Introduction: A Historic Mission Turns Tragic The Soyuz 11 mission stands as one of the most sobering chapters in the history of human spaceflight. In June 1971, three Soviet cosmonauts—Georgi Dobrovolsky, Viktor Patsayev, and Vladislav Volkov—embarked on a pioneering 23-day mission to Salyut 1, the world’s first space station. Their journey symbolized the promise of…