As Sunita Williams awaits her return from the ISS, recounting the shocking story of a man, who literally 'fell' from space in 1967

A short trip to the International Space Station (ISS) turned out to be a 10-month-expedition for NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who started their journey on aboard the Boeing Starliner on June 5, 2024. Now, after a long wait, the senior astronauts are finally set to return to Earth.


However, while we wait for more news on that front, do you know the shocking story of Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, the “Man Who Fell From Space”?
Failed space mission
Back in 1967 Soviet Union, the original plan involved launching two spacecraft, Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 2, into orbit. Soyuz 1, carrying Vladimir Komarov, would launch first and wait for Soyuz 2 to arrive the following day. The two spacecrafts were intended to rendezvous, and then cosmonauts from Soyuz 2 would perform a spacewalk to transfer between the vehicles. However, the plan was for cosmonauts from Soyuz 2, specifically Yevgeny Khrunov and Alexei Yeliseyev, to spacewalk to Soyuz 1, not Komarov himself.

Ill fated flight
On the day of the launch, Yuri Gagarin, who was the backup pilot for Komarov, acted unusually by requesting a pressure suit before heading to the launchpad to speak with Komarov. This could have been an attempt to delay the launch, but it did not succeed. Komarov was launched successfully into space, but soon encountered significant technical issues. One of the solar panels on Soyuz 1 failed to deploy, resulting in a power shortage that complicated the operation of the spacecraft. Things went south quickly post that, and despite orders to descend, Komarov could not control the spaceship, nor could he get the landing rockets to cushion the landing. This meant that he literally slammed to the ground with the force of a 2.8-ton meteorite.


Suicide mission
Reports say that Komarov was well aware that it was a suicide mission in the first place, and hence as a sort of revenge, had requested for an open casket funeral for his body, if things went wrong. His severely deformed, shrunk and completely charred body, lay in display, shocking one and all.

More on Sunita and Wilmore's return
Coming back to NASA's misson, initially planned as a short expedition, NASA's spacecraft ran into technical malfunction, during its approach and docking maneuvers after reaching the ISS. This led to a thorough investigation by NASA, and it was decided that the spacecraft will return on its own without the astronauts, as it was too risky.

To facilitate their return, NASA collaborated with SpaceX, adding Williams and Wilmore to the downward leg of the Crew-9 mission. This mission was launched in September with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Initially scheduled to return in February, the Crew-9's departure was postponed due to logistical adjustments.

The new crew includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the crew will be using the Endurance capsule instead of a new Crew Dragon spacecraft.