
Human Exploration
Approximately 90 seconds before the intended launch, a bad valve caused nitrogen pressurization gas to enter the RP-1 turbopump of the Blok B strap-on. The pump began spinning up, but with no propellant in it, RPM speeds quickly exceeded its design limits which caused it to rupture and allow RP-1 to leak out and start a fire which quickly engulfed the base of the launch vehicle.
Soyuz T-10a, also known as T-10-1, was supposed to be the third long-duration expedition to the Salyut 7 space station. The mission would have launched Commander Vladimir Titov and Flight Engineer Gennady Strekalov on September 26, 1983, 19:37:49 UTC, however the launch vehicle was destroyed on the launch pad by fire. The launch escape system in the Soyuz spacecraft fired two seconds before the launch vehicle exploded, saving the crew. It is so far the only case in which a launch escape system has been fired with a crew aboard.
The Soyuz programme is a human spaceflight programme initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. The Soyuz spacecraft was originally part of a Moon landing project intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. It was the third Soviet human spaceflight programme after the Vostok and Voskhod programmes.
Nov 28, 1966 — ongoing
The Salyut programme was the first space station programme, undertaken by the Soviet Union. It involved a series of four crewed scientific research space stations and two crewed military reconnaissance space stations over a period of 15 years, from 1971 to 1986.
Apr 19, 1971 — Jul 16, 1986
Orbital Attempt
#2,746
CCCP Mission
#1,733
Pad Launch
#206
Location Launch
#687
Sep 26, 1983, 7:37 PM
Second
1 update
The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian crewed spaceflights are launched from Baikonur.
Timezone
Asia/Qyzylorda
Local Launch Time
Sep 27, 1983, 1:37 AM
Total Launches
1,564
Total Landings
0
Coordinates
45.9650, 63.3050