IndexAbstractIntroductionObjectivesAnalysisDiscussionConclusionAbstractIn this essay, I will discuss how the Soyuz 11 mission went from a success to the most tragic of endings for the three brave astronauts Georgi Dobrovolski, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev on their fateful mission. In this essay I will cover some background on the development of the mission, focusing in particular on the safety measures implemented for the astronauts. I will also discuss why these measures were not enough and why they failed in this mission and not in previous ones, such as those before Soyuz 11. As well as showing how this affected future space missions not only for Soyuz missions but every other space program. Another aspect to consider is the materials and engineering processes used to make the rocket for Soyuz 11. This will indicate whether they were appropriate for a space mission subjected to extreme stress. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay IntroductionFor the essay, I will cover one of the most famous accidents in the history of space travel as this led to the first three men to die in space and explain how this tragic event happened. In 1971, the Soyuz 11 mission consisted of sending a crew of three astronauts into space to reach the Salyut 1 space station. Salyut 1 was built by the Soviet Union in and was the first space station ever. It was a response to the American success of the moon landing. Salyut 1 launched on April 19, 1971. Because it was uncrewed at liftoff, just two days later Soyuz 10 ascended with a crew of three with the intent of remaining on the space station for 30 days to conduct experiments. Although they managed to reach and dock with the station, a problem with the hatch prevented them from entering it. This led to them having to return home early and failing the mission. Interestingly, upon re-entry to earth the air supply of Soyuz 10 was contaminated and therefore toxic, but this had no lasting effect on the astronauts as they all returned safely. Due to the failure of Soyuz 10 and the Soviets' desperation to have the uncrewed Salyut 1, they launched Soyuz 11 on June 6, 1971. The mission got off to a good start when the Soyuz 11 crew successfully docked, entered the space station, and became the first humans in history to occupy a space station. The crew spent 23 days on the space station where they completed 383 orbits around the Earth. They were able to complete more than 140 different experiments including radiation exposure measurements, space, moon and earth observations, and many more. The mission was supposed to last a full 30 days, but due to some problems with the space station, including an electrical fire, the mission was shortened to 23 days with the crew departing on the 24th day. But in the early hours of June 30, 1971, the Soviet Union was ready to welcome its heroes, as they saw that the landing had been successful with parachutes deployed. The shuttle was in good condition with no external damage, so they were shocked to find the crew dead inside. Objectives The objective of the essay is to investigate what happened during the return flight of Soyuz 11 to see what went wrong that led to the entire crew dying. Another goal is to find out which components of the Space Shuttle failed causing the deaths, as well as to find out whether the materials and processes used in making the rocket were suitable for this type ofspace mission. They also needed adequate testing and analysis to determine whether the shuttle could withstand atmospheric reentry. Another aspect to consider is how this could have been avoided by using more advanced materials and processes to build the shuttle. As well as the effect their deaths had on the world and the space industry. AnalysisTo determine how the astronauts died we must consider every aspect. According to reports at the time, after trying to get a response from the crew, they opened the hatch and found all three men on their couches, motionless, with dark blue stains on their faces and traces of blood from their noses. and ears. They removed them from the descent module, which was a difficult task considering that the diameter of the match was 60 cm. Dobrovolski was the only one still warm. The doctors gave artificial respiration because they thought there might be some chance of resuscitating the body because it was still warm, but this had no effect on the outcome although they attempted to resuscitate all crew members for an hour despite there were no official reports of what the doctors did. The cause of death was reportedly suffocation. Since suffocation was one of the known causes of death, the Soviets decided to investigate what this meant for the crew and whether there were other causes of death besides suffocation. Upon further investigation, some thought it might have something to do with the air supply to the astronauts, as the air supply was a problem in Soyuz 10 with the contaminated air for Soyuz 10, so they thought it might be of the same problem. The Soviets wanted another mission to Salyut 1 as soon as possible, so the engineers and scientists did not have much time to completely solve the problem, but they did so to the best of their ability. When the investigation continued on the shuttle, a thorough analysis demonstrated that the air supply was not responsible for the astronaut's death. As the doctors and control center were dealing with this tragedy, they began to suspect that it was the decompression that caused this, which meant that the crew would be exposed to the vacuum of space. This was first thought of when the control center received radio silences during most of the descent, which was thought to be due to the failure of the radio system, but in reality it may have been the crew who were unresponsive. Once the bodies were brought back for further investigation, they discovered that the bodies had been dead for approximately 30 minutes but, more worryingly, they discovered that the crew had been exposed to the vacuum of space for 12 minutes, proving that they were the first people to die. in space. The final piece of evidence needed to confirm that decompression had caused the death was the fact that all of the crew's blood had been boiled, which only happens when a human body has been decompressed. The autopsy, performed by 17 doctors, showed that in total all three astronauts had suffered brain hemorrhages, subcutaneous bleeding, damaged eardrums and bleeding from the ears, as well as the absence of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide. their blood. For the comprehensive search, they assembled a team of 12 members who had all been tasked by the state to solve the Soyuz 11 tragedy. They already knew that Soyuz 11 had not suffered any damage. major problems during the entire mission as the crew managed to get up and then connect with the space station, so they knew that the descent module must have been where the problem occurred. When researchers recovered the black box from thedescent module saw that the mercury meter (the equipment used to measure pressure in the descent module) went from 915 mm to 50 mm in 115 seconds. This shows that the depressurization occurred at that time as there would have been no air in the descent module, which would explain how the entire crew suffocated due to the decompression of the descent module. Looking at the time of the pressure drop, it was when the module was at an altitude of 150 kilometers, which is the height at which the modules separate from each other. As they had understood when the decompression occurred, they now had to find out what had caused it, which left them with two options. The first was the premature opening of one of the two values ​​found at the top of the descent module and the second was a leak from the hatch which allowed air to escape. Now they had to determine what effect caused this, so they once again turned to the black box to find something that could help them. The method the team used was to calculate a pressure loss curve of one of the valve openings and then compare it to the black box data in the module of the actual pressure loss that occurred and find that the curves matched each other perfectly. Now they knew what caused the decompression, now they had to find out why only one of the valves opened. The idea of ​​an incorrect control or circuit malfunction was quickly discarded as both valves were connected to the same electrical circuit so they do everything at the same time as each other so it would have meant both valves were open and not just one. further calculations, taking into account the fact that the radius of the valve was 2 cm and the volume of air in the descent module, found that the air passing through the valve would pass at the speed of sound. At this rate of air leakage, this would cause the module pressure to be near zero after just sixty seconds of opening the valve. Once this was understood, there was a serious question to be asked as to why the crew were not wearing spacesuits when in the descent module. Spacesuits work by surrounding the astronaut in an air bubble so that he or she has a constant air supply and would not feel the effects of decompression if the descent module were compromised. Instead, the crew was told to enter the module in a "shirtsleeve environment" and not in spacesuits. This was the subject of serious investigation because if the crew had been wearing spacesuits they would have been alive when they landed. It turned out that the decision not to use spacesuits had been made years before Soyuz 11. In 1964 they ordered the space mission module designers to make it so it could accommodate three astronauts, but when they finished it they found they couldn't. it's possible to fit three people in spacesuits, so instead of designing and building a new one they simply decided to have the crew travel inside it in "a shirtsleeve environment." Another major mistake made later would be the decision not to put the installation tanks full of air for the entire crew so that if the module ever suffered a decompression, the crew could survive. This decision for the tanks was supported by over 1,000 tests and there were no problems with the decompression of the module, so no additional tanks were needed. To find out why the valve opened, the descent module was taken to Moscow for further investigation. They hypothesized that the valve had opened inadvertently when the module opened.