Vladimir Komarov

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Vladimir Komarov

Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov (Russian: Владимир Михайлович Комаров; March 16, 1927 – April 24, 1967) was a Soviet cosmonaut. He was the first human to die during a space mission, on Soyuz 1.

He was born in Moscow, USSR (now Russia).

He was selected to become a cosmonaut in 1960 with the first cosmonaut group. After being the backup for Pavel Popovich on Vostok 4, his first spaceflight was with the Voskhod 1 mission. On his second flight, Soyuz 1, he was killed during a return, when the spacecraft crashed due to failure of the parachute.

Just before impact, the then premier Kosygin told Komarov his country was proud of him. An American NSA listening post in Istanbul noted Komarov's reply was inaudible [1], though persistent rumors stated that Komarov died cursing the spacecraft designers and flight controllers.

Vladimir Komarov went on to be awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin; each one twice. His ashes rest in the Kremlin wall alongside those of other Soviet luminaries.

Komarov was married to Valentina Yakovlevna Kiselyova and had two children, Yevgeni and Irina.

The asteroid 1836 Komarov, discovered in 1971 is named in his honour.

Among others the Vladimir M. Komarov Astronautical Rocketry Club (ARK) in Ljubljana also bears his name from 1969.

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale's V.M. Komarov Diploma is named in his honor.

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