Astronaut uttered final two word wish before terrifying death in space

An astronaut making his return to earth after completing an historic mission in space is said to have made a simple two word request before losing his life when his spacecraft suddenly depressurised

An astronaut made a chilling two word request before he was killed in a terrifying ordeal in space, cut off from earth.

As humanity seeks to further understand its place in the universe, space programs around the world embark on numerous missions and projects in the ongoing quest for answers and insight – and the hope of securing humanity’s long-term survival.

Nations are united in their passion and desire to secure technological advances, gather medical and environmental data, and much more.

Space programs far and wide come together in a bid to find answers to fundamental scientific questions, alongside the quest for groundbreaking discoveries. Throughout this process, animals have been sent to their deaths in space as part of research to make way for human space travel.

Sadly, some astronauts have also lost their lives in space, going down in the history books for their sacrifice.

On June 30 1971, this would be the case for commander Georgi Dobrovolsky, flight engineer Vladislav Volkov and research engineer Viktor Patsayev.

The astronauts were found dead in their seats on the Soyuz 11 craft after an apparently successful re-entry and landing back on earth.

Soyuz 11 was the only crewed mission to board the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, and it launched on June 6, 1971.

In a tragic twist, the crew aboard were the back-up astronauts for this mission – stepping in for the prime crew after a medical X-ray exam four days before launch suggested original flight engineer Valery Kubasov could have tuberculosis.

As per the mission rules, the prime crew was replaced with the back-up crew – but it later transpired Kubasov didn’t have TB.

The back-up crew had spent 24 days in space which, at the time, had been the longest period anyone had spent in space – but it ended in horror.

NASA confirmed shortly before their re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere, “tragedy struck” and “the cosmonauts died as a result of the sudden depressurisation of their spacecraft”.

Explosive bolts “separated the Soyuz into its three components, with the crew inside the middle bell-shaped descent module”.

Over the years, the final words heard from inside their spacecraft have been debated.

Soviet Air Force representative to the space program Nikolai Kamanin officially spoke to the crew at 12.16am, with the controller signing off by sending his wishes of good luck for a soft landing.

But space historian Peter Smolders claimed later in 1971 that Dobrovolsky made one final call to confirm he was “beginning the descent procedure.”

Exacerbating the confusion was Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Yeliseyev, who communicated with the crew from the Yevpatoria control centre in Crimea and had helped them rectify an earlier issue with the hatch door of the Soyuz 11 descent module.

Yeliseyev recorded Volkov had made a two word request, jokingly asking flight controllers to “prepare cognac”, which was seen as a traditional welcome-home gift, before signing off with “see you tomorrow!”

Tragically, the crew all died in the spacecraft.

Of the crew’s deaths, NASA explained: “The shock from the explosive bolts jarred open a pressure equalisation valve that normally opened only once the spacecraft was descending on its parachute, well inside the atmosphere.

“But in this case, the valve opened to the vacuum of space and the capsule’s air escaped in less than one minute. There’s evidence the cosmonauts tried to respond to the emergency by manually closing the valve, a process that took several minutes.

“They rapidly lost consciousness as the pressure continued to drop and died [within] two minutes. Not wearing pressure suits, they had no hope of surviving.”