Word: patsayev
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...Soviet space program has also had its tragedies. Just three months after the Apollo fire, Colonel Vladimir Komarov plunged more than four miles to earth in Soyuz 1 after its parachute snarled. In June 1971, Cosmonauts Georgi Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev suffocated during re-entry. Soviet officials later revealed that a valve had opened when the capsule separated from the Salyut 1 space station, allowing the cabin to depressurize...
...soft, parachute landing on the steppes of Soviet Kazakhstan, a recovery helicopter was ready and waiting to touch down right alongside. Members of the recovery team raced to the apparently undamaged Soyuz 11, unfastened the hatch and swung it open to assist Cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev. Still strapped in their seats, the cosmonauts did not respond. All three were dead. Russia's triumphant space mission, which had set new records for man's endurance in space, assembled the first manned space station and added new luster to Soviet technology, had suddenly ended in tragedy...
...favorite fare on Moscow television. Volkov, the only member of the crew who had previously made a space trip (aboard Soyuz 7, in 1969), was an idol of teen-age Russian girls because of his rugged good looks. Russian TV viewers also watched an impromptu birthday party staged for Patsayev, who turned 38 during the flight. Instead of pouring the customary vodka, his comrades toasted him with tubes of prune paste. Yet as the mission continued uneventfully day after day-first past the American endurance mark of 13 days set by Gemini 7 in 1965, then past the Soviets...
Clearly, Soviet officials had already determined the cause of death. No lengthy autopsies were performed, and only a day after the accident the cosmonauts' bodies were publicly displayed in Moscow's Central Army Hall. (One puzzle: a heavy bruise was observed on the right side of Patsayev's face.) Why, then, were the Soviets so secretive about the cause of the deaths? Westerners could only guess that Soviet space officials were being cautious, determined to be absolutely certain about what went wrong before announcing the results of their investigation...
Died. Lieut. Colonel Georgy Dobrovolsky, 43, Vladislav Volkov, 35, and Viktor Patsayev, 38, crew of the Soyuz 11 Soviet spacecraft (see SCIENCE...
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