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| A Soyuz 11 launch cover from "Swanson", postmarked in Moscow with a hand cancel on June 6, 1971. |
Soyuz 11 was one of the most significant — and tragic — missions in early space-station history. Launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on June 6, 1971, it carried Georgi Dobrovolski, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev to Salyut 1, the world's first space station.
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| Photo: The Soyuz 11 crew, featuring Georgi Dobrovolski (left), Vladislav Volkov (right), and Viktor Patsayev (in the background). |
Soyuz 11 was the Soviet Union's second attempt to send a crew to Salyut 1. The first, Soyuz 10, had docked unsuccessfully in April and its crew could not enter the station. Soyuz 11 successfully docked with Salyut 1 on June 7, 1971. The three cosmonauts then became the first humans to occupy a space station. They spent approximately 23 days aboard Salyut, conducting scientific, medical, astronomical, Earth-observation, and engineering experiments.
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| A cover from "Swanson" featuring Soyuz 11 docking with the space station Salyut 1, postmarked in Moscow with a hand cancel on June 7, 1971, signed by Carl A. Swanson, the cover’s producer. |
Among the work performed was operation of the Orion-1 ultraviolet telescope, biological experiments, studies of the human body's response to prolonged weightlessness, and experiments involving plant growth. The crew also exercised regularly to counter the effects of extended weightlessness. The mission was also a remarkable endurance achievement at that time: Soyuz 11 established a new human spaceflight duration record of nearly 24 days.
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| A Soyuz 11 recovery cover from "Swanson", postmarked in Moscow with a hand cancel on June 30, 1971, signed by Carl A. Swanson, the cover’s producer. |
During the preparation for atmospheric reentry, the Soyuz descent module unexpectedly lost cabin pressure. A pressure-equalization valve, which was supposed to open only later during descent, was accidentally opened when the spacecraft's modules separated. The cabin atmosphere escaped into space in roughly 30 seconds. The cosmonauts were not wearing pressure suits. They lost consciousness rapidly and died before the spacecraft completed its automatic reentry. The capsule landed normally in Kazakhstan on June 30, 1971, and recovery personnel discovered all three men dead inside.
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| A Soyuz 11 First Day Cover from "KNIGA", postmarked in Moscow with a hand cancel on October 20, 1971. |
(Reference from
Soyuz 11)
