RIP Alexei Leonov
Discussion
The first man to walk in space has died aged 85
RIP Alexei
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-a...
RIP Alexei
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-a...
http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radi...
Dr. Asif Siddiqi explains a few things with the Soviet side of the race.
I can do with reading up on the other side.
Dr. Asif Siddiqi explains a few things with the Soviet side of the race.
I can do with reading up on the other side.
Edited by Zirconia on Friday 11th October 14:49
rxe said:
Anyone who got on top of one of those early Soviet rockets was so brave as to be verging on mad. Quite a few didn’t make it.
Sad news about Alexei Leonov. He always came across as a real gentleman.I don't know where you are getting the "quite a few didn't make it" opinion from. Any chance you can let us know your information?
I think ALL of the inflight deaths in the early years were Soviet. Komarov in particular got into a capsule that was known to be flaky.
Worth a read:
https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/05/02/1...
Worth a read:
https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/05/02/1...
rxe said:
I think ALL of the inflight deaths in the early years were Soviet. Komarov in particular got into a capsule that was known to be flaky.
Worth a read:
https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/05/02/1...
Americans died too.Worth a read:
https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/05/02/1...
Firstly, the R-7 rocket was pretty reliable and there were no cosmonauts lost because the rocket let them down.
Secondly, the first spacemen to die in their spacecraft were White, Grissom and Chaffee who died in their Apollo 1 capsule in a launch pad fire when rehearsing for their lift off which was scheduled for a few weeks later. It turned out that the Apollo spacecraft was also pretty flaky
Komarov was the first to die in the course of an actual spaceflight - only a few weeks after the Apollo 1 fire.
Three more Soviets died in 1971 when their Soyuz capsule depressurised by accident during descent.
In the 1960s the Americans lost a number of their astronauts in air crashes linked to their spaceflight activity. For example, Elliot See and Charles Bassett died when their T-38 crashed in to the assembly hanger where their Gemini spacecraft was being got ready.
Since 1971, the Soviets/Russians have not had any spaceflight fatalities. Of course, the Americans lost 14 crew in the Challenger accident (1986) and the Columbia accident (2003).
.
Eric Mc said:
Americans died too.
Firstly, the R-7 rocket was pretty reliable and there were no cosmonauts lost because the rocket let them down.
Secondly, the first spacemen to die in their spacecraft were White, Grissom and Chaffee who died in their Apollo 1 capsule in a launch pad fire when rehearsing for their lift off which was scheduled for a few weeks later. It turned out that the Apollo spacecraft was also pretty flaky
Komarov was the first to die in the course of an actual spaceflight - only a few weeks after the Apollo 1 fire.
Three more Soviets died in 1971 when their Soyuz capsule depressurised by accident during descent.
In the 1960s the Americans lost a number of their astronauts in air crashes linked to their spaceflight activity. For example, Elliot See and Charles Bassett died when their T-38 crashed in to the assembly hanger where their Gemini spacecraft was being got ready.
Since 1971, the Soviets/Russians have not had any spaceflight fatalities. Of course, the Americans lost 14 crew in the Challenger accident (1986) and the Columbia accident (2003).
.
Eric Mc I really enjoy your posts and agree with most everything you post but can’t we just remember the man the amazing life he lived without the internet arguing?Firstly, the R-7 rocket was pretty reliable and there were no cosmonauts lost because the rocket let them down.
Secondly, the first spacemen to die in their spacecraft were White, Grissom and Chaffee who died in their Apollo 1 capsule in a launch pad fire when rehearsing for their lift off which was scheduled for a few weeks later. It turned out that the Apollo spacecraft was also pretty flaky
Komarov was the first to die in the course of an actual spaceflight - only a few weeks after the Apollo 1 fire.
Three more Soviets died in 1971 when their Soyuz capsule depressurised by accident during descent.
In the 1960s the Americans lost a number of their astronauts in air crashes linked to their spaceflight activity. For example, Elliot See and Charles Bassett died when their T-38 crashed in to the assembly hanger where their Gemini spacecraft was being got ready.
Since 1971, the Soviets/Russians have not had any spaceflight fatalities. Of course, the Americans lost 14 crew in the Challenger accident (1986) and the Columbia accident (2003).
.
RIP a true explorer.
Eric Mc said:
Americans died too.
Firstly, the R-7 rocket was pretty reliable and there were no cosmonauts lost because the rocket let them down.
Secondly, the first spacemen to die in their spacecraft were White, Grissom and Chaffee who died in their Apollo 1 capsule in a launch pad fire when rehearsing for their lift off which was scheduled for a few weeks later. It turned out that the Apollo spacecraft was also pretty flaky
Komarov was the first to die in the course of an actual spaceflight - only a few weeks after the Apollo 1 fire.
Three more Soviets died in 1971 when their Soyuz capsule depressurised by accident during descent.
In the 1960s the Americans lost a number of their astronauts in air crashes linked to their spaceflight activity. For example, Elliot See and Charles Bassett died when their T-38 crashed in to the assembly hanger where their Gemini spacecraft was being got ready.
Since 1971, the Soviets/Russians have not had any spaceflight fatalities. Of course, the Americans lost 14 crew in the Challenger accident (1986) and the Columbia accident (2003).
.
Yes, I can read Wiki too. Firstly, the R-7 rocket was pretty reliable and there were no cosmonauts lost because the rocket let them down.
Secondly, the first spacemen to die in their spacecraft were White, Grissom and Chaffee who died in their Apollo 1 capsule in a launch pad fire when rehearsing for their lift off which was scheduled for a few weeks later. It turned out that the Apollo spacecraft was also pretty flaky
Komarov was the first to die in the course of an actual spaceflight - only a few weeks after the Apollo 1 fire.
Three more Soviets died in 1971 when their Soyuz capsule depressurised by accident during descent.
In the 1960s the Americans lost a number of their astronauts in air crashes linked to their spaceflight activity. For example, Elliot See and Charles Bassett died when their T-38 crashed in to the assembly hanger where their Gemini spacecraft was being got ready.
Since 1971, the Soviets/Russians have not had any spaceflight fatalities. Of course, the Americans lost 14 crew in the Challenger accident (1986) and the Columbia accident (2003).
.
Like I said, all early flight deaths were in the Soviet programme.
Yes, lots of people have died, flying into space (and the testing thereof) is dangerous.
Not needed to look at Wiki at all.
The assertion that somehow Russian spaceflight was more dangerous than American in the early days is nonsense. They were equally dangerous. The fact that the Americans did not lose astronauts on some of its early space flights was down to luck as much as judgement.
I can list a load of early American missions where the astronaut(s) came close to being killed -
Mercury MR-4 Gus Grissom almost drowned when his capsule sank after splashdown
Mercury MA-7 Scott Carpenter almost ran out of manouevering fuel and splashed down hundreds of miles off target
Gemini 6 - The Titan rocket carrying the spacecraft rose a couple of inches off the pad and then fell back, luckily without toppling over
Gemini 8 - Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott made an emergency return when their capsule started spinning out of control
Gemini 9 - Gene Cernan almost died of heatstroke during his EVA
The Russian rockets and spacecraft were, in many ways, more robust than the more lightly built American spacecraft.
In total, the US manned programme has killed far more participants than the Soviet/Russian one has.
The assertion that somehow Russian spaceflight was more dangerous than American in the early days is nonsense. They were equally dangerous. The fact that the Americans did not lose astronauts on some of its early space flights was down to luck as much as judgement.
I can list a load of early American missions where the astronaut(s) came close to being killed -
Mercury MR-4 Gus Grissom almost drowned when his capsule sank after splashdown
Mercury MA-7 Scott Carpenter almost ran out of manouevering fuel and splashed down hundreds of miles off target
Gemini 6 - The Titan rocket carrying the spacecraft rose a couple of inches off the pad and then fell back, luckily without toppling over
Gemini 8 - Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott made an emergency return when their capsule started spinning out of control
Gemini 9 - Gene Cernan almost died of heatstroke during his EVA
The Russian rockets and spacecraft were, in many ways, more robust than the more lightly built American spacecraft.
In total, the US manned programme has killed far more participants than the Soviet/Russian one has.
If you have Amazon Prime, the movie "Spacewalker" is worth watching. It's in Russian with English subtitles and centres around Leonov and the race for the first spacewalk.
It's NOT a documentary so don't expect absolute historical accuracy but I thought it was very good.
In a similar vein, "Salyut 7" is also worth checking out.
RIP Alexei.
It's NOT a documentary so don't expect absolute historical accuracy but I thought it was very good.
In a similar vein, "Salyut 7" is also worth checking out.
RIP Alexei.
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