To the editors:
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“At 1:35 A.M., June 30, the crew fired the Soyuz retro rockets to deorbit and twelve minutes later separated from the orbital and service modules. At this time, the orbital module was normally separated by 12 pyrotechnic devices which were supposed to fire sequentially, but they incorrectly fired simultaneously, and this caused a ball joint in the capsule’s pressure equalization valve to unseat allowing air to escape. The valve normally opens at low altitude to equalize cabin air pressure to the outside air pressure. This caused the cabin to lose all its atmosphere in about 30 seconds while still at a height of 168 km. In seconds, Patsayev realized the problem and unstrapped from his seat to try and cover the valve inlet and shut off the valve, but there was little time left. It would take 60 seconds to shut off the valve manually and Patsayev managed to half close it before passing out. Dobrovolsky and Volkov were virtually powerless to help since they were strapped in their seats, with little room to move in the small capsule and no real way to assist Patsayev. The men died shortly after passing out. Fifteen and a half minutes after retrofire, the pressure reached zero in the capsule and remained that for eleven and a half minutes, at which point the cabin started to fill with air from the upper atmosphere. The rest of the descent was normal and the capsule landed at 2:17 A.M. The recovery forces located the capsule and opened the hatch only to find the cosmonauts motionless in their seats. On first glance they appeared to be asleep, but closer examination showed why there was no normal communication from the capsule during the descent.
Dennis Newkirk
