On Sept. 26, 1983, a Russian Soyuz rocket exploded on the launchpad. 2 cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov were inside their Soyuz T-10-1 spacecraft atop the rocket, and they hardly made it out alive.Titov and Strekalovs mission was intended to introduce the cosmonauts from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the Salyut 7 area station. About 90 seconds before their rocket was expected to introduce, a fire appeared on the launchpad. Russian officials see the harrowing Soyuz T-10-1 launch abort of cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov on Sept. 26, 1983. (Image credit: NASA through YouTube) Thankfully, the emergency escape system ejected their space pill from the top of the rocket just two seconds prior to the fire caused the explosion. Up until now this has actually been the only time that a launch escape system needed to be used.Catch up on our entire “On This Day In Space” series on YouTube with this playlist. On This Day in Space Archive! Still not enough space? Do not forget to examine out our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week. Email Hanneke Weitering at [email protected] or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook..
