Salyut 1, the first space station launched by the Soviet Union in 1971, had a dry weight of 18,425 kg and was designed for long-term research and observation. It had four compartments, but the first two attempts to visit it were unsuccessful due to technical difficulties. The third attempt resulted in a 22-day stay, but during re-entry, all three cosmonauts died due to a defect in the breathing valve. Their deaths highlight the danger of space travel and the need for safe systems.
Like many other firsts in space exploration, the first space station was launched by the Soviet Union. Like many other space stories, it ended in tragedy. Launched on April 19, 1971, just two years after the Americans landed on the moon, Salyut 1 was a 15.6 by 4 meters (51.18 by 13.12 feet) cylinder with 99 cubic meters (3,496.15 cubic feet) of internal space – similar to the dimensions of a school bus. The space station had a dry weight of 18,425 kg (40,620 lb) and was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in present-day Kazakhstan.
The purpose of Salyut 1 was to put the first manned facility into orbit for long-term research and observation. It was designed both as a proof of concept for space stations in general and for conducting experiments and observations that satellites could not perform on their own. Salyut is one of nine space stations that have ever been inhabited as of November 2007.
The space station had four compartments, three of which were pressurized. These included the main compartment, a transfer compartment, an auxiliary compartment and a storage compartment. Like all other space stations launched thus far, it was launched uncrewed and the crew arrived later via a separate vehicle.
Unfortunately, using the new space station has been problematic from the start. Soyuz 10 launched on April 23, 1971, planned to be the first space station visit in history. Although the capsule was physically docked with the station, the connection was not secure enough to allow the hatches to be opened without risking a leak into the void. It appeared that the hatches inside the Soyuz were locked anyway. The cosmonauts were forced to return to Earth without ever entering the station. As a further complication, toxic fumes flooded the re-entry capsule, causing one of the cosmonauts to pass out, although all three ultimately survived the ordeal without further injury.
The second attempt to visit the station, Soyuz 11, was even less successful. Launched on June 6, 1971 from Baikonur, the capsule docked with the station and three cosmonauts entered it, becoming the first people to visit a space station. They stayed there for 22 days, a record for duration in space at the time. Cosmonaut Viktor Patsayev was the first to use a telescope in space.
The disaster occurred during the reentry. After a seemingly normal reentry, the recovery team opened the capsule and found all of the cosmonauts dead. The defect was traced to a breathing valve between the descent module and the orbiter module. Some explosive shells, which were supposed to fire in sequence, instead fired simultaneously, breaking a seal on the valve. Pressure was lost at 168 kilometers (104 miles) and the cosmonauts suffocated as air escaped from the cabin. They could have been saved if they had worn pressure suits during descent, as is now standard for all transfer-to-orbit and re-entry operations.
The three dead cosmonauts remain heroes to space enthusiasts everywhere. Their deaths underscore the danger of space travel and the need to develop extremely safe systems before it becomes possible for larger portions of humanity to take steps into the cosmos.
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