The space vehicle is shoddily constructed, running dangerously low on fuel; its parachutes — though no one knows this — won’t work and the cosmonaut, Vladimir Komarov, is about to, literally, crash full speed into Earth, his body turning molten on impact. As he heads to his doom, U.S. listening posts in Turkey hear him crying in rage, cursing the people who had put him inside a botched spaceship. . . .
In 1967, both men [Komarov and Gagarin] were assigned to the same Earth-orbiting mission, and both knew the space capsule was not safe to fly. Komarov told friends he knew he would probably die. But he wouldn’t back out because he didn’t want Gagarin to die. Gagarin would have been his replacement.
sglover says
Those Soviet posters are terrific. And if you like that kind of thing, you’ll **love** Kosmograd.
DrLeoStrauss says
@Sam Lowry
благодарю вас! (thanks) Sam, great stuff. Good AgitProp speaks for itself. In our current irony drenched times, the poster “Soviet- Means Excellence” would appeal to some Russian hipsters we know. Thanks for passing along.
Recommend folks check it out.
Sam Lowry says
Came across this link on another blog, thought it might be of interest. Apparently these are posters from the 50s and 60s hyping the Soviet space program. They certainly portray a different view of the Soviet space program. But that is what propaganda posters are for, I suppose. The 2 posters on the second page with some variation of “mission accomplished” are my faves. Seems like anytime that phrase pop up, disaster ensues.
Russia Trek: Propaganda Posters of Soviet Space Program 1958-63
Anon says
Years later Reagan acted the part of Brezhnev on the Challenger’s accident. The 7 died screaming too 🙁
Dr Leo Strauss says
Anon, that is haunting, knowing they were alive in the over 2 minutes they fell into the ocean at 200 Gs. Join you with the 🙁
anxiousmodernman says
Absolutely tragic. We’d do well to note the awful consequences of political pressure to fudge the numbers and punish honesty.