Crew

• Vladimir Titov (1)
• Gennady Strekalov (3)

Mission Parameters

• Mass: 6850 kg
• Perigee: N/A km
• Apogee: N/A km
• Inclination: N/A°
• Period: N/A minutes

Mission Highlights

The Soyuz T-10-1 mission (often called Soyuz-T 10a in the West) never lifted off, the launch vehicle being destroyed on the launch pad by fire. Fortunately the Soyuz spacecraft's escape rocket fired two seconds before the launch vehicle exploded, saving the crew.

Shortly before the planned liftoff fuel spilled around the base of the Soyuz launch vehicle and caught fire. Launch control activated the escape system but the control cables had already burned, and the crew could not activate or control the escape system themselves. Twenty seconds later ground control was finally able to activate the escape system by radio command, by which time the booster was engulfed in flames. Explosive bolts fired to separate the descent module from the service module and the upper launch shroud from the lower. Then the escape system motor fired, dragging the orbital module and descent module, encased within the upper shroud, free of the booster with an acceleration of 14 to 17 G (137 to 167 m/s²) for five seconds. Two seconds after the escape system activated the booster exploded, destroying the launch complex (which was, incidentally, the one used to launch Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1). Four paddle-shaped stabilizers on the outside of the shroud opened and the descent module separated from the orbital module at an altitude of 650 m, dropping free of the shroud. The descent module discarded its heat shield, exposing the solid-fuel landing rockets, and deployed a fast-opening emergency parachute. Landing occurred about 4 kilometers from the launch pad.

See also

• List of space disasters