The Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3 am on April 23, 1967 hosted two famous space explorers at once: Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Komarov. On this fateful night, Yuri, as a test double, and first of all as a friend, saw off his comrade on a flight on the Soyuz-1 spacecraft. There were 35 minutes left before the start of the operation, and the elevator took the astronauts to the top of the rocket to the ship. Gagarin stayed with Vladimir Komarov until the hatches closed and was the last one to wish him good luck… and said goodbye to him.
Secret offer
In 1959, being a military pilot, Vladimir Mikhailovich was called by the leadership to the office, where he was met by two respectable people. One of them was a military doctor, and the second was an Air Force colonel. The young specialist was offered a secret job and was told only that it would be necessary to test the equipment and fly at high altitude. "Finally," thoughtVladimir Komarov, because flying was his dream. Therefore, the response was immediate and positive.
This year there was a selection of test cosmonauts, the main requirements were: height 1.7 meters, weight up to 70 kg and age up to 30 years. At that time, Vladimir was 32 years old, but his theoretical knowledge was necessary for the command, and he ended up in a detachment of 20 selected for secret tests.
Pilots had to run every day, train in a thermal chamber, centrifuge and skydive. Only 3 months later it became clear that the guys were being prepared to be sent into space.
First flight
It was planned to select only one space explorer from the recruits, however, after the first flight of Yuri Gagarin, who was also selected in the top twenty, it was clear that the space exploration operation would not be limited to one person.
And on October 12, 1964, the world's first multi-seat spacecraft Voskhod was sent into space. A crew of three is planned: a pilot, a doctor and an engineer. Vladimir Komarov is appointed crew commander. The decision is also made by the high command to send people without space suits, since there is not enough space for three in Voskhod.
The ship was launched at 7.30 am, after which Komarov handed over the traditional report to N. Khrushchev, and then, by a second call to the Kremlin, informed L. Brezhnev and D. Ustinov about the progress of affairs. However, party leaders were not in place. And this is no accident, because at that moment the "Small October Revolution" was being prepared,whose goal was to overthrow the current government.
To report to?
Since Gagarin's first flight, a tradition has developed, according to which the Secretary General met the cosmonauts on Red Square for a solemn report of the latter on the operation.
After the Voskhod landed on board with Vladimir Komarov, N. Khrushchev was already removed from power, it is not known who will read the prepared report. While the chair of the General Secretary was left without a ruler, the crew of astronauts was not allowed to leave Baikonur. For five whole days, the specialists stayed behind closed doors, as they flew away under N. S. Khrushchev, and returned, as it later became known, under L. I. Brezhnev.
When the crew was given the go-ahead to arrive in Moscow, Vladimir at the time of the flight begins to rewrite the report and the texts of the reports with the replacement of the official appeal. The phrases now disappear from them: “Dear Nikita Sergeevich!”
Flying on Voskhod completely changes the life of a military pilot: from now on, cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Help your opponent
In the mid-60s, there were two space teams: military and civilian specialists. There was animosity between the groups. According to Georgy Grechko, who was part of the civilian cosmonauts, during physical training, the guys from the military detachment surrounded their rivals and found out why they came to the space team. After all, the business of civil engineers is to build ships, and the guys from the military detachment are destined to fly them. And it was all wrong, the places in the spacecraft were occupied by civilian specialists.
In such a silent war, every member of the detachment was saturated with dislike for the opponent, except for the benevolent Vladimir Komarov, who belonged to the military team. After an unsuccessful landing by Georgy Grechko, during which his leg was broken, the question arose of his expulsion. But Vladimir, being from the opposite detachment, convinced the leadership to allow Grechko to give lectures at the cosmonaut training center for the duration of Grechko's treatment and, after a complete recovery, return to training for space flight.
He alth problems
Before the first flight in 1963, Vladimir Komarov found himself in a difficult situation during a medical examination. After training on the centrifuge, the pilot's cardiogram showed poor results. And the heart is a much more important organ for an astronaut than a broken leg. There was a problem that had to be resolved through student expulsion.
Then the entire detachment led by Yuri Gagarin defended his friend, and a second medical examination was scheduled. Then the doctor Adila Kotovskaya managed to find out the reason for such a poor result of the cardiogram. The thing is that a month before the centrifuge, Vladimir's tonsils were removed, and before training, the pilot hid this fact.
The second examination was positive for Komarov, and the doctors concluded: “With such a cardiogram, you can only fly into space.”
Youth of Vladimir Komarov: biography
Volodya studied at the Moscow School No. 235 from the 1st to the 10th grade. His father wasas a janitor and at his leisure, together with his son, he glued mock-ups of aircraft. This left an imprint on the choice of future profession. After graduation, the boy enters the flight school, after which he goes to serve in Chechnya.
At the duty station, Vladimir meets his future wife, Valentina Kiseleva. For the first time he saw her in a photograph exhibited as a good shot in one photo salon. The girl at that time studied at the Pedagogical University, and worked as a librarian in the evenings. Vladimir loved to read, and frequent visits to the library, where Valentina, dear to her heart, played a role. Contrary to the reluctance of Valentina's parents for their union, a year of courtship convinced them, and the wedding took place. In the marriage of Valentina and Vladimir Komarov, two children were born: son Evgeny and daughter Irina.
Last Anniversary
The first flight brought not only glory to Komarov, but also a gift from the state - a four-room apartment. After the garrison housing, it was a spacious monastery with a balcony, a loggia and a large-sized kitchen. The kids now had enough space to play hide and seek without leaving the house. Everyone was happy, except Valentina. Something made the cosmonaut's wife feel sad.
On March 16, 1967, the apartment received guests on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of Vladimir. Victor Kukeshev, giving an interview dedicated to the film about the memory of the hero, said that the fortieth anniversary was celebrated fruitfully. At a fun celebration, none of the guests could have thought that after 1.5 months they would see a photo of Vladimir Komarov with a black ribbon at the bottom.
Launch of Soyuz-1
After sending Soyuz-1 on board with Komarov, KVN viewers learned that Soviet astronauts were in space now, on April 23, 1967. Indeed, a poster with this information was placed on the humorous stage of the country. The hall gave a standing ovation. And already on April 24, no reports and reports were heard from space. Valentina was waiting for her hero. An alarming signal for the wife was the sudden shutdown of the home phone. Although she knew that military pilots always had a phone in working order. But the black Volga that drove up to the entrance of the Komarovs finally killed the hope in Valentina to see her beloved. The Colonel General, who arrived to inform the cosmonaut's family about the tragedy, did not even have to make opening speeches. Valentina only asked him about the validity of the information.
On April 26, 1967, the funeral of the Hero of the Soviet Union took place. Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was immortalized in the Kremlin wall. There is still an urn with his ashes.
Reasons for failed flight
The flight of the Soyuz-1 spacecraft was postponed all the time, because each time there were problems that needed to be eliminated. But the top leaders hurried the designers in order to launch the ship faster and time the achievement to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. Especially since by that time the second superpower - the United States had made great strides in space exploration.
For safety reasons, it was required to launch unmannedaircraft. Soyuz-1 failed all three unmanned tests, however, it was sent into space on board with Komarov. After launching the ship into orbit, troubles began: one solar battery did not open, and this was a lack of energy and, as a result, the refusal of automatic control. Vladimir started the engine for braking, began to prepare the apparatus for landing. Everyone in the control center sighed, but a message was received that Vladimir Komarov had died near Orsk. The photo of the charred remains has now spread all over the world, but then there were too many perpetrators of the death, and the heroic deed with a fatal outcome was not covered in any newspaper. The cause of death was declared twisted parachute lines, due to which the ship began a rapid fall. Then the commission found about 200 shortcomings of Soyuz-1. They were eliminated over time, and to this day the ship flies without excesses.
