Soyuz 11 Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
| Mission Statistics | |
| Mission Name: | Soyuz 11 |
| Call Sign: | Янтарь (Yantar - "Amber") |
| Number of Crew Members: | 3 |
| Launch: | June 6, 1971 04:55:09 UTC Baikonur LC1 |
| Landing: | June 29, 1971 23:16:52 UTC |
| Duration: | 24 days, 18 h, 21 min, 43 s |
| Number of Orbits: | 387 |
Cosmonauts Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev, and Vladislav Volkov spent three weeks testing the Salyut's systems and conducting biomedical and other scientific work. They faced a number of difficulties on the station, including a fire, and the discovery that one of the station's main scientific instruments - a telescope - had been rendered inoperative by a protective cover that had failed to detach after launch. For these reasons, the mission was cut short by a week and the crew departed the station. Tragedy struck shortly afterwards.
After a normal re-entry, the recovery team opened the capsule to find the crew dead. It quickly became apparent that they had asphyxiated, and the fault was traced to a valve that had been jolted open as the spacecraft undocked. The valve was supposed to equalise pressure inside the capsule in the final moments before landing, but in this case had instead allowed the cosmonauts' air to leak away into space.
They were given a large state funeral. US astronaut Tom Stafford was one of the pallbearers.
The Soyuz spacecraft was extensively re-designed after this incident to carry only two cosmonauts. The extra room meant that the crew could wear space suits during launch and landing.
The prime crew for Soyuz 11 consisted of Valery Kubasov, Alexei Leonov and Pyotr Kolodin. A medical X-ray four days before launch suggested that Kubasov might have tuberculosis, and as per mission rules the crew were replaced with their back-up. For Dobrovolski and Patsayev this was to be their first space mission.
This is an Article on Soyuz 11. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Soyuz 11 Crew
(1) number of spaceflights each crew member has completed, including this mission.Mission Parameters
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