Soyuz 23 (Russian: \u0421\u043e\u044e\u0437 23, Union 23) returned to Earth, but landed on partially frozen Lake Tengiz in Kazakhstan, the first manned splashdown in the Soviet space program. The capsule sank beneath the surface of the frozen lake, and recovery took nine hours due to fog and other adverse conditions. The parachute rapidly sank underwater, dragging the capsule and its crew (cosmonauts Vyacheslav Zudov and Valery Rozhdestvensky) beneath the surface. An electrical short circuit caused by the impact with the water caused the reserve parachute to deploy accidentally. The capsule cooled in the freezing water, and the cosmonauts removed their pressure suits and donned their regular flight suits, expecting a quick rescue. The parachutes became waterlogged and pulled the capsule onto its side, preventing the hatch from opening. The transmission antennas are also underwater, preventing the crew from communicating with rescue teams. The capsule’s headlights are obscured by the thick fog, and the rubber rafts used to reach them are slowed and then blocked by ice and mud. Amphibious vehicles were airlifted nearby, but were unable to reach the capsule due to the marshes surrounding the lake. Consequently, rescue efforts are suspended until dawn. The cosmonauts are safe, but running low on power, so they are forced to turn off everything except a small interior light. The next morning, frogmen are lowered by helicopters and attach flotation devices to the Soyuz spacecraft. The capsule is too heavy to be lifted by the helicopter, so it is dragged to shore. The recovery operation lasts a full nine hours. No attempt was made to open the hatch because the recovery teams presumed the cosmonauts dead, so they called in a special team to remove their bodies. Finally, eleven hours after splashdown, the cosmonauts opened the hatch and emerged alive and well, albeit severely chilled (the interior of the descent module was covered in frost). Press releases from the Soviet news agency TASS the next day announced that a water landing had taken place and that the cosmonauts had been safely recovered, but they did not mention the rescue operation involved, and the details were not revealed until the era of glasnost a decade later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Soyuz 23 (Russian: \u0421\u043e\u044e\u0437 23, Union 23) returned to Earth, but landed on partially frozen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-e-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n