Viktor Ivanovich Patsayev (russian: Ви́ктор Ива́нович Паца́ев; 19 June 193329 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 flew on 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 Dob ...
mission and was part of the third space crew to
die during a space flight. On board the space station
Salyut 1 he operated the Orion 1 Space Observatory (see
Orion 1 and Orion 2 Space Observatories); he became the first man to operate a telescope outside the Earth's atmosphere.
After a normal
re-entry, 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. One of Patsayev's hands was found to be bruised, and he may have been trying to shut the valve manually at the time he lost consciousness.
Patsayev's ashes were interned in the
Kremlin Wall on
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. He 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 ...
and the title of
Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR. The lunar crater ''
Patsaev'' and the minor planet
1791 Patsayev are named for him.
Further reading
An account of Patsayev's life and space career appears in the 2003 book ''Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon'' by
Colin Burgess.
References
1933 births
1971 deaths
People from Aktobe
1971 in spaceflight
Deaths in space
Heroes of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis
Soviet cosmonauts
Deaths from hypoxia
Employees of RSC Energia
Salyut program cosmonauts
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