Georgy Timofeyevich Dobrovolsky (russian: Гео́ргий Тимофе́евич Доброво́льский; 1 June 192829 June 1971) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

who commanded the three-man crew of the

Soyuz 11 Soyuz 11 (russian: link=no, Союз 11, lit=Union 11) was the only crewed mission to board the world's first space station, Salyut 1 (Soyuz 10 had soft-docked, but had not been able to enter due to latching problems). The crew, Georgy Dobrov ...

spacecraft. They became the world's first space station crew aboard

Salyut 1 Salyut 1 (DOS-1) (russian: Салют-1) was the world's first space station launched into low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971. The Salyut program followed this with five more successful launches of seven more stations. The fi ...

, but died of

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

tion because of an accidentally opened valve. They were the first and only humans to have died in space.

Biography

Dobrovolsky,

Viktor Patsayev Viktor Ivanovich Patsayev (russian: Ви́ктор Ива́нович Паца́ев; 19 June 193329 June 1971) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the Soyuz 11 mission and was part of the third space crew to die during a space flight. On boar ...

and

Vladislav Volkov Vladislav Nikolayevich Volkov (russian: Владисла́в Никола́евич Во́лков; 23 November 193529 June 1971) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 11 missions. The second mission terminated fatally.

flew on the

mission and were the world's third crew to die during a space flight. After a normal

re-entry Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the entr ...

, the capsule was opened and the crew was found dead. It was discovered that a valve had opened just prior to leaving orbit that had allowed the capsule's atmosphere to vent away into space, suffocating the crew. Dobrovolsky's ashes were placed in an urn in the

Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis was the national cemetery for the Soviet Union. Burials in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolshevik individuals who died during the Moscow Bolshevik Uprising were buried in m ...

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...

in Moscow. Among the pallbearers were

Alexei Leonov Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov. (30 May 1934 – 11 October 2019) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut, Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first person to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during th ...

(who had been the prime-crew commander scheduled to launch on Soyuz 11),

Vladimir Shatalov Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov (russian: Владимир Александрович Шаталов; December 8, 1927 – June 15, 2021) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut who flew three space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 4, Soyuz 8, a ...

Andriyan Nikolayev Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev ( Chuvash and russian: Андриян Григорьевич Николаев; 5 September 1929 – 3 July 2004) was a Soviet cosmonaut. In 1962, aboard Vostok 3, he became the third Soviet cosmonaut to fly into s ...

, and American astronaut

Thomas P. Stafford Thomas Patten Stafford (born September 17, 1930) is an American former Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, and one of 24 people who flew to the Moon. He also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1969 to 1971. After grad ...

. Dobrovolsky was posthumously awarded the title of

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

, the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

, and the title of

Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR The honorary title Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR (russian: Летчик-космонавт СССР) was a state award of the Soviet Union presented to all cosmonauts who flew for the Soviet Space Agency. Usually accompanying the distinction w ...

References

Ukrainian Hero, School No. 10 entitled Dobrovol'skij, at the school a museum entitled

External links

* 1928 births 1971 deaths Military personnel from Odesa 1971 in spaceflight Deaths in space Heroes of the Soviet Union Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis Soviet cosmonauts Soviet Air Force officers Deaths from hypoxia Salyut program cosmonauts {{hero-USSR-stub