This was the first in-flight fatality in the history of spaceflight.
Launched at 03:35 local time, this was also the first night launch of a human space vehicle. Salyut 1 (DOS-1) (Russian: Салют-1; English translation: Salute 1) was launched April 19, 1971. It was the first space station to ever orbit earth. Its first crew launched in Soyuz 10 but were unable to board it due to a failure in the docking mechanism; its second crew launched in Soyuz 11 and remained on board for 23 productive days. Unfortunately, a pressure-equalization valve in the Soyuz 11 reentry capsule opened prematurely when the crew returned to Earth, killing all three. Salyut 1 reentered Earth's atmosphere October 11, 1971.
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