smooth, landing was not.
Upon reaching 23,000 feet, Komarov’s parachute, which was supposed to deploy, failed due to a malfunctioning pressure sensor, causing the main parachute to remain undeployed and the reserve chute to become entangled with the drag chute.
Komarov faced the inevitable as he awaited his fate, descending rapidly towards Earth.
With no means to avert the impending impact, the cosmonaut tragically plummeted to the ground, resulting in a deadly explosion on April 24, 1967.
Knowing his fate, Komarov’s final moments were captured by US listening posts in Turkey. As he communicated with Alexei Kosygin, a top Soviet official, his frustration was evident as his spacecraft descended uncontrollably.
Reports recount that his remains were severely charred, with only a heelbone being identifiable.
Audio from the harrowing moment, as described in Starman, suggests he exclaimed: “This devil ship! Nothing I lay my hands on works properly.”
However, some experts challenge this claim. The Russian State Archive’s transcript of Komarov’s final exchanges records him as saying: “I feel excellent, everything’s in order.”
Shortly thereafter, he reportedly communicated: “Thank you for transmitting all of that. [Separation] occurred.”