The Soviet Cosmonaut Who Knew the Spacecraft Was Defective and Flew It Anyway in 1967 to Save His Backup Yuri Gagarin and Was Killed When the Parachute Failed
Vladimir Komarov launched in Soyuz 1 on 23 April 1967 knowing the spacecraft had 203 documented engineering faults. He flew it anyway because the backup pilot was Yuri Gagarin and Komarov refused to let Gagarin take the risk. After 18 orbits the descent module's main parachute failed to deploy. Komarov hit the Orenburg Steppe at approximately 140 km/h and was killed instantly. He was 40.
Read the story →