Author Topic: Soyuz 18-1  (Read 1810 times)

Offline Phillip Clark

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Soyuz 18-1
« on: 04/05/2015 05:42 am »
Today, April 5th, it is 40 years since the Soviet Soyuz 18-1 aka the "April 5th anomaly" was launched.   This was the first in-flight abort of a piloted spacecraft.

The crew of Lazarev and Makarov were planning a two months stay on board the Salyut 4 space station, but after launch the Blok A second stage central core failed to separate from the Blok I third stage.   With the launch escape tower and shroud already discarded, the crew had to separate the Soyuz spacecraft and use its propulsion to start the descent back to Earth.   Landing was an extremely rough affair, although the crew did survive intact.

The launch failure was quickly announced by the Soviet authorities, in part because any rumours of an unannounced failure would have harmed the build-up to the Soyuz 19 launch in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July.
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane - WJ.

Offline Archibald

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Re: Soyuz 18-1
« Reply #1 on: 04/05/2015 08:32 am »
at   first they  feared they had landed in china. what a mess it would have been had they been taken prisoniers by the late cultural revolution china !!
Han shot first and Gwynne Shotwell !

Offline gwiz

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Re: Soyuz 18-1
« Reply #2 on: 04/05/2015 09:45 am »
Still holds the unofficial records for altitude and distance of a suborbital spaceflight.
« Last Edit: 04/05/2015 09:47 am by gwiz »

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