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First fatalities in space

First fatalities in space
Who
Georgy Timofeyevich Dobrovolsky , Vladislav Nikolayevich Volkov , Viktor Ivanovich Patsayev
What
First
Where
Not Applicable
When
30 June 1971
The first deaths in space ‘proper’ – that is, at an altitude above 100 km – occurred at the end of the Soyuz 11 mission on 30 June 1971. Georgy Timofeyevich Dobrovolsky (Ukraine), Viktor Ivanovich Patsayev (Russia) and Vladislav Nikolayevich Volkov (Russia) had spent three weeks on the Soviet Salyut 1 space station and, after undocking, a valve malfunctioned and exposed the crew, who were not wearing spacesuits, to the vacuum of space at an altitude of 168 km. The three men were asphyxiated within seconds.