During the 1960s, Russia and the United States unleashed a brutal battle for the title of being the first country to reach space. The space agencies of both countries developed mechanisms that they tested and that over time ended up being successful.
However, before shouting Eureka, material and human losses were recorded, which were related to miscalculations and issues that could have been avoided if the political rush to “win” had not existed.
Describing the scene that occurred over 55 years ago is very similar to what is happening today with more countries struggling to achieve scientific milestones. We have not learned anything and everything indicates that we are not on the path to leaving those old disputes behind.
At least today we can highlight something positive: there are greater partnerships, including between the Russian space agency and NASA. And also, there is the integration of private companies that, we want to believe, do not see countries, although they do see commercial interests.
What happened to Soyuz 1?
For those unfamiliar with the story, Soyuz 1 is the first spacecraft to go into Earth orbit manned by an astronaut. It was an achievement – halfway – of Roscosmos, the name of Russia’s space agency.
Inside was the cosmonaut Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov, a 40-year-old Russian who died on the ship’s return to Earth, since the machine crashed into the surface of our world, in that fateful April 1967.
According to the review of infobae, the ship took off and reached orbit safely. Already on the site the problems began since one of the solar panels failed. It had to be deployed and it didn’t, a rather delicate problem since this had to generate power for the ship.
Because of this, some systems, lacking energy due to the situation, began to fail. The most delicate of all were the telemetry mechanisms, thermal control, and the orientation and propulsion sensors.
At that time they thought of sending a second manned spacecraft (Soyuz 2) to assist Vladimir. Fortunately they did not, as that would have meant more human losses. So, they tried to assist him from the control tower on Earth to see if he could fix the bugs and return home immediately.
While this was happening, the little-known story of those moments before the last minutes of the astronaut alive occurred. Vladimir tried everything to make the solar panel not unfold and at one point, in communication with Earth, it is heard how he says in the messages: “Damn machine! Nothing I do works!”, minutes later kicking against the damaged mechanism.
The final story is known. She tried to land and the rockets that were supposed to slow her down didn’t go off. The parachutes didn’t open either, and the ship crashed at a speed that turned it into a jumble of iron.
