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Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov (Russian:
Владимир Михайлович
Комаров; March 16, 1927 – April 24, 1967)
was a Soviet cosmonaut. He was the
first human who died during a space mission, on Soyuz 1.
He was born in Moscow, USSR (now Russia).
He was selected to become a cosmonaut in 1960 with the first cosmonaut group. After
being the backup for Pavel Popovich on Vostok 4, his first spaceflight was with the Voskhod 1 mission. On
his second flight, Soyuz 1, he was killed when the spacecraft crashed due to failure
of the parachute.
Just before impact, the then premier Kosygin told Komarov his country was proud of him — an American NSA listening post in Istanbul noted Komarov's reply was
inaudible.
Vladimir Komarov went on to be awarded the Hero of
the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin, each twice.
Komarov was married to Valentina Yakovlevna Kiselyova and had two children, Yevgeni and Irina.
An asteroid 1836 Komarov, which was found in 1971 is named in his
honour.
Among others the Vladimir M. Komarov Astronautical Rocketry Club (ARK) in Ljubljana also bears his name from 1969.
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