On Sept. 26, 1983, a Russian Soyuz rocket exploded on the launchpad. Two cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov were inside their Soyuz T-10-1 spacecraft atop the rocket, and they barely made it out alive. Titov and Strekalov's mission was intended to launch the cosmonauts from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the Salyut 7 space station. But about 90 seconds before their rocket was supposed to launch, a fire erupted on the launchpad. Thankfully, the emergency abort escape system ejected their Soyuz space capsule from the top of the rocket just two seconds before the fire caused the explosion. it was the first time the launch escape system was used, but unfortunately it wouldn't be the last. Why it mattered The harrowing launch abort of the Soyuz T-10-1 spacecraft (also known as Soyuz T-10A) proved the effectiveness of a launch escape system that no one ever wanted to see actually used. It was the first crewed launch pad abort. Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, when stacked atop their Soyuz rockets, have a launch escape tower equipped with its own rocket motors that is designed to rip a Soyuz capsule free of its rocket so the spacecraft can parachute to safety in...