Soyuz T-10-1 Launch Abort: Cosmonauts Escape Fire on the Pad in 1983
On September 26, 1983, a fire erupted on the launchpad at Baikonur Cosmodrome just 90 seconds before the scheduled launch of Soyuz T-10-1. The emergency abort system activated, ejecting the capsule with cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov two seconds before the rocket exploded. This incident marked the first time a crewed Soyuz launch was aborted on the pad, validating the launch escape tower system that had never been used in a real emergency before.