A Soviet cosmonaut narrowly escaped death during a fiery Soyuz re-entry when a malfunction left him trapped in flames.
Soviet cosmonaut faces re-entry danger
During a 1974 mission, Soviet cosmonaut Boris Volynov encountered a life-threatening situation when the service module of his Soyuz 5 spacecraft failed to separate properly during re-entry. The malfunction left him alone at the controls as flames threatened to engulf the spacecraft.Mechanical failure causes spacecraft to descend improperly
The failure was traced to a malfunction in the explosive bolts designed to separate the spacecraft’s modules. This issue caused the spacecraft to descend nose-first, exposing the hatch and Volynov to intense heat and flames.Spacecraft rights itself after thermal stress
Despite the extreme thermal stress, the connections between the spacecraft modules eventually gave way, allowing the descent module to realign itself. This critical change enabled the spacecraft to stabilize before landing.Cosmonaut survives with injuries
The spacecraft’s violent impact with the ground in Kazakhstan broke several of Volynov’s teeth and caused the capsule to land far from the intended landing zone. The incident remained classified for decades, according to sciencepost.fr.Volynov returns to spaceflight
Despite the injuries, Volynov recovered and returned to active duty. He flew again in 1976 aboard Soyuz 21, spending several weeks at the Salyut 5 space station.
