The Soviet Union launched the first crewed Soyuz mission, Soyuz 1.
The mission was to rendezvous with the Soyuz 2 in orbit to exchange cosmonauts. Vladimir Komarov was the sole cosmonaut aboard Soyuz 1, with Yuri Gagarin as a backup. The Soyuz 1 couldn’t rendezvous with the Soyuz 2 as the latter couldn’t be launched due to thunderstorms. The Soyuz 1′s descent module failed to operate correctly upon its return to Earth, and the parachute didn’t open fully. Komarov perished, becoming the first in-flight fatality in spaceflight history.