40K views · 428 reactions | The death of three astronauts aboard the Soyuz 11 capsule was the second Soviet space program tragedy in 4 years. To this day, it remains the only time in history that people have died in outer space. Space Disasters | Smithsonian Channel Aviation Nation | Facebook

On June 30, 1971, the Soviet Soyuz 11 mission ended in one of the most haunting tragedies in the history of space exploration. The crew, consisting of Georgi Dobrovolski, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev, had just completed a record breaking 22 day stay aboard the Salyut 1 space station. During the descent to Earth, a pressure equalization valve was accidentally jarred open by the firing of explosive bolts used to separate the modules. The horror of the event was the invisible speed of the