The Flaming Re-entry of Boris Volynov

Forty years ago this month, a Soviet Cosmonaut had the most harrowing return to Earth that any space traveller ever survived.

Boris Volynov commanded Soyuz 5. He was returning alone, having docked with Soyuz 4, and delivering two crewmates to that spacecraft. But there were troubles ahead. Big troubles.

Uh, Oh. Heat Shield Problems

Only the crew quarters—the descent module—of a Soyuz spacecraft is designed to returned to Earth. But when Volynov tried the eject the no-longer-needed “equipment module”…it failed. The equipment module remained attached. This was bad. But Volynov whispered “no panic” to himself, and attempted to pilot a manual re-entry.

But, with the “equipment module” still in place, the spacecraft could not be maneuvered to keep the heat shield in position to protect the Soyuz—and its occupant—from burning up.

Despair at Soviet Mission Control

Ground controllers were helpless. And very unhappy.

One officer took off his hat, put a few rubles in it, and passed it around. The hat filled quickly. This activity had been played out once before—in April 1967 when Cosmonaut Komarov died in a failed re-entry aboard Soyuz 1. Other controllers kept their heads down, their faces buried in their hands.

Death seemed certain.

Last Words?

Cosmonaut Volynov, himself expecting the worst, continued to record audio reports and write notes into his flight log. He remembered his recent birthday, and thought about family and friends.

The spacecraft began to tumble, slowly. Then, it oriented itself with the unprotected nose facing forward—with only about an inch of heat resistant insulation. Then, Volynov watched as what surely would be the disintegration of his spacecraft began.

Pressure, Smoke, Explosions

Explosions rocked the equipment modules fuel tanks. The hatch bulged and appeared ready to burst open. Smoke and fire were all around, and—not wearing a spacesuit—Volynov could feel the heat.

One more crash, and the spacecraft tumbled into the proper position for re-entry. But it wasn’t over yet.

What Broke?

The big question: what was damaged during the minutes of explosions and fire? Thrusters designed to stabilize a re-entering spacecraft failed to work—the fuel was gone. But, the parachutes DID slow descent. The spacecraft landed—hard.

Volynov lost several teeth upon impact. It took hours for recovery teams to find him. But he survived. And lived to fly again.

Aftermath

In 1976, Boris Volynov commanded Soyuz 21 and docked it to the Salyut 5 space station. His crewmate, however, suffered health problems during the flight, and it was decided that they would return to Earth early.

When Volynov tried to undock, something went wrong. The latches failed to fully release. Fortunately, a set of emergency procedures worked and the Soyuz got free from the space station. But Volynov had another hard, albeit less hazardous, landing. Recovery teams took hours to locate them, but it was happy landing. The crew survived and Volynov’s crewmate recovered from his illness.

Volynov continued to work with the Soviet space program, retiring in 1990. His mother was Jewish, making him the first Jewish astronaut. He is still living.