The remains of the cosmonaut 'who fell from space' were miraculously found after his eerie last words were allegedly captured in a recording.
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov's last mission of the Soviet space program took place on 23 April 1967.
Over the course of 24 hours, he orbited the Earth 16 times.
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However, the ‘man who fell from space’ was to die at the age of 40 after his spaceship Soyuz 1 struggled to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere when his mission was done.
The aircraft plummeted to the ground and Komarov died in an explosion.
His death was covered in the controversial 2011 book, Starman, The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, which has been described as being ‘rife with errors’.
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One of the last things he was said to have told colleagues was: “I feel excellent, everything’s in order.”
Just a few moments later he reportedly said: “Thank you for transmitting all of that. [Separation] occurred.”
As he 'fell from space', his last words were allegedly: “This devil ship! Nothing I lay my hands on works properly.”
What was left of Komarov's charred remains were seen in an old photo showing a group of Soviet officials looking over his corpse during his open-casket funeral.
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In his diary, aviator Nikolai Kamanin claimed that the Soyuz 1 capsule crashed into the ground at 30–40 metres per second and that the remains of Komarov's body were an irregular lump 30 centimetres (12 in) in diameter and 80 centimetres (31 in) long.
Three hours after the capsule's crash, State Commission members went and visited the site.
After Komarov's remains were photographed at his funeral, they were immediately cremated so that a state burial in the Kremlin wall could take place, some reports have suggested.
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The remains underwent a quick autopsy that morning, and then were allegedly cremated.
Fellow colleague Pavel Popovich had this to say about Komarov: "He was respected for his humility and experience.
"He was already an engineer when he joined us, but he never looked down on the others. He was warm-hearted, purposeful and industrious.
"Volodya's (what his peers referred to him as) prestige was so high that people came to him to discuss all questions: personal as well as questions of our work."
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In May 1967, officials criticised program head Vasily Mishin's 'poor knowledge of the Soyuz spacecraft and the details of its operation, his lack of cooperation in working with the cosmonauts in flight and training activities'.
Topics: Space
Anish Vij