Mission type | Test flight | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Operator | Soviet space program | ||||
COSPAR ID | 1967-037A | ||||
Mission duration | 1 day, 2 hours, 47 minutes, 52 seconds | ||||
Orbits completed | 18 | ||||
Spacecraft properties | |||||
Spacecraft type | Soyuz 7K-OK | ||||
Manufacturer | Experimental Design Bureau OKB-1 | ||||
Crew | |||||
Crew size | 1 | ||||
Members | Vladimir Komarov | ||||
Callsign | Рубин (Rubin – "Ruby") | ||||
Start of mission | |||||
Launch date | 23 April 1967 00:35:00 | UTC||||
Rocket | Soyuz | ||||
Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 | ||||
End of mission | |||||
Landing date | 24 April 1967 03:22:52 | UTC||||
Landing site | 51°21′41″N 59°33′44″E / 51.3615°N 59.5622°E | ||||
Orbital parameters | |||||
Reference system | Geocentric | ||||
Regime | Low Earth | ||||
Perigee | 197 kilometers (122 mi) | ||||
Apogee | 223 kilometers (139 mi) | ||||
Inclination | 50.8 degrees | ||||
Period | 88.7 minutes | ||||
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Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1 , Union 1) was a manned spaceflight of the Soviet space program. Launched into orbit on 23 April 1967 carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov, Soyuz 1 was the first crewed flight of the Soyuz spacecraft. The mission plan was complex, involving a rendezvous with Soyuz 2 and an exchange of crew members before returning to Earth. However, the launch of Soyuz 2 was called off due to thunderstorms.
The flight was plagued with technical issues, and Komarov was killed when the descent module crashed into the ground due to a parachute failure. This was the first in-flight fatality in the history of spaceflight.
Soyuz 1 was the first manned flight of the first-generation Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft and Soyuz rocket, designed as part of the Soviet lunar program. It was the first Soviet manned spaceflight in over two years, and the first Soviet manned flight following the death of the Chief Designer of the space program Sergei Korolev. Komarov was launched on Soyuz 1 despite failures of the previous unmanned tests of the 7K-OK, Cosmos 133 and Cosmos 140. A third attempted test flight was a launch failure; a launch abort triggered a malfunction of the launch escape system, causing the rocket to explode on the pad. The escape system successfully pulled the spacecraft to safety.