caption death_date death_place status birth_place mission nationality article_title birth_date selection image time name type occupation
patsayev on a 1971 soviet stamp 30 june 1971 outer space died during mission aktyubinsk , kazakh ssr , soviet union soyuz 11 soviet viktor patsayev
 19 june 1933 1968 ussr civilian specialist group 3 ussr stamp viktor patsayev cropped.jpg 23d 18h 21m viktor ivanovich patsayev cosmonaut engineer
viktor patsayev

viktor ivanovich patsayev -lrb- ; 19 june 193330 june 1971 -rrb- was a soviet cosmonaut who flew on the soyuz 11 mission and had the unfortunate distinction of being part of the second crew to die during a space flight .
on board the space station salyut 1 he operated the orion 1 space observatory -lrb- see orion 1 and orion 2 space observatories -rrb- , he became the first man to operate a telescope outside the earth 's atmosphere .
after a normal re-entry , the capsule was opened and the crew was found dead .
it was discovered that a valve had opened just prior to leaving orbit that had allowed the capsule 's atmosphere to vent away into space , suffocating the crew .
one of patsayev 's hands was found to be bruised , and he may have been trying to shut the valve manually at the time he lost consciousness .
patsayev 's ashes were inurned in the kremlin wall on the red square in moscow .
he was posthumously awarded the title of hero of the soviet union , the order of lenin and the title of pilot-cosmonaut of the ussr .
patsaev crater and 1791 patsayev are named for him .
