Vladimir Komarov, a Russian test pilot, engineer, and astronaut, passed away on April 24, 1967 at the age of 40. Komarov was born on March 16, 1927 in Moscow and graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1951 as an engineer and test pilot. Komarov became famous in the Soviet Union for his feats as a test pilot of military aircraft and for his extra-long duration flight of nearly 35 hours in a single-seat fighter plane, which set a new world record in isolation. He was selected as the leader of the first Soviet cosmonaut group and was the first cosmonaut to make two spaceflights. On April 23, 1967, Komarov was launched into outer space aboard the Soyuz 1 spacecraft, which was intended to be the first Soviet mission to dock with a second Soyuz spacecraft. Unfortunately, the mission was aborted due to a multitude of technical issues, and Komarov passed away when the spacecraft crashed to the ground on its return. Komarov left his wife, Valentina, and son, Valery. He is remembered as a hero and a pioneer of space exploration. He will be dearly missed.