Officials were miraculously able to find the remains of a cosmonaut who fell from space after his last words were allegedly captured in a recording.
Soviet test pilot Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov became known as 'the man who fell from space' after his fateful final mission in April 1967.
Komarov had been tasked with venturing into space on the Soyuz 1 mission, during which he orbited the Earth 16 times over the course of 24 hours.
However, when it came time for Komarov to return to Earth, a parachute failure caused his vessel to come crashing to the ground.
Claims about exactly what went wrong appeared in a book in 2011 titled Starman, The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, but the book soon sparked controversy as historians described it as being 'riddled with errors'.
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The exact details of Komarov's death remain shrouded in mystery due to the guarded nature of the Soviet Union, but reports about his final words claim that he told colleagues he felt 'excellent' as he prepared to return to Earth.
"Everything's in order," Komarov allegedly said in the recording.
Just a few moments later he reportedly said: “Thank you for transmitting all of that. [Separation] occurred.”
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Things soon took a turn, though, and as he 'fell from space', Komarov's last words were allegedly: “This devil ship! Nothing I lay my hands on works properly.”
In his diary, aviator Nikolai Kamanin claimed that the Soyuz 1 capsule crashed into the ground at 30–40 metres per second.
Officials were able to track down the crash site within a matter of hours, but as a result of the fiery crash the remains of Komarov's body were an irregular lump 30 centimetres (12 in) in diameter and 80 centimetres (31 in) long.
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What was left of Komarov was seen in an old photo showing a group of Soviet officials looking over his corpse during his open-casket funeral.
Komarov's remains are believed to have been cremated after the funeral.
Fellow colleague Pavel Popovich had this to say about Komarov: "He was respected for his humility and experience.
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"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."
In May 1967, officials criticised Vasily Mishin, who was the head of the program, for his '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, World News, Science
Emily Brown