Lost in Space (What really happened to Russia's missing cosmonauts?)

Fortean Times ^ | 7/2008 | Kris Hollington

[sig226]

Thanks for the physics. I also liked the LED display on the map circa 1961. I think NASA was using incandescant lamps at the time. :)

Five weeks later, on 19 May 1961, the brothers picked up what is now their most infamous recording, which they claim is of a woman cosmonaut whose ship burned up on re-entry. Then, a few days after this, they picked up a tantalising few seconds of another trans­mission: “Conditions growing worse, why don’t you answer?” Both recordings are clear and accurately translated.

TORRE BERT

The brothers got permission to take over a disused German bunker on the outskirts of Turin at a place called Torre Bert. Reclaiming all the scrap metal and old pipes they could find, they enlisted the help of a dozen student volunteers and constructed a series of antennæ, eventually creating a super-dish with a diameter of 15m (50ft) and weighing one and a half tonnes.

The brothers stuck a sign on the bunker wall: Torre Bert Space Centre. Inside, using discarded WWII American army equipment, they created an exact replica of Cape Canaveral, including an enormous map of the world behind a Perspex sheet along with an LED display that marked satellites’ progress.

[Nailbiter]

ping

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks grey_whiskers for the ping and thanks Renfield for the topic.

There are those who believe that somewhere in the vast blackness of space, about nine billion miles from the Sun, the first human is about to cross the boundary of our Solar System into interstellar space. His body, perfectly preserved, is frozen at -270°C (-454°F); his tiny capsule has been silently sailing away from the Earth at 18,000 mph (29,000km/h) for the last 45 years. He is the original lost cosmonaut, whose rocket went up and, instead of coming back down, just kept on going.

Whoops. Seems like they'd now take credit for this "first", if it were true.

Here's an oldie, I didn't check to see if the link is live or not.

Explorer Hero: Sergei Vladimir Ilyushin, Jr.
by Paul Tsarinsky

On April 7th, 1961, five days before Gagarin's successful flight, Ilyushin was launched and entered orbit. There had been no publicity around the launch. After three orbits Ilyushin lost contact with the mission control engineers on the ground. During the reentry, when he was supposed to eject from the capsule and parachute to safety, Ilyushin was unable to eject (he had lost consciousness as some point during the flight) and made a "hard landing" in the capsule. Ilyushin survived, but was injured.

The USSR under Kruschev (sp?) also made a few attempts to orbit craft, send pictures, and "land" (crash) on Mars, but missed badly. I think there's a description of those on Oberg's website. FWIW, Oberg also dumps all over this Ilyushin story.

[Sax]

Leave-taking ceremony for Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, who died in the crash landing on April 26, 1967. The Crash of Soyuz 1

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Sax.

[Jim Oberg]

Where did you find that photograph !?!?!?!?!?!?!?

re the crazy Italian fratelli, I posted this last year:
http://www.jamesoberg.com/judica-cordiglia.pdf

and probably will have to post an update (sigh...).

jim O

BTW, thanks for the kind and respectful comments re my work, above. It’s such a relief from in the UFO forums...

[Sax]

Jim, It is a powerful photo. It's from RIA Novosti hosted on this site that seems to have rights to it. I took a look at your site, you've done some impressive work. My old job had me badged at KSC, where I had to drop by ocassionally - a lot of history out there - I always enjoyed just nosing around or taking the long way around to get to where I was going out there.

Cheers

Here's a link to the site

[Las Vegas Dave]

*OPI pings. (*=Of Possible Interest)

To be added to the 150 plus member unidentified aerial phenomenon , please freepmail both Quix and Las Vegas Dave

[Non-Sequitur]

Loved “Red Star In Orbit” and your spots on The History Channel programs.

[PLMerite]

“...LED display...”

Why should a Fortean Times writer be any more technically savvy than one at the Washington Post or New York Times?

I’ve subscribed to FT for many years and some of what they publish is good, some of it just really weird.

[Paradox]

Wow, its an honor to have you around these parts sir!

[kalee]

ping

[Semper911]

Wow.

Dave: Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I missed it the first time around.

Kevin: May be of interest to your Space Ping List.

[SlightOfTongue]

I say BS! During reentry, a capsule is surrounded by ultra-hot, ionized gasses that make radio transmissions impossible. There is no way they could have heard such a thing, and moreover, once in orbit (essentially falling around the earth due to gravity), without some means of additional propulsion, it is impossible for a spacecraft to simply veer off course and fly off into space.

And YOU know all this because....

...you're a certified astronaut, right?

I'd say..space cadet, but astronaut? NOT!

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Not much left of him was there.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

No, I'm not an astronaut, but I have an electrical engineering degree and ionization blackout during re-entry is a well-known phenomenon, going back to the Mercury program, when there were no satellites around in the 1960s that could provide TDRSS.

Didn't you watch Apollo 13?

Causes and Mitigation of Radio Frequency (RF) Blackout During Reentry of Reusable Launch Vehicles

[SlightOfTongue]

No, I'm not an astronaut, but I have an electrical engineering degree and ionization blackout during re-entry is a well-known phenomenon, going back to the Mercury program, when there were no satellites around in the 1960s that could provide TDRSS. Didn't you watch Apollo 13?

Yes. It's been too long, however. And I'll certainly check out your link, though. I'm always open to theories. I laud your credentials and knowledge. There are some new unconventional discoveries coming down the spacial highway, however, so buckle up.

BTW, sorry about the flame. I was in a rare mood that day, and I usually eat Kook Patrol members (not implying you're one of them) at FR for breakfast, being a three-time CE-I & and one-time CE-3 observer.

[Lancey Howard]

then it came through: the voice of the first American in space:

Uh, except John Glenn was NOT the first American in space. Alan Shepard was. (Although some claim Chuck Yeager went into space in the X-15 long before Shepard's flight.)

The author spins an interesting tale, but he needs to get the basics right.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

No problem. Everyone has their bad days in which they blow off steam on this forum. I certainly do, depending on what kind of day I’m having at work.

[alfa6]

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