Viktor Ivanovich Pazayev

Pazayev , Patsayev and Patsaev are redirects to this article. For further meanings, see Patsayev (disambiguation) .

Viktor Pazayev
Country:	Soviet Union
Organization:	ZKBEM
selected on	May 27, 1968
Calls:	1 space flight
Begin:	June 6, 1971
Landing:	June 29, 1971 (UTC, June 30th local time)
Time in space:	23d 18h ​​21min
retired on	June 1971 (accident)
Space flights
Soyuz 11 (1971)

Viktor Patsayev ( Russian Виктор Иванович Пацаев ., Scientific transliteration Viktor Ivanovich Pacaev * 19th June 1933 in Aktyubinsk , Kazakhstan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , Soviet Union ; † thirtieth June 1971 in space, observed in Karaganda , Kazakh SSR ) was a Soviet cosmonaut , who was taking part in the Soyuz 11 mission and was killed by a sudden drop in pressure in the cabin.

Pazayev became a half-orphan when his father was eight years old when he was defending Moscow . He attended the Industrial Institute in Penza and, after graduating in 1955 the central flight scientific observatory assigned (ЦАО) in Moscow, where he worked on the development of meteorological used rockets. In 1958 he moved to the experimental design office OKB-1 , which dealt with the development of prototypes for space technology.

Astronaut activity

Since 1968, Pazayev took part in the preparatory program for cosmonauts as a non-military specialist. As a result, he formed a team together with commandant Georgi Dobrowolski and his colleague Wladislaw Volkov from the ZKBEM . In April 1971, he was part of the Soyuz 10 Mission Support Team . Soyuz 10's attempt to pair it failed, however, and the spacecraft had to return to Earth after just two days.

A few days before the start of Soyuz 11, a medical examination revealed a shadow on the lungs of flight engineer Kubasov , and he was declared unfit to fly. According to the regulations, the entire crew had to be replaced so shortly before the start that Soyuz 11 started on June 6, 1971 with Dobrowolski, Pazajew and Volkov on board.

The automatic coupling went off without a hitch this time, which meant that the three cosmonauts were able to put a space station into operation for the first time in the history of space travel. Viktor Pazajew was the first crew member to enter the space station. Towards the end of the stay, the station was put into automatic operation because the arrival of the next crew (Soyuz 12 under the command of Leonov) was not planned for three weeks. With more than 23 days in space , the crew set a new long-term record that was previously held by Soyuz 9 at 17 days .

The brake ignition went as planned, and twelve minutes later the device part and orbital module separated from the return capsule as planned. A seal was broken by the shock and a pressure compensation valve opened prematurely. The air escaped from the return capsule, the decompression killed Dobrowolski, Volkov and Pazajew. Space suits and oxygen masks were not on board the Soyuz spacecraft , so the cosmonauts had no chance of survival. The landing took place automatically on the morning of June 30, 1971 ( June 29 according to UTC ). The rescue team found the crew lifeless in their seats.

The bodies of the three cosmonauts were taken to Moscow, examined there and cremated on the evening of July 1st. The urns were buried on July 3 with a state funeral in the necropolis by the Kremlin wall .

Pazayev was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union . Later a lunar crater , a research ship ( Kosmonawt Viktor Pazajew ) of the so-called Cosmic Fleet and an asteroid ( (1791) Patsayev ) were named after him. His name is also listed on the metal plate of the Fallen Astronaut , the only work of art on the moon.

Web links

• spacefacts.de: Short biography