THE SOJUZ 11 MISSION: RECONSTRUCTION OF A UNIQUE CASE OF ASTRONAUTS WHO DIED IN THE COSMIC SPACE DUE TO DECOMPRESSION ILLNESS

Space represents the vacuum existing between celestial bodies. By convention, it is located at an altitude of 100 km above sea level. Space exploration is one of the greatest human challenges today. The first space missions were carried out starting from the 1960s. Since then, dozens ofother missions havefollowed, with increasingly complex objectives. Incidents occurred during various launch and landing procedures. However, only one case ofdeath has occurred in space and not in the Earth's atmosphere. This is the case of the Soyuz 11 mission, which took place in 1971. The case is unique since the three cosmonauts, present in the mission were, due to a technicalfailure, exposed to the cosmic vacuum for an interval of 700 seconds. The purpose of the work is to reconstruct from a forensic point of view what were the factors that caused the death of the three astronauts. The case emphasizes the role of pressurization safety measures in view of the next missions in space.