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The Rhodesia Herald, 

July 1, 2022

MOSCOW. – Three Soviet cosmonauts died silently and tragically today as the Soyuz 11 craft returned to earth after one of Russia’s most successful missions. 

More than 12 hours after a recovery team found them dead, despite an apparently flawless soft landing, mystery surrounded how they died. 

The three – ship commander Gergi Dorbrovolsky (43), flight engineer Vladislav Volkov (37) and test engineer Viktor Patsayev (38), were returning home after 24 days in space.

They spent all, but one day of the period aboard the world’s first orbital laboratory, the 25-tonne Salyut, to which their spacecraft was linked.

It was a tragic end to what had all the appearances of being one of the most successful and scientifically rewarding space experiments. 

Among possible explanations for the disaster were that the cosmonauts’ hearts collapsed under the brutal shock of a return to gravity after 24 days of weightlessness, or that some purely mechanical failure cut off their oxygen supply. 

Another was that the cosmonauts died as a result of a yet unknown effect of returning to earth after a prolonged space flight. 

For Russians, the cosmonauts’ deaths came as a deep shock. Women wept openly and the television showed black-bordered photographs of the three spacemen. 

This is the second time that experimenting with a new type of spacecraft has ended in tragedy for the Soviet Union – the first time was in 1967. 

Whatever the cause, the disaster is a setback for the Soviet space programme. How serious this is depending on why the cosmonauts died. 

As Moscow mourned the death of the three, each survived by a wife and children, messages of sympathy arrived from all over the world. 

Tonight, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet honoured the three men for their “heroism and courage”. 

Dobrovolsky and Patsayev were given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the country’s highest award. 

Volkov, already a hero, was given a second gold star. It was announced that the cosmonauts will be buried in the Kremlin wall, the traditional resting place for Soviet heroes. -Iana-Reuters. 

LESSONS FOR TODAY 

 The exploration of space has evolved a great deal since the start of the space age on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, into orbit around the earth. 

 With the rapid changes in technology, some countries have evolved and are now past exploration. They are introducing packages such as space tourism, especially for the rich. 

 The race for a presence in space is no longer a preserve for the most developed countries only, but developing countries are also joining the race through launching their own satellites into space. President Mnangagwa recently indicated that the country is ready to launch its first satellite, ZimSat-1 into orbit next month after developing it through the BIRDS project. 

The launch is a milestone that will enhance mineral exploration and monitoring of environmental hazards and droughts.