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Vostok

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Vostok spacecraft Vostok spacecraft view 1 Credit: © Mark Wade

AKA: 1K;1K, 1KP;1KP;3KA;Korabl-Sputnik. Status: Operational 1960. First Launch: 1960-05-15. Last Launch: 2014-07-18. Number: 14 . Thrust: 15.83 kN (3,558 lbf). Gross mass: 4,730 kg (10,420 lb). Unfuelled mass: 4,455 kg (9,821 lb). Specific impulse: 266 s. Height: 4.40 m (14.40 ft).

Overview

The Vostok crew accommodation was for one cosmonaut, in a spacesuit, equipped with an ejection seat for launch aborts and for landing on the earth. The spacecraft had two windows: one above the cosmonaut's head in the entry hatch, one at his feet, equipped with the Vzor optical device for orientation of the spacecraft. Attitude control was by cold gas thrusters for on-orbit orientation; passive control for the capsule during re-entry. A single parachute allowed recovery of the capsule. There was no soft-landing system; the pilot ejected for a separate landing under his own parachute.

The Vostok and Voskhod spacecraft, like the U.S. Mercury, could not perform orbital maneuvers - they could only be translated around their axes. The main engine was used only at the end of the mission for the re-entry braking maneuver. However Korolev, before being authorized to proceed with development of the Soyuz, did study the Vostok Zh. This would have been a maneuverable Vostok that would have made repetitive dockings with propulsion modules - a method of achieving a circumlunar mission using only the Soyuz booster. Later on maneuverable versions of the Vostok were developed as Zenit reconnaissance satellites.

The Vostok could not be used for circumlunar missions or earth missions with non-astronaut qualified crew due to the 'Sharik' reentry vehicle design. The spherical design itself was ingenious - it had no maneuvering engines to orient it, since it was like a ball with the heavy weight concentrated at one end. If you throw such a weighted ball in the air (or re-enter the atmosphere with it) it will automatically swing around with the heavy end downward. The only problem was that it was only capable of a purely ballistic re-entry, which means 8 G's for the occupant from earth orbit and 20 G's from the moon. Mercury was ballistic, but Gemini, Apollo, and Soyuz all had the center of gravity offset, so they could produce lift, lower the G forces, and maneuver somewhat to vary the landing point. This reduced G's to 3 G for earth orbit returns and 8 G's for lunar returns.

Instrumentation on the Vostoks was rudimentary in the extreme. There were no gyros and no eight-ball for maneuvering as on Mercury or Gemini. The automatic system could only align the spacecraft's axis with the sun. This meant it could only be used for reentry twice a day, when the solar orientation matched the point on the orbit in space and time that would allow a landing in the recovery zone on Soviet territory. Emergency reentry at any other time would depend on the cosmonaut first using the Vzor device for orientation. To decide when to re-enter, the cosmonaut had a little clockwork globe that showed current position over the earth. By pushing a button to the right of the globe, it would be advanced to the landing position assuming a standard re-entry at that moment. This was sufficient for an emergency landing somewhere on a continental land mass.

Development

In the spring of 1957 Tikhonravov began study of a manned orbital spacecraft. The April 1958 preliminary design indicated a mass of 5.0 to 5.5 metric tons, 8 to 9 G re-entry, spherical capsule, 2500 to 3500 deg C re-entry temperatures. The heat shield would weigh 1300 to 1500 kg, and the landing accuracy would be 100 to 170 km. Operating altitude was 250 km. The astronaut would eject from the spacecraft at an altitude of 8 to 10 km.

In the spring of 1957 Korolev organized project section 9, with Tikhonravov at its chief, to design new spacecraft. Simultaneous with this they were building the first earth satellites - the PS-1, PS-2 and Object D (which would be Sputniks 1, 2, and 3). By April they had completed a research plan to build a piloted spacecraft and an unmanned lunar probe, using the R-7 as the basis for the launch vehicle. Studies indicated that the R-7 with a third stage could lift 5 metric tons into low earth orbit.

The manned spacecraft work led them into new fields of research in re-entry, thermal protection, and hypersonic aerodynamics. The initial study material was reviewed by mathematicians at the Academy of Science. It was found that a maximum of 10 G's would result in a ballistic re-entry from earth obit. From September 1957 to January 1958 Tikhonravov's section examined heating conditions, surface temperatures, heat shield materials, and obtainable maximum payloads for a wide range of aerodynamic forms with hypersonic lift to drag ratios ranging from zero to a few points. Parametric trajectory calculations were made using successive approximations on the BESM-1 electromechanical computer.

It was found that the equilibrium temperatures for winged spacecraft with the highest L/D ratios exceeded the capability of available heat resistant alloy construction methods. These designs also had the lowest net payloads. The final conclusion was:

• L/D ratio should be greater than zero, between 0.0 to 0.5 G's, in order to provide body lift and reduce the G forces a pure ballistic re-entry would inflict on the human passenger
• The spacecraft form should be a cone with a rounded nose and spherical base, with a maximum diameter of 2.0 m - the 'headlight' shape later used for the Soyuz capsule.
• The pilot would eject at a few kilometers altitude after re-entry and land by parachute. The capsule would not be recovered.

The necessity to refine and qualify the lifting design seemed a major impediment to meeting a quick program schedule. Then in April 1958 aviation medicine research using human subjects in a centrifuge showed that pilots could endure up to 10 G's without ill effects. This allowed a pure ballistic design, removing a major stumbling block, and allowing the study to move quickly to the advanced project stage. Detailed design of the spacecraft layout, structures, equipment, and materials were all done in parallel. This required everything to be redesigned 2 to 3 times, but resulted in a quick final design. The advance project was completed by the middle of August 1958. Konstantin Feoktistov was one of the leading enthusiasts in this effort.

After selection of the ballistic concept, the shape of the re-entry vehicle had to be symmetrical. A sphere was the simplest such form, having the same aerodynamic characteristics at all angles of attack and all velocities. By putting the center of mass aft of the center of the sphere, the re-entry vehicle would naturally assume the correct orientation for re-entry.

Redundancy of all systems became a new strategic design principle for this first manned spacecraft. The final report 'Material on the research question of a manned Sputnik' (OD-2) gave the following flight characteristics:

• Mass 4,500 - 5,500 kg, launched by a three stage version of the R-7 into a circular orbit with a minimum altitude of 250 km
• Payload of a single human, life support supplies, and scientific equipment
• Spherical ballistic re-entry capsule, with a 2500 to 3500 deg C surface temperature on re-entry, 8 to 9 G's maximum load, with a resulting heat shield mass of 1300 to 1500 kg
• 65,000 to 85,000 kgf-sec re-entry burn
• Minus 2 degree re-entry angle at 100 km altitude
• Landing accuracy plus 175 km / minus 100 km from aim point
• Pilot to eject from capsule at 8 to 10 km altitude
• Insulation to keep acoustic and vibration levels within cabin to tolerable levels
• Assumption that pilot would not control spacecraft in first flight
• Orientation control system using cold gas jets and flywheels
• Limited avionics: orientation control system, guidance command processor, redundant voice radio
• Orbital flight equipment and deorbit braking rocket contained in a separate module from re-entry vehicle
• Development program:
  • Test stands in the factory
  • Ejection seat test from aircraft and R-2, R-5, or R-7 core launch vehicles
  • Sub-scale heat shield tests
  • Instrumented full size prototype flights
  • Two flights with mannequins

Redundancy features for manned flight included:

• Functional redundancy in capsule systems
• Life support system and separate space suit system. The suit could operate four hours independently in case of cabin depressurization or failure of the main life support system.
• Orientation by infrared vertical sensors and manual orientation by the pilot
• Parachute ejection by both inertial and barometric sensors
• Re-entry by command timer, heat sensors, or radio command

In June 1958 the principal findings were already in and Korolev took personal management of the project. A section devoted to the spacecraft was formed on 15 August 1958. A last look at the headlight-shaped lifting capsule was made. It had the potential of cutting the mass of the heat shield in half, but there was simply no time to do the research on the flight characteristics of such a design. The final project was signed by Korolev on 15 September 1958. This allowed for full production drawing release to the fabrication shops and the beginning of tests of the spacecraft systems.

Due to a bitter fight with the military over the nature and priority of the manned spacecraft and photo-reconnaissance space programs, the final decree for the Vostok was not issued until 22 May 1959. This authorized production of a single design that could be used either as a manned spacecraft or as a military reconnaissance satellite.

Altogether 123 organizations and 36 factories participated in the project. The leading members of the industrial team that built the Vostok included:

• OKB-1 - Korolev - prime contractor; spacecraft integrator; responsible as well for the orientation system, the guidance system of the braking engine section, the thermoregulation system, emergency systems, ground support and development test equipment.
• OKB-2 - Isayev - TDU retrofire rocket engine system
• NII-88 - G A Tyulin - Mir-2 automated system
• TsKB-598 - N A Vinogradov - Vzor optical orientation system and Grif photoelectric sensors of the solar orientation system
• Factory 918 - S M Alekseyev - space suit with its associated air circulator and oxygen supply, helmet, emergency provisions, ejection system, mannequin for unmanned flight tests.
• LII - N S Stroev - Guidance unit
• OKB-124 - G I Voronin - Oxygen regeneration system
• NII-137 - V A Kostrov - Emergency destruct system (used only in the unpiloted spacecraft)
• NII-695 - A I Gusev - Zarya radio telemetry system
• NII-668 - A S Mnatsakanian - Command radio system
• VNIIIT - N S Lidovenko - Electric storage batteries
• OKB MEI - A F Bogomolov - Tral-P1 radio telemetry system
• NII-380 - I A Rosselevich - Rubin radio control system and Topaz television system
• GNIIA and SKTB Biofizpribor - A V Pokrovksiy - Life signs monitoring, medical dosimetry systems
• NIEI PDS - F D Tkachev - parachute system of the SA re-entry capsule
• KGB - K V Bulyakov and Red Mechanical Device Factory - N M Yegorov - movie camera

• Vostok-1 (1K) prototype spacecraft to test basic systems and prove the concept
• Vostok-2 (2K) photo-reconnaissance spacecraft, designed for lower resolution route surveys and signals intelligence. This was later redesignated the Zenit-2.
• Vostok-3 (3K) manned spacecraft

• May 1960 - completion of two 1KP prototype spacecraft (no heat shield or life support systems)
• August 1960 - Three 1K systems completed for test of photo-reconnaissance and radio reconnaissance systems
• September - December 1960 - Three 3K systems for manned flights.
• 11 October 1960 to December 1960 - Manned flights.

From the end of 1960 to the beginning of 1961 the 3K unpiloted version of the spacecraft was built and tested. To guarantee their reliability Korolev prohibited introduction of changes not only in the technical documentation but also in the technician staff that prepared them for flight. The military developed the recovery forces and techniques, including appropriate aircraft, helicopters, and handling equipment. At that time it was felt that there was a 60% chance on each launch of an abort requiring rescue operations for the cosmonaut.

From the end of 1960 six unmanned Vostok variants were launched, followed by six crewed missions. The official draft project for the 3KA manned spacecraft was not completed until the end of July 1961, long after the first flight of the actual spacecraft.

Technical Description

Both the 1K and 3K versions would have a 2.4 metric ton SA re-entry capsule, and 2.3 metric ton PO service module, and a 1600 kgf TDU braking engine.

The detailed mass breakdown of the 3KA manned flight version was as follows:

• Structure - 20%
• Heat shield - 17.7%
• Systems - 21.5%
• Cables - 8.6%
• Electrical system - 12.5%
• TDU braking engine - 8.4%
• Landing systems - 3.2%
• Ejection seat and cosmonaut - 7.1%
• Gases for orientation system and environmental control system - 1.0%

The automatic solar orientation system consisted of solar sensors, DUS-L2 angle of flight sensors, and an SRB analogue computer unit. The TDU would only fire if the sun sensors - consisting of a slit arranged over three photocells - indicated correct orientation. The DUS-L2 angle of flight sensor utilized two-step double gyroscopes with mechanically opposed directions. The SRB used these inputs and generated impulses to carry out the burn at the time along the orbit set by ground control.

The cosmonaut (or on unmanned flights, ground control via television) could take manual control of the spacecraft and manually re-enter. This was done by using the ingenious Vzor periscope device mounted on the floor of the cabin. This had a central view and eight ports arranged in a circle around the center. When the spacecraft was perfectly centered in respect to the horizon, all eight of the ports would be lit up. Alignment along the orbit was judged by getting lines on the main scope to be aligned with the landscape flowing by below. In this way, the spacecraft could be oriented correctly for the re-entry maneuver. This Vzor system would obviously only be used during daylight portions of the orbit. At night the dark mass of the earth could not have been lined up with the optical Vzor device. The reentry burn after orientation would be commanded by ground control. If the cosmonaut was out of contact, he could manually initiate the burn using a time calculation radioed earlier to him br ground control, or using the Globus device to ensure he would land somewhere on a continent.

Ten minutes after the retrofire burn the service module separated from the capsule. This was accomplished by squibs separating four metal bands holding the capsule to the service module. On some missions these did not separate all the bands, leaving the two components to whirl about one another until the heat of reentry melted the recalcitrant band and allowed the capsule to continue reentry in its designed manner.

Crew Size: 1. Orbital Storage: 30 days. Spacecraft delta v: 155 m/s (508 ft/sec).

Vostok 1 First manned spaceflight, one orbit of the earth. Strap attaching service module failed to separate from capsule, leading to wild ride before it burned through during re-entry.

Vostok 2 Second manned orbital flight. After 17.5 orbits, the spacecraft reentered and the cosmonaut landed safely. First astronaut to experience space sickness. Day-long flight was a huge blow to America, which had not even orbited a man in space yet.

Zenit-2 satellite Russian military surveillance satellite. The Zenit-2 was a derivative of the manned Vostok, and the Soviet Union's first spy satellite. Reconnaissance, photo (low resolution, film return type), ELINT satellite built by OKB-1 for GRU, Russia. Launched 1961 - 1970. Used Zenit bus.

Vostok-Zh Russian manned spacecraft. Study 1961. The Vostok-Zh (or Vostok-7) maneuverable manned satellite was piloted by a single 'cosmonaut assemblyman'.

Vostok 3 Joint flight with Vostok 4; two Vostok capsules were launched one day apart, coming within a few kilometers of each other. Record flight duration. First simultaneous flight of two manned spacecraft.

Vostok 4 Joint flight with Vostok 3. Problems with life support system, resulted in cabin temperature dropping to 10 deg C. Returned to earth a day early due to communications secret code mix-up. First Ukrainian astronaut.

Vostok 5 Joint flight with Vostok 6. Record flight duration. Spacecraft ended up in a lower than planned orbit and quickly decayed - temperatures in the service module reached very high levels and the flight returned early.

Vostok 6 Joint flight with Vostok 5. First woman in space. Tereshkova did not reply during several communications sessions. To this day it is not known if she was paralyzed with fear, or if there was an equipment failure.

Vostok 6A Cancelled female cosmonaut flight. Originally Vostok 5/6 were to be dual female flights. Two capsules would be launched a day apart; each would remain aloft for three days. Changed by leadership to single female flight in March 1963.

Vostok 7 Eight day manned flight planned for the last quarter of 1963, then June 1964. All further Vostok flights cancelled in favor of multi-crew Voskhod in February 1964.

Vostok 8 Planned ten day manned flight; second high altitude flight into the lower Van Allen radiation belt for radiological-biological studies. All further Vostok flights cancelled in favor of multi-crew Voskhod in February 1964.

Vostok 9 Proposed high altitude Vostok flight for extended scientific studies to be flown in 1963-1964; All further Vostok flights cancelled in favor of multi-crew Voskhod in February 1964.

Vostok 10 Planned ten-day flight, science plus engineering tests of ion flow sensors to be used for orientation of later Soyuz spacecraft. All follow-on Vostok missions cancelled in spring 1964.

Vostok 11 Proposed Vostok flight to conduct extra-vehicular activity tests. All follow-on Vostok missions cancelled in spring 1964 and EVA moved to Voskhod 2.

Vostok 12 Proposed Vostok flight to conduct extra-vehicular activity tests. The Vostok would be modified by having the ejection seat removed and an airlock built into the spacecraft. All follow-on Vostok missions cancelled in Spring 1964.

Vostok 13 Proposed high altitude manned Vostok flight for extended scientific studies. All follow-on Vostok missions cancelled in spring 1964.

Zenit-4 Russian military surveillance satellite. Zenit-4 was the second Soviet photo-reconnaissance satellite, providing high-resolution imagery to complement the area coverage of the Zenit-2. Reconnaissance, photo (high resolution, film return type) satellite built by TsSKB for GRU, Russia. Launched 1963 - 1970. Used Zenit bus.

Voskhod Russian manned spacecraft. The Voskhods were adaptations of the single place Vostok spacecraft, designed in the heat of the space race to conduct flights with up to three crew, conduct space walks, and fly manned missions of up to three weeks duration ahead of the US Gemini program.

Voskhod 1 First three-crew spaceflight. Altitude record (336 km). First crew to fly without spacesuits. First non-pilot crew (engineer that designed the spacecraft and a physician).

Voskhod 2 First space walk. Speed and altitude records. A disaster: astronaut unable to reenter airlock due to spacesuit stiffness; cabin flooded with oxygen; manual reentry, landed in mountains, crew not recovered until next day. Further Voskhod flights cancelled.

Voskhod 3 Manned space flight deferred just 15 days before launch in May 1966. It would have been a world-record 18-day space endurance mission, tasked primarily with testing ballistic missile detection equipment. Never formally cancelled, it just faded away in Brezhnev-era stagnation…

Voskhod 4 Planned second long-duration 20 day Voskhod flight. Cancelled in spring 1966 after near-disaster with Voskhod 2 and death of Korolev.

Voskhod 5 Planned all-female ten day long-duration flight. Solovyova would have conducted the first female space walk. Cancelled in spring 1966, after death of Korolev, in order to concentrate on Soyuz and Lunar landing programs.

Voskhod 6 Planned Voskhod flight that would include EVA with test of the UPMK 'jet belt'. Cancelled in spring 1966.

Zenit-2M satellite Russian military surveillance satellite. 1 Planning began in mid-1967 for military systems to enter service through 1975. Reconnaissance, photo (film return type) satellite built by TsSKB for GRU, Russia. Launched 1968 - 1979. Used Zenit bus.

Zenit-4M Russian military surveillance satellite. Planning began in mid-1967 for military systems to enter service through 1975. Reconnaissance, photo (film return type) satellite built by TsSKB for GRU, Russia. Launched 1968 - 1974. Used Zenit bus.

Zenit-4MK Russian military surveillance satellite. Modernized high resolution version of the Zenit-4M satellite that went into service in 1972. Maneuverable; (two-tone telemetry). Reconnaissance, photo (film return type) satellite built by TsSKB for GRU, Russia. Launched 1969 - 1977. Used Zenit bus.

Zenit-4MT Russian military surveillance satellite. Special version of Zenit developed for topographical photography. This was developed by OKB-1 Filial 1 based on the Zenit-4M. Reconnaissance, photo (film return type) satellite built by TsSKB for GRU, Russia. Launched 1971 - 1982. Used Zenit bus.

Energia satellite Russian earth magnetosphere satellite. Adaptation of recoverable Vostok spacecraft for investigation of primary cosmic radiation and meteoritic particles in near-earth outer space. Cosmic radiation satellite built by TsSKB, Russia. Launched 1972 - 1978. Used Zenit Bus.

Bion Russian biology satellite. Bion was developed for biological studies of the effects of radiation. Life Science satellite built by TsSKB > TsSKB-Progress, Russia. Launched 1973 - 1996. Used Zenit Bus.

Zenit-4MKT Russian military surveillance satellite. The Zenit-4MKT / Fram was an adaptation of the recoverable Vostok spacecraft for reconnaissance/remote sensing missions. Reconnaissance, photo (film return type) satellite built by TsSKB for GRU, Russia. Launched 1975 - 1985. Used Zenit bus.

Zenit-6U Russian military surveillance satellite. A universal variant of the Zenit spacecraft, used in two altitude ranges, for both observation and high resolution missions. Reconnaissance, photo (film return type) satellite built by TsSKB for GRU, Russia. Launched 1976 - 1984. Used Zenit bus.

Zenit-4MKM Russian military surveillance satellite. A further modification of the Zenit-4MK, accepted for military service in 1976, entered service in 1978. Reconnaissance, photo (film return type) satellite built by TsSKB for GRU, Russia. Launched 1977 - 1980. Used Zenit bus.

Resurs F1-17F41 Russian earth land resources satellite. The 17F41 was the first of 4 models of the Resurs-F to fly. Earth Observation (film return) satellite built by TsSKB, Russia. Launched 1979 - 1986.

Efir Russian earth magnetosphere satellite. Science. Adaptation of the Vostok spacecraft. Cosmic radiation satellite built by TsSKB, Russia. Launched 1984 - 1985. Used Zenit Bus.

Zenit-8 Russian military surveillance satellite. 1 Reconnaissance, photo (film return type) satellite built by TsSKB for GRU, Russia. Launched 1984 - 1994. Used Zenit bus.

Foton Russian materials science satellite. Adaptation of recoverable Vostok spacecraft for zero-gravity materials processing tests. 400 W available to operate experiments. Micro-gravity satellite built by TsSKB > TsSKB-Progress, Russia. Launched 1985 - 1999.

Resurs F1-14F40 Russian earth land resources satellite. The Resurs-F earth resource satellite was based on the recoverable Zenit-4 spy satellite. Earth Observation (film return) satellite built by TsSKB, Russia. Launched 1986 - 1988.

Resurs F2 Russian earth land resources satellite. Adaptation of recoverable Vostok spacecraft for remote sensing. Earth Observation (film return) satellite built by TsSKB, Russia. Launched 1987 - 1995.

Resurs F1-14F43 Russian earth land resources satellite. A decree of 5 May 1977 authorized development of three earth resource satellites. Earth Observation (film return) satellite built by TsSKB, Russia. Launched 1988 - 1993.

Resurs F1M Russian earth land resources satellite. Variant of the Resurs-F recoverable earth resources satellite. See Resurs F1-17F40 for a full technical description. Earth Observation (film return) satellite built by TsSKB-Progress, Russia. Launched 1997 - 1999.

Photo Gallery

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Vostok 1KP Vostok 1KP Energia Museum Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok LV

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Vostok Moscow 1981 Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok Interior Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok commu system Vostok communications systems schematic Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok control panel Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok spacecraft Vostok spacecraft view 2 Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok closeup Close-up view of Vostok spacecraft Credit: © Mark Wade

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Foton M4 Credit: Manufacturer Image

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Vostok LV Lift-off of Vostok 1 on the first manned spaceflight. Credit: RKK Energia

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Vostok Kaluga Museum Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok1 Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok variant Vostok variant with long boom and unidentified second spacecraft - earth orbit or circumlunar docking vehicles? Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok closeup Close-up view of Vostok spacecraft Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok-3K Credit: Manufacturer Image

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Vostok-1KP Credit: Manufacturer Image

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Interior of Voskhod Interior of Voskhod 1 Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok Credit: © Mark Wade

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Voskhod Credit: © Mark Wade

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Voskhod 2 Icon Credit: © Mark Wade

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Vostok Icon Credit: © Mark Wade

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• Work began in the Soviet Union on military satellites. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit satellite.

  Design work starts on the Zenit, the first military photo-reconnaisance satellite. The necessary subsystems were defined incrementally throughout 1956 in a series of specification documents. In April the specifications for a redundant restartable engine and appropriate satellite guidance and control systems were released. In May the technical requirements document was issued for a satellite that could be oriented in orbit. In July tests began of appropriate heat shield materials.

• First studies by Korolev OKB of manned spacecraft - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Korolev. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok. First studies by Korolev and Feoktistov of manned spacecraft. The first stage would be suborbital ballistic flights (like the US Mercury-Redstone flights) from Kapustin Yar using IRBM's. First flights not planned until 1964 - 1967..

• Zenit preliminary design complete - . Nation: Russia. Class: Technology. Type: Navigation technology satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit satellite. Design was original concept of Zenit reconnaisance spacecraft. The effort would later be included in the Vostok program under the name of Zenit..

• Soviet decree authorised design of a military reconnaissance satellite - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit satellite.

  The decree formally authorised design of a military reconnaissance satellite. In October the specification was issued for a comprehensive research program leading to manoeuvrable spacecraft. By April 1957 the military issued a requirements document for experimental solar cell panels. Design bureau work on the reconnaissance satellite began in 1957 in Section 3 of OKB-1 (Tikhonravov and Ryazanov). This spacecraft was initially sized at 1.5 tonnes total for launch by the basic R-7 rocket.

• First official plan for future Soviet spaceflight - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Sputnik 3, Vostok, Zenit-2 satellite.

  This set forth the following objectives: orbiting of satellites of 1.8 to 2.5 tonnes mass by 1958; one week flight of a manned spacecraft by 1964; unmanned reconnaissance satellite by 1970; rocket capable of 12 tonne escape velocity payload by 1970; rocket with 100 tonne low earth orbit payload to be developed, capable of placing 2 to 3 men on the moon (no date set).

• Tikhonravov first manned and lunar spacecraft designs. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  In the spring of 1957 Korolev organised project section 9, with Tikhonravov at its chief, to design new spacecraft. By April they had completed a research plan to build a piloted spacecraft and an unmanned lunar probe, using the R-7 as the basis for the launch vehicle.

• Soviet reconnaisance system designs continue - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit satellite, Zenit-2 satellite. Studies were undertaken for military reconnaissance satellites. Code names for these studies were: Shchit - military reconnaissance systems; Osnova - military reconnaissance equipment; Ediniy KIK - military reconnaissance control systems..

• Tikhonravov defined the development tasks for the Zenit reconnaissance satellite. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit satellite.

  These included development of a three stage version of R-7, development of satellite guidance and control systems of the precision required for photography from orbit, satellite control equipment, ELINT sensors, guidance systems, film cassette return systems, and tracking systems for recovery of the re-entry vehicle with the film cassette.

• Work begun on Vostok spacecraft and third stage - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok.

• Vostok preliminary design completed. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The preliminary design indicated a mass of 5.0 to 5.5 tonnes, 8 to 9 G re-entry, spherical capsule, 2500 to 3500 deg C re-entry temperatures. The heat shield would weigh 1300 to 1500 kg, and the landing accuracy would be 100 to 170 km. Operating altitude was 250 km. The astronaut would eject from the spacecraft at an altitude of 8 to 10 km.

• Korolev OKB cancels suborbital manned flights - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Ustinov. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Decision to move directly to early manned flights in orbit. Korolev, after a review with engineers, determines that planned three stage versions of the R-7 ICBM could launch a manned orbital spacecraft. Korolev advocates pursuit of manned spaceflight at the expense of the military's Zenit reconnsat program, putting him in opposition to Ustinov.

• Start of construction of manned spacecraft - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Myasishchev, Tsybin. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Competing manned projects. Korolev OKB-1 proposed Vostok ballistic capsule as quickest way to put a man in space while meeting Zenit project's reconnsat requirements. Under project VKA-23 (Vodushno Kosmicheskiye Apparat) Myasishchev OKB-23 proposed two designs, a faceted craft with a single tail, and a dual tail contoured version. Tsybin OKB-256 proposed seven man winged craft with variable wing dihedral. Contracts awarded to all three OKB's to proceed with construction of protoypes. R-7 booster to be used for suborbital launches.

• Korolev letter to Politburo - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok. First explanation to leadership of advantages of manned spaceflight..

• Vostok advanced project complete. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov. Spacecraft: Vostok. A section devoted to the spacecraft was formed on 15 August 1958. Konstantin Feoktistov was one of the leading enthusiasts in this effort..

• Vostok drawing release. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Vostok. Construction drawings for the Vostok manned spacecraft were issued beginning in the fall of 1958. Official go-ahead was still nearly a year in the future..

• Vostok final project signed by Korolev. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Vostok. This allowed for full production drawing release to the fabrication shops and the beginning of tests of the spacecraft systems..

• Vostok spacecraft and Zenit spy satellite authorised. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Vostok, Zenit-2 satellite, Zenit-4.

  Council of Chief Designers Decree 'On course of work on the piloted spaceship' was issued. Council of Chief designers approved the Vostok manned space program, in combination with Zenit spy satellite program Korolev was authorised to proceed with development of a spacecraft to achieve manned flights at the earliest possible date. However the design would be such that the same spacecraft could be used to fulfil the military's unmanned photo reconnaissance satellite requirement. The military resisted, but Korolev won. This was formalised in a decree of 25 May 1959.

• Vostok / Zenit-3 decree issued. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Vostok, Zenit-2 satellite, Zenit-4.

  Due to a bitter fight with the military over the nature and priority of the manned spacecraft and photo-reconnaissance space programs, the final decree for the Vostok manned spacecraft was delayed until seven months after drawing release began. This authorised production of a single design that could be used either as a manned spacecraft or as a military reconnaissance satellite. These were the Zenit-2 and Zenit-4 spacecraft based on the Vostok design. This marked the end of the original Zenit configuration.

• Production of Vostok and Zenit-2 authorised. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Vostok, Zenit-2 satellite, Zenit-4.

  Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 569-264 'On work on a reconnaissance satellite and piloted spaceship' was issued. Due to a bitter fight with the military over the nature and priority of the manned spacecraft and photo-reconnaissance space programs, the final decree for the Vostok manned spacecraft was delayed until seven months after drawing release began. This authorised production of a single design that could be used either as a manned spacecraft or as a military reconnaissance satellite. These were the Zenit-2 and Zenit-4 spacecraft based on the Vostok design. This marked the end of the original Zenit configuration. The military had to develop the recovery forces and techniques for both spacecraft, including appropriate aircraft, helicopters, and handling equipment. At that time it was felt that there was a 60% chance on each launch of an abort requiring rescue operations for the cosmonaut.

• 20 Cosmonaut candidates report for Vostok training - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok.

• Korabl-Sputnik 1 - . Payload: Vostok 1KP. Mass: 2,500 kg (5,500 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 1,979.00 days. Decay Date: 1962-09-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 34 . COSPAR: 1960-Epsilon-1. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 284 km (176 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 92.50 min.

  The Soviet Union launched a Vostok 1KP prototype manned spacecraft (without heat shield; not recoverable) into near-earth orbit. Called Sputnik IV by the Western press. On May 19, at 15:52 Moscow time, the spacecraft was commanded to retrofire. However the guidance system had oriented the spacecraft incorrectly and the TDU engine instead put the spacecraft into a higher orbit. Soviet scientists said that conditions in the cabin, which had separated from the remainder of the spacecraft, were normal.
  Officially: Development and checking of the main systems of the space ship satellite, which ensure its safe flight and control in flight, return to Earth and conditions needed for a man in flight.

• Molniya launch vehicle and initial Vostok flights approved. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Vostok. Central Committee and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 587-238 'On the Realisation of the Plan to Master Cosmic Space in 1960 and the First Half of 1961 -creation of a four-stage launcher for interplanetary missions and schedule for the Korabl-Sputniks'.

• Korabl-Sputnik - . Payload: Vostok 1K s/n 1. Mass: 4,730 kg (10,420 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok. Decay Date: 1960-07-23 . First attempted flight of the Vostok 1K manned spacecraft prototype. Dogs Chaika and Lisichka perished in the explosion of the rocket..

• Korabl-Sputnik 2 - . Payload: Vostok 1K s/n 2. Mass: 1,440 kg (3,170 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 1.09 days. Decay Date: 1960-08-20 . USAF Sat Cat: 55 . COSPAR: 1960-Lambda-1. Apogee: 340 km (210 mi). Perigee: 281 km (174 mi). Inclination: 64.60 deg. Period: 90.70 min.

  The Soviet Union launched its second unmanned test of the Vostok spacecraft, the Korabl Sputnik II, or Sputnik V. The spacecraft carried two dogs, Strelka and Belka, in addition to a gray rabbit, rats, mice, flies, plants, fungi, microscopic water plants, and seeds. Electrodes attached to the dogs and linked with the spacecraft communications system, which included a television camera, enabled Soviet scientists to check the animals' hearts, blood pressure, breathing, and actions during the trip. After the spacecraft reentered and landed safely the next day, the animals and biological specimens were reported to be in good condition.
  Officially: Development of systems ensuring man's life functions and safety in flight and his return to Earth.

• Plan for first Vostok flight. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Vostok. Decree 'On plan to launch the first human in space on Vostok' was issued..

• Korabl-Sputnik 3 - . Payload: Vostok 1K s/n 3. Mass: 4,563 kg (10,059 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 0.99 days. Decay Date: 1960-12-02 . USAF Sat Cat: 65 . COSPAR: 1960-Rho-1. Apogee: 269 km (167 mi). Perigee: 123 km (76 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 88.40 min.

  The Soviet Union launched its third spaceship satellite, Korabl Sputnik III, or Sputnik VI. The spacecraft, similar to those launched on May 15 and August 19, carried the dogs Pcheka and Mushka in addition to other animals, insects, and plants. Deorbited December 2, 1960 7:15 GMT. Burned up on reentry due to steep entry angle (retrofire engine did not shut off on schedule and burned to fuel depletion).
  Officially: Medical and biological research under space flight conditions.
  Officially: Medical and biological research under space flight conditions.

• Korabl-Sputnik - . Payload: Vostok 1K s/n 4. Mass: 4,730 kg (10,420 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok. Decay Date: 1960-12-20 .

  Unable to reach orbital velocity, the Vostok prototype separated while the third stage was still firing. While the ejection seat failed to operate, the capsule did make a hard landing in severe winter conditons in Siberia. It was recovered after some time, and the dogs Kometa and Shutka were alive. As a result of this flight the ejection seat was developed with a heat shield designed to protect the pilot in the event of a launch vehicle failure up to shut down of the first stage. Additional Details: here....

• State Commission Meeting - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Barmin, Bushuyev, Glushko, Keldysh, Korolev, Rudnev, Semenov. Program: Vostok, Venera. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Rudnev chaired the meeting, which first heard the failure analysis for the failed Mars launches on 10 and 14 October and the R-16 catastrophe on 24 October. All of these had been accelerated to coincide with Khrushchev's visit to the United Nations in New York, in Kamanin's view a criminal rush that led to the death of 74 officers and men in the R-16 explosion. Future plans were then reviewed. Launches of probes toward Venus were planned for 20-23 January, 28-30 January, and 8-10 February. Four Vostok manned spacecraft were completed, with first launch scheduled for 5 February and the second for 15-20 February.

• Venera preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Spacecraft: Mars 2MV-2, Vostok.

  Korolev plans three launches between 20 January and 14 February, but clearly his teams are not ready to accomplish this. There was insufficient testing of the Object V Venera spacecraft before it was shipped from OKB-1 to the cosmodrome. OKB-1 is trying to finish Object V on site, at the same time preparing the next Vostok 3KA and an R-9 ICBM for launch. Object V is not ready, the ability of its systems to function at long ranges and periods of time on the voyage to Venus are suspect. In Kamanin's opinion, it is diverting the crews from the higher priority manned and military projects.

• Venera failure announcement - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft Bus: 1MV. Spacecraft: Venera 1VA. Tass announces launch of a new 'Heavy Sputnik' - the cover finally agreed by the leadership for the failed Venera launch..

• Space plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Mikhailov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Kamanin describes Korolev. He is unable to make a decision about the man's true nature. Everyone is excited about the new seven-year plan, approved on 23 January 1960 in decree 711-296, which authorises design work to start on the N1 superbooster. In the immediate future, Vostok 3KA flights are planned every 8 to 10 days beginning 22 February until the first manned flight is achieved. The first flights will use mannequins to test the cosmonaut ejection seat. A manned flight will be attempted after two consecutive successful mannequin flights.

  In the West, the failed Venera 4 launch is being analysed as an attempted manned flight. Some Italians claim to have picked up voices on radio from the satellite. Kamanin describes all of this as unfounded speculation -- the Soviet Union will not risk a man's life until two fully successful mannequin flights demonstrate safe recovery.

• Vostok suit review - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Alekseyev, Semyon. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft Bus: Sokol. Spacecraft: Sokol SK-1. A review is held at Factory 98, where Alekseyev is developing the Vostok spacesuit..

• Underway to Venus - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Keldysh, Khrushchev, Korolev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Venera 1VA, Vostok.

  Korolev says the Venera flight continues normally. He and Keldysh will fly to Yevpatoriya tomorrow to review long-range communications with the spacecraft. After the launch he and Keldysh talked to Khrushchev, who was very happy with the success. Meanwhile, the Vostok for the next flight attempt has arrived at Tyuratam. Launch is set for 24-25 February.

• Korolev space plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Vershinin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Korolev gives a briefing to Vershinin and other military leaders at OKB-1 laying out his proposed plans for space in the next two to three years. He pushes for VVS to purchase 10 to 15 Vostok-1 or Vostok-3A spacecraft for a sustained manned flight series. The next Vostok flight is now delayed to 27-28 February. He reviews the two Vostok-1 flights to date. The first successfully orbited and recovered the dogs Strelka and Belka, the second failed to reach orbit, but the capsule successfully landed 3500 km downrange near Yakut in the Tura region, after reaching an altitude of 214 km. The dogs survived a 20-G re-entry and hard landing in the capsule.

• Zenit project review - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Alekseyev, Semyon, Ustinov, Voronin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok, Zenit-2 satellite, Zenit-4.

  Ustinov heads a review of the reconnaissance satellite program, at that time still referred to as the Vostok-2 and Vostok-4 spacecraft. Thirty staff are working on it full time at OKB-1, but Korolev says that due to delays in the photographic, television, and radar equipment for the spacecraft the first launch will be delayed two to three months. But he points out that since Vostok-1 has already proven the recovery systems, the first Vostok-2 should still be ready for launch in June-July 1961. Ustinov notes that the Ministry of Defence has had little input or understanding of the specification for the spacecraft. The launch of the first Vostok-3 is delayed to March due to the need to fully test all systems. The life support system (Vornonin) and the ejection seat (Alekseyev) are the pacing items. The next meeting is set for 27 February. Kustanin testifies as to the readiness of the spacecraft and the cosmonauts.

• VVS Program Review - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Alekseyev, Semyon. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Sokol SK-1, Vostok.

  A A Kobzanev heads the review. The decision is made that the first launch of Vostok-3 will not have to be contingent on full ground test of each and every system. The gas analyser and antenna deployment unit of the NAZ still have not completed tests. However for the second mannequin flight, all systems must be operative. Other essential tests needed to clear the spacecraft for manned flight include: several ejection seat tower tests; one ejection seat test from the capsule, a test of the emergency abort system at the launch pad, sea trials of the spacesuit and NAZ. After a thirteen-day endurance trial the humidity within the spacecraft should not exceed 60%. In the tests so far, the humidity reached 80% and the temperature 35 deg C after only nine days. The first launch is now set for 2-3 March and the second for 20-25 March. Therefore the Soviet Union should be able to launch the first man into space by the end of March at best, with the first half of April being more likely.

• Suit and ejection seat delays - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Alekseyev, Semyon. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Sokol SK-1, Vostok.

  Alekseyev's bureau continues to be the pacing organisation for the first manned flight. All trials of the suit and seat must be completed by 20 March. The second Vostok 3KA will not be allowed to fly until these tests are completed - which Alekseyev says won't be done until 21-25 April. Installation of unqualified systems in the capsule is seen as high-risk. In the evening the State Commission reviews the matter. The tests must be completed as follows: Alekseyev's tests of ejection of a mannequin from a capsule must be completed no later than 10 March; the LII test centre must complete two ejections into the wind stream from the Il-28 bomber testbed; sea trials of the NAZ ejection seat much be conducted by 10-20 March; and a ten-day test will be conducted from 2 to 12 March of the environmental control system.

• Vostok launch preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Alekseyev, Semyon, Bushuyev, Feoktistov, Gallay, Keldysh, Korolev, Voskresenskiy, Yazdovskiy. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Korolev, Yazdovskiy, Gallay, Feoktistov, Makarov, and Alekseyev spend over three hours editing the 'Instructions to Cosmonauts'. This is the first flight manual in the world for a piloted spacecraft, including instructions for all phases of flight and emergency situations. Korolev, Keldysh, Bushuyev, and Voskresenskiy want the instructions to be simply 'put on suit, check communications, observe functioning of the spacecraft'. Korolev is motivated by his belief that on this single-orbit flight everything should occur automatically. Kamanin, Yazdovskiy, Gallay, and Smirnov are categorically against such a passive role for the cosmonaut. They argue that the cosmonauts know the equipment and must be capable of manually flying the spacecraft after releasing the electronic logical lock. They need to observe the instruments, report on their status by radio, and make journal entries. The emotions of the cosmonaut during high-G's and zero-G must be understood in order to fully prepare the cosmonauts that will follow. After long debate, Korolev and Keldysh give in. The agreed first edition of the flight manual is signed by Korolev and Kamanin. The next Vostok 3KA launch is set for 9 March.

• Vostok flight preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Alekseyev, Semyon, Korolev, Yazdovskiy. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  Korolev, Alekseyev, Yazdovskiy, and other engineers lay out the plan for the preparation of the cosmonaut on launch day. The cosmonaut will be put in Nedelin's cottage at Baikonur Area 2 the night before the launch, be awakened five hours before launch, and undergo a physical examination. Kamanin and Korolev will be in the bunker at the launch pad for at least the next two launches. After the launch, Kamanin is to fly to the recovery zone to be present for the landing of the spacecraft.

• R-7 Failure Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bogomolov, Glushko, Keldysh, Korolev, Kosberg, Sokolov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Keldysh, Korolev, Sokolov, Glushko, Bogomolov hear testimony from Kosberg on the causes of the RO-7 engine failure on the 22 December 1960 launch, that resulted in the suborbital flight of the Vostok capsule with a landing in Tura. The causes are not completely understood, but the bottom line is that a fuel line must have leaked. Further testimony is offered on the booster trajectory, landing time at various points along the trajectory, tracking station readiness, communications lessons, and recovery efforts. The communications are clearly unreliable. The radius of the HF radio is 5000 km, and 1500 km for UHF. TsP Moscow and PU Tyuratam, plus Novosibirsk, Kolpachev, Khabarovsk, and Yelizov (Kamchatka) all have HF and UHF transceivers. But due to practical reception problems, only UHF communications were available at Tyuratam, Kolpachev, and Yelizov, and only HF at Novosibirsk and Khabarovsk. It is recommended that each IP tracking station should have a Chief Communications Officer, a cosmonaut to act as capsule communicator, a physician, and a representative from the Ministry of Communications to assure action on problems.

• Korabl-Sputnik 4 - . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 1. Mass: 4,700 kg (10,300 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Mozzhorin, Yazdovskiy. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 0.0700 days. Decay Date: 1961-03-09 . USAF Sat Cat: 91 . COSPAR: 1961-Theta-1. Apogee: 239 km (148 mi). Perigee: 173 km (107 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 88.60 min.

  Carried dog Chernushka, mannequin Ivan Ivanovich, and other biological specimens. Ivanovich was ejected from the capsule and recovered by parachute, and Chernsuhka was successfully recovered with the capsule on March 9, 1961 8:10 GMT.
  Officially: Development of the design of the space ship satellite and of the systems on board, which ensure necessary conditions for man's flight. Additional Details: here....

• Zainsk-Kuibyshev-Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Vershinin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Kamanin spend the night in a new hotel with much-appreciated electrical heating. At 11 am they fly to Moscow with Chernushka, the small living specimens, and the mannequin. The flight was a complete victory - all is now ready for the first manned flight into space.

• Cosmonaut training - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Vershinin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  Vershinin formalises two decrees - one to supply a Tu-104 to TsPK for cosmonaut zero-G training, the other for two Il-14's with HF transponders for long-range communications. Two further questions are discussed - should the cosmonauts be given the code for unlocking the manual orientation system of the spacecraft? It is decided they will be. And when will the flight be announced? Kamanin's position is that should happen as soon as the spacecraft safely reaches orbit, the others only want to make the first manned flight public after landing. It is decided to refer the matter for decision at the General Staff level.

• IAKM Tour - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Agaltsov, Alekseyev, Semyon, Gagarin, Nelyubov, Titov, Vershinin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Sokol SK-1, Vostok.

  Chief of Staff F A Agaltsov visits the Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine (IAKM) to review the six cosmonauts' training for flight. An 11-day trial is underway of the hot mock-up of the Vostok capsule's environmental control system. He also sees the dogs that have flown in space: Belka, Strelka, and Chernushka. Strelka has six 3-month-old puppies. Vershinin delivers a speech asking the cosmonauts to be morally prepared for spaceflight. The cosmonauts complain about the performance of Alekseyev's design bureau - of six spacesuits ordered, only three have been delivered (for Gagarin, Titov, and Nelyubov), and they haven't been able to train in parachute jumping in the suits yet.

• Kuibyshev - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Gagarin, Karpov, Nelyubov, Nikolayev, Popovich, Titov, Yazdovskiy. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  The VVS contingent departs for Tyuratam in three Il-14's. The two with cosmonauts aboard stop at Kuibyshev to give the pilots a look at the recovery zone. Aboard the first aircraft are Kamanin, Gagarin, Nelyubov, and Popovich. Aboard the other are Titov, Bykovsky, and Nikolayev. At the VVS Sanatorium at Privolzhskiy on the Volga the cosmonauts relax, and play ping-pong, chess, and billiards. The cosmonauts, Kamanin, Yazdovskiy, and Karpov sleep together in a single large room. Kamanin finds it a lively group; only Gagarin is pale and quieter than the others. On 7 March his wife had their second daughter and only yesterday he brought them back from the hospital. It was tough on him to then have to leave them on his dangerous secret mission - to be the first man into space.

• Tyuratam - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Gagarin, Keldysh, Korolev, Nelyubov, Nikolayev, Popovich, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The cosmonauts play chess and cards on the flight to Tyuratam. At the airfield, Korolev, Keldysh, and five film cameramen await the cosmonauts. Korolev and Keldysh warmly greet the cosmonauts, but categorically refuse to be filmed. Korolev asks each cosmonaut one or two technical questions. All are correctly answered. Korolev says he wants to ensure that each one of them is 'ready to fly today'. As of now, six Vostoks have been launched, of which four reached orbit, and two landed successfully (one of these albeit after an emergency separation from the third stage on a suborbital trajectory). Two have been unsuccessful, including one on-pad failure on 28 July 1960. Two hours after arrival the cosmonauts go to the MIK assembly hall to familiarise themselves with the launch vehicle and spacecraft. At 14:00 Kamanin meets with the cosmonauts to review the 'Cosmonaut's Manual'. They make several suggestions. They do not feel it is necessary to loosen the parachute harness during the one-orbit flight. They note that the gloves are tried on only 15 minutes before the launch, and not on the closing of the hatch as indicated by Alekseyev. They recommend that a shortened version of the manual should be on board the spacecraft for use in case of a manual re-entry. Communications will be mainly using the laryngeal microphone Incidents will be recorded in the ship's log. The cosmonauts should be able to manually activate the reserve parachute. Kamanin agrees with the latter, but there is no time to change it for the first flight.

• Vostok launch delay - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Gagarin, Gusev, Karpov, Nelyubov, Titov, Yazdovskiy. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The launch has been delayed to 24-25 March due to problems with L I Gusev's radio system aboard the spacecraft. A meeting of the cosmonauts at 10:00 reviews landing contingency plans that will bring the capsule down on the territory of the USSR. The best chances for such a landing are on orbits 1, 2, and 16, but it is also possible on orbits 4, 5, 6, and 7. A map will be aboard the capsule to show where and when to ignite the TDU retrorocket for each landing opportunity. Feoktistov was a great help in developing this visual aid. For about an hour Kamanin, Korolev, Yazdovskiy, Karpov, and Azbiyevich discuss long-range plans. Korolev is interested in the VVS position that they should be responsible for all military space activities. The reconnaissance satellite version of Vostok is discussed. Korolev says he plans to send a cosmonaut to the moon by 1965.

  Afterwards the cosmonauts develop the radio communications plan for the flight. During the 710-second ascent to orbit, and after landing, they are to use the UHF radio. The HF and UHF radios can be used from orbit, but only over the USSR. Plans for filming the cosmonaut in flight are also discussed.

• Cosmonauts train in suits - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Nelyubov, Rudnev, Titov, Ustinov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Sokol SK-1, Vostok.

  The cosmonauts practice donning the suits and adjusting the regulators. Kamanin muses on the need to convince the VVS leadership to support the TTZ for a new manned spacecraft, on the way to better organize the IP tracking stations, and how to obtain a leading role for the VVS in development of reconnaissance satellites. Otherwise, he believes the Russians will lose the space race to the Americans, who are launching 3 to 4 times more satellites. He notes that 22 Discoverers have been launched to develop an American reconnaissance satellite, and he comments on the Echo-1 passive communications balloon. The Americans are pushing to match the Soviet Union in launch vehicles and already surpass them in electronics, communications, and telemetry. Kamanin notes that communications with Venera 1 were lost when it was only 2 million kilometres from earth, while the US has already demonstrated communications with satellites out to 37 million kilometres. He admires the way the Americans have concentrated all of their efforts in one civilian space organization, with full-time managers for the effort. By comparison, the Soviets only have part-time managers, such as Ustinov, Rudnev, and so on. After the suit exercise the cosmonauts play chess and cards, but again Gagarin does not take part, and is deep in silent thought.

• Spring at Tyuratam - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Nelyubov, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Sokol SK-1, Vostok.

  It is a beautiful day. The cosmonauts discuss contingencies in case of a water landing. In fact their chances are slim. There are only two Soviet ships equipped with HF and UHF direction-finding equipment that could locate them. The NAZ ejection seat is not designed to float, and the spherical re-entry capsule is no better. Therefore the only option is a landing on the territory of the Soviet Union. In the evening Gagarin, Titov, and Nelyubov practice at the MIK - donning their suits, landing in the spacecraft cabin if that is necessary, getting out of the suit, communications operations, and so on. They are able to get the suit on in 20 minutes, and get it off in 15 minutes. Many space centre workers come to watch the exercises.

• Flight preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Barmin, Gagarin, Keldysh, Korolev, Nelyubov, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  Between 10:00 and 12:00 Chief Designer of Launch Facilities Barmin meets with the cosmonauts. He reviews the launch mechanism. The rocket is suspended at the 'shoulders' of the strap-ons, on four swivelled supports. After the rocket has lifted 49 mm, it is free from these, and counterweights weighing dozens of tonnes will swing them back and away from the rising booster. At 12:00 Kamanin meets with Keldysh and Korolev. They agree with his position that the flight be announced as soon as the cosmonaut is safely in orbit.

• Cosmonaut Bondarenko dies at age of 24. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bondarenko, Gagarin, Nelyubov, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  At Tyuratam in the morning, LII engineers brief the cosmonauts on correcting the Globus instrument in flight, which indicates their position over the earth. Korolev checks in for a few minutes to make sure the cosmonauts have everything they need. In the evening the news of the death of cosmonaut Bondarenko reaches the cosmodrome. He died on the tenth day of a 15-day endurance experiment in a pressure chamber at IAKM when a fire broke out in the pure-oxygen cabin. Kamanin blames his death on IAKM's poor organisation and control of the experiment.

• Vostok State Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Alekseyev, Semyon, Keldysh. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The Commission, headed by Keldysh, meets at 11:00. Alekseyev gives the first presentation. The required four ejection seat tests from an Il-28 bomber test aircraft have not even begun yet, or the tower tests of the NAZ ejection seat. They are planned for the next 7 to 10 days. On the other hand ejection tests from the sphere on the launch pad have been completed with satisfactory results. Nikolayev of OKB-124 briefs on the environmental control system. There are still problems with the oxygen regenerator. The fixes made so far resulted in little improvement in performance of the system during the latest ten-day trial. The only solution seems to be to abandon the system entirely and replace it with a different one using active chemical regeneration, but this will take 14 to 15 days. The gas analyser still operates poorly. Despite all problems not having been solved as required, the decision is made to proceed with the unmanned launch anyway.

• Vostok rollout - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Alekseyev, Semyon, Gagarin, Rudnev, Titov, Ustinov, Voronin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  At 08:54 a meeting is held, where it is decided the bad performance of Voronin and Alekseyev in completing their capsule subsystems will be reported to Ustinov and Rudnev. At 13:00 the booster is rolled out to the pad. At 18:00 Gagarin and Titov donn their space suits and practice riding the elevator up to the spacecraft, and entering the hatch. This is to give them a practical feel for the time it will actually take them to get aboard and complete checkout of the spacecraft and suit.

• Korabl-Sputnik 5 - . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 2. Mass: 4,695 kg (10,350 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Gagarin, Goreglyad, Kamanin, Karpov, Keldysh, Kirillov, Korolev, Nelyubov, Nikolayev, Popovich, Titov, Voskresenskiy, Yazdovskiy. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 0.0600 days. Decay Date: 1961-03-25 . USAF Sat Cat: 95 . COSPAR: 1961-Iota-1. Apogee: 175 km (108 mi). Perigee: 175 km (108 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 88.00 min.

  Carried dog Zvezdochka and mannequin Ivan Ivanovich. Ivanovich was again ejected from the capsule and recovered by parachute, and Zvezdochka was successfully recovered with the capsule on March 25, 1961 7:40 GMT.
  Officially: Development of the design of the space ship satellite and of the systems on board, designed to ensure man's life functions during flight in outer space and return to Earth. Additional Details: here....

• Vostok cleared for manned flight - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Dementiev, Korolev, Kozlov, Moskalenko, Ustinov, Voronin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The capsule was recovered 45 km southeast of Votinsk. The mannequin was ejected successfully from the aircraft, the dog Zvezdochka was fine, and was displayed to journalists all day. Therefore all is ready for a manned flight. The cosmonauts agree: 'Everything is finished, we can fly'. All is ready for a one-orbit flight with recovery in the USSR, but Kamanin still worries about the lack of any realistic plan in emergency situations. The environmental control system has still not completed endurance tests, and won't be able to keep the cosmonaut alive for the ten to twelve days it would take the spacecraft to decay from orbit if the retrorocket fails. Trials with the hot mock-up of the ECS in the capsule have still not been successful. Furthermore, a recovery at sea is not practical.

  The pace quickens leading to the first human spaceflight. Kamanin coordinates matters with Korolev and Voronin, and then discusses the ECS problems and cosmonaut landing issues with Dementiev. Plans are made for a meeting with Ustinov and Kozlov. In the evening a meeting of the General Staff is held. Decisions made: 1) Announce the name of the cosmonaut as soon as he is in orbit; 2) improve VVS support (aircraft, helicopters) needed to pick up the cosmonaut immediately after landing; 3) issue a formal letter to Moskalenko on rules for filming of the cosmonaut at the launch site; 4) organise an examination of the 11 cosmonauts not in the group of six now being prepared for flights.

• Vostok problems review - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Dementiev, Keldysh, Korolev, Voronin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The meeting is held at G T Voronin's OKB-124 at the 'Daks' factory. All of the program bigwigs are there (Korolev, Keldysh, etc). The big issue is the problem with the oxygen regenerator. On the 10 day trial 4 litres of lithium chloride were consumed, but the test was unsuccessful. A new solution of chlorine-lithium is proposed. But this is dangerous - the doctors are worried that if it gets into the cosmonauts body, it will poison him. A sharp discussion ensues, but the final decision is to try a five day trial with lithium chloride. At 12:00 the commission proceeds to Dementiev's GKAT. The tests of the Vostok recovery system are reviewed. There were to have been two to four ejection seat tests from Il-28 bombers, tests, plus tests at sea at Fedosiya of the NAZ ejection seat and the characteristics of the parachute underwater. The discussion turns again to the five-day ECS cabin test. It is decided to keep the faulty gas analyser, but not to connect it to the telemetry - the readings will be read with a television camera instead. There is a clear political aspect in the argument between the VVS design bureau and the institute over the performance of the ECS system. Lieutenant-General Kolkov orders yet another examination of the cosmonauts.

• State Commission on Vostok 1 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Ivashutin, Ustinov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The commission meets from 16:00 to 18:00 to assess readiness for launch. Korolev says he is ready to launch a man, following the two consecutive successful mannequin flights. Who will be selected to be the first man in space? The commission discusses the issue at some length. Afterwards, Kamanin meets with Ustinov at 18:30 and shows him a picture album of photographs taken from Vostok on the March 9 and 25 test flights. One taken over Turkey clearly shows the city of Alexandretta and the concrete runways of the airfields, demonstrating the military potential of the system. All is ready for the flight. The Central Committee of the Communist Party has issued a decree that the first man be launched into space between 10 and 20 April 1961. Three variant press releases are prepared, for 1) attainment of a successful orbit; 2) after a successful landing; and 3) in the event of an emergency landing with a request for international assistance in recovery and return of the cosmonaut. The consensus is that the APO destruct system used in the unmanned test flights will be deleted for the manned flight. Only Ivashutin is against this. Two successful ejection tests from an Il-28 bomber were reported from LII, finally completing a key milestone required for the flight.

• VVS Recovery Plans - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  An air fleet has been assigned for the first manned flight. Aircraft that will be deployed with UHF direction finders include 20 Il-14, 3 An-12, 2 Tu-95, 10 Mi-4, and 3 Mi-6. Two Il-14 with HF direction finders will be deployed to Kuibyshev and Sverdlovsk.

• Vostok preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Grechko, Andrei, Korolev, Malinovskiy, Vershinin, Voronin, Zakharov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The VVS leadership has been diverted for the last three days in meetings of the General Staff of the Warsaw Pact. At 09:00 Kamanin takes a break to prepare two letters. One goes to the Ministry of Defence, certifying readiness for the launch of Vostok 1 on 10-20 April; the other goes to Zakharov on the General Staff, turning over all in-flight photographs to the VVS. Vershsinin pages through Kamanin's photo album of earth photographs taken during the unmanned Vostok test flights. They show the precise orbital orientation of the spacecraft. He says he will show these to Grechko and Malinovskiy, trying to convince them of the usefulness of manned spaceflight. Kamain calls Korolev and advises him that Voronin is ready. Korolev says that he plans to put wood wool into the cabin to absorb any excess lithium chloride.

• Vostok trials - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Voronin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Trials of the NAZ ejection seat at sea with the underwater drag chute trials were unsuccessful. The NAZ is simply not seaworthy. The antenna remained submerged in all tests, making communications impossible. The five-day test of the ECS was also unsuccessful. The lithium chloride was used up at the end of four days. Kamanin believes that Voronin is a poor manager, and that a completely new solution to the Vostok life support system will be needed after the first flight.

• Vostok first manned spaceflight authorised. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Khrunov, Komarov, Nelyubov, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The eleven cosmonauts not short-listed for early spaceflights are given a new screening examination. However only Khrunov and Komarov are interviewed before an urgent phone call is received from the General Staff: report at 13:00 with Gagarin, Titov, and Nelyubov, then proceed to a Communist Party meeting at 15:00 for the first flight decision. All concerned again confirm readiness for flight, and again Kamanin passes around his photo album, showing the Vostok's potential for military photoreconnaissance. Kamanin briefs the cosmonauts afterwards on the results of the NAZ ejection seat tests. There have been three successful ejections from the Il-28 aircraft, plus ejections from the re-entry capsule on the ground and from an altitude of 5 km. All tests were successful. The cosmonauts are aware of the remaining problems with the capsule but are confident it is safe for a one-orbit flight. Gagarin says that Parachutist Colonel Nikolai Konstantinovich Nikitin, their instructor, should inspect the cosmonaut's parachute at the pad. The cosmonauts have confidence in him, but he has made problems over the tests at Fedosiya. At 16:00 Korolev calls. The Central Committee has approved the flight. He leaves for Tyuratam for final launch preparations. The cosmonauts' confirmation of readiness for flight was recorded and played back to the committee. The resulitng decree 'On approval for launch of Vostok' provided the final authority to proceed with the first manned spaceflight.

• VVS General Staff certifies flight readiness of cosmonauts Gagarin, Titov, and Nelyubov. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Filatyev, Gagarin, Khrushchev, Korolev, Moskalenko, Nelyubov, Rafikov, Titov, Zaikin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  They also, on the basis of the recent examinations and interviews, clear the rest of the cosmonaut trainees for flight except for Rafikov, Filatev, and Zaikin, who passed the examinations but had not yet completed all the tests and training. Moskalenko has given approval for a Soviet film team to go to Tyuratam and film preparations for the flight. At the Presidium meeting Khrushchev had questioned what would be done if the cosmonaut reacted poorly in the first minute of the flight. Korolev answered in his deep voice: 'Cosmonaut are extraordinarily trained, they know the spacecraft and flight conditions better than I and we are confident of their strength'. The flight is still seen as very risky - of seven Vostoks flown unmanned so far, five made it to orbit, three landed safely, but one did not. On the other hand, both recent Venera launch attempts reached low earth orbit.

• Tyuratam - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Gallay, Goreglyad, Korolev, Nelyubov, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  Kamanin departs for the airport in the morning after a good breakfast. There was a fresh snowfall overnight, and Moscow looks beautiful. Three Il-14's wait to shuttle the six cosmonauts and other VVS staff to the launch centre. Gagarin and Nelyubov will fly in Kamanin's aircraft, and Titov and the others in General Goreglyad's. The third aircraft will carry the physicians and film team. The aircraft depart at fifteen-minute intervals, and the entire flight is in beautiful weather. Kamanin's Il-14 lands at Tyuratam at 14:30. Korolev, Gallay, and officers of the staff of the cosmodrome are there to greet them. Korolev requests additional last-minute training for the cosmonauts in manual landing of the spacecraft, suit donning, and communications, but Kamanin refuses. He sees no reason for any training not already agreed in the official plan. Korolev says rollout of the booster is planned for 8 April, followed by launch on 10 or 11 April. Everyone wants to know first - Gagarin or Titov? But Kamanin has not made a final decision yet. Gagarin shows hesitancy in accepting the automatic parachute deployment on the first flight, and only reluctantly agrees to the compromise solution. Titov is a stronger character, better able to hold up during a long duration mission, such as the one-day flight planned for the second mission. But the first into space will be the object of all of the attention from the news media and public. There is not a day that goes by that Kamanin does not think through the issue, without reaching a final conclusion. In the evening the cosmonauts go to the theatre, but the projectionist refuses to run the planned movie on orders of the base commander.

• Vostok 1 State Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Alekseyev, Semyon, Gagarin, Keldysh, Korolev, Rudnev, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Rudnev arrives at the cosmondrome, and the first state commission meeting is held with Korolev and the technicians at 11:30. The oxygen regenerator is still not ready, and it is decided to fly with the old dehumidifier on the first flight, since only a 90 minute mission is planned anyway. The suit and all recovery systems worked perfectly on the 9 and 25 March mannequin flights, so the NAZ system is deemed ready for flight. After the meeting Rudnev and Makarov of the KGB go to work on the written orders that will be binding on the cosmonauts in case of accidental landing on foreign territory. Kamanin, Keldysh, and Korolev draw up the final draft of the announcements to be issued in case of normal orbital insertion and after successful landing. In the evening Gagarin and Titov try on their individual suits and Alekseyev checks the parachute systems. The cosmonauts return to the hotel at 11 pm.

• Vostok 1 preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Moskalenko, Rudnev, Titov, Vershinin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  At Area 2 the cosmonauts conduct three hours of training on manual landing, and activities after landing. All three accomplish the manual landing well. Then they have three hours of badminton for physical conditioning. Both Gagarin and Titov like the game, and they are filmed for posterity. In the evening Rudnev discusses adding a night shift in order to achieve launch on 11 to 12 April. Afterwards Vershinin is briefed, and told all is normal, heading for an 11/12 April launch. Vershinin replies that the Americans are planning to launch their first man into space on 28 April. Kamanin is confident, there will be no difficulty in beating them. He notes the Americans launched a Mercury capsule on 24 March, but there was an abort and the capsule sank in the Atlantic. In the evening the movies are 'Careful, Babushka' and 'Vostok-1'. Kamanin finds the film on the mission good. General Moskalenko calls - he wants a meeting with the cosmonauts on launch day. Kamanin is not opposed, but he needs to know a specific time - it will be a busy morning before the launch

• Vostok 1 State Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Keldysh, Korolev, Moskalenko, Titov, Yazdovskiy. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Rudnev chairs the meeting, in which Kamanin recommends that Gagarin pilot the first manned spaceflight, with Titov as backup. A discussion follows on whether to have a representative from the FAI at the launch in order to obtain registration of the world record. Marshal Moskalenko and Keldysh are opposed - they don't want anyone from outside at the secret cosmodrome. It is decided to enclose the code to unlock the controls of the spacecraft in a special packet. Gagarin will have to break it open in order to get the code that will allow him to override the automatic system and orient the spacecraft manually for re-entry. An emergency ejection during ascent to orbit is discussed. It is decided that only Korolev or Kamanin will be allowed to manually command an ejection in the first 40 seconds of flight. After that, the process will be automatic. There is embarrassment when Moskalenko confronts Yazdovskiy: 'so why are you here, when you're a veterinarian and only handle dogs?' Kamanin has to explain that Yazdovskiy is actually a medical doctor. After the meeting, Kamanin reviews Titov's training in the spacecraft, which has gone well.

• Vostok preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Moskalenko, Rudnev, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  It is a pleasant spring day at Area 10. The cosmonauts play sports, games, and chess. Rudnev and Moskalaneko think the launch will not realistically happen until 14-15 April. Kamanin informs Gagarin and Titov of the selection of Gagarin to be the first man in space.

• Vostok preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Gagarin, Korolev, Moskalenko, Nelyubov, Nikolayev, Popovich, Rudnev, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Sever.

  Kamanin plays badminton with Gagarin, Titov, and Nelyubov, winning 16 to 5. At 12:00 a meeting is held with the cosmonauts at the Syr Darya River. Rudnev, Moskalenko, and Korolev informally discuss plans with Gagarin, Titov, Nelyubov, Popovich, Nikolayev, and Bykovsky. Korolev addresses the group, saying that it is only four years since the Soviet Union put the first satellite into orbit, and here they are about to put a man into space. The six cosmonauts here are all ready and qualified for the first flight. Although Gagarin has been selected for this flight, the others will follow soon - in this year production of ten Vostok spacecraft will be completed, and in future years it will be replaced by the two or three-place Sever spacecraft. The place of these cosmonauts here does not indicate the completion of our work, says Korolev, but rather the beginning of a long line of Soviet spacecraft. Korolev predicts that the flight will be completed safely, and he wishes Yuri Alekseyevich success. Kamanin and Moskalenko follow with their speeches. In the evening the final State Commission meeting is held. Launch is set for 12 April and the selection of Gagarin for the flight is ratified. The proceedings are recorded for posterity on film and tape.

• Vostok 1 countdown - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Gagarin, Korolev, Titov, Yazdovskiy. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The booster is rolled out to the pad at 05:00. At 10:00 the cosmonauts meet with Feoktistov for a last review of the flight plan. Launch is set of 09:07 the next day, followed by shutdown and jettison of the lateral boosters of the first stage at 09:09, and orbital insertion at 09:18. The spacecraft will orient itself toward the sun for retrofire at 09:50. At 10:15 the first command sequence will be uploaded to the spacecraft, followed by the second at 10:18 and the third at 10:25. Retrofire of the TDU engine will commence at 10:25:47. The service module will separate from the capsule at 10:36 as the capsule begins re-entry. The capsule's parachute will deploy at 10:43:43 and at 10:44:12 the cosmonaut's ejection seat will fire. While the cosmonauts go through this, the booster has been brought upright on the pad, the service towers raised, and all umbilical connections made. Korolev, Yazdovskiy, and the others make a final inspection at the pad prior to the commencement of the countdown. At 13:00 Gagarin meets a group of soldiers, NCO's, and officers. After this Kamanin and the cosmonauts go to the cottage formerly occupied by Marshal Nedelin, where they will spend the last night before launch. They eat 'space food' out of 160 g toothpaste-type tubes for lunch - two servings of meat puree and one of chocolate sauce. Gagarin's blood pressure is measured as 115/60, pulse 64, body temperature 36.8 deg C. He then subjects to placement of the biosensors he will wear during the flight, and baseline measurements are taken for an hour and twenty minutes. He is very calm through all this. At 21:30 Korolev comes to the cottage, says good night to the cosmonauts, then goes back out to check on launch preparations. Gagarin and Titov go to bed after this. Kamanin stays up a while in the next room, listening to them talk to one another in the dark.

• Vostok 1 - . Call Sign: Kedr (Cedar ). Crew: Gagarin. Backup Crew: Nelyubov, Titov. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 3. Mass: 4,725 kg (10,416 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Karpov, Keldysh, Korolev, Moskalenko, Rudnev. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Vostok 1. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 0.0750 days. Decay Date: 1961-04-12 . USAF Sat Cat: 103 . COSPAR: 1961-Mu-1. Apogee: 315 km (195 mi). Perigee: 169 km (105 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 89.30 min.

  First manned spaceflight, one orbit of the earth. Three press releases were prepared, one for success, two for failures. It was only known ten minutes after burnout, 25 minutes after launch, if a stable orbit had been achieved.

  The payload included life-support equipment and radio and television to relay information on the condition of the pilot. The flight was automated; Gagarin's controls were locked to prevent him from taking control of the ship. The combination to unlock the controls was available in a sealed envelope in case it became necessary to take control in an emergency. After retrofire, the service module remained attached to the Sharik reentry sphere by a wire bundle. The joined craft went through wild gyrations at the beginning of re-entry, before the wires burned through. The Sharik, as it was designed to do, then naturally reached aerodynamic equilibrium with the heat shield positioned correctly.

  Gagarin ejected after re-entry and descended under his own parachute, as was planned. However for many years the Soviet Union denied this, because the flight would not have been recognized for various FAI world records unless the pilot had accompanied his craft to a landing. Recovered April 12, 1961 8:05 GMT. Landed Southwest of Engels Smelovka, Saratov. Additional Details: here....

• Vostok 1 State Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Brezhnev, Gagarin, Vershinin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  The commission meets from 09:30 to 12:00, making the official interview of Gagarin on his flight. There are unending questions. Afterwards Gagarin fields more questions by phone from the press. In the second half of the day he is readied for the return to Moscow. He has to make a half-hour speech to Khrushchev, but he hurries through the prepared text. Two or three trainers had noted this impatience of his, but Kamanin had already decided before the flight that Gagarin had the makings of a good orator. In the evening Brezhnev calls twice, and Vershinin several more times, coordinating things for Gagarin's return to Moscow. Bad weather is predicted for the next day and it is decided that Gagarin's airplane will arrive at Vnukovo. Gagarin is to exit the aircraft and walk alone to the reviewing stand. For this performance he is measured for a new uniform and great coat. He rehearses the speech twice, with Kamanin playing the part of Khrushchev in posing impromptu questions.

• Gagarin returns to Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Agaltsov, Gagarin, Khrushchev, Yazdovskiy. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  Everyone is up at the dacha on the Volga at 06:00 and are ready to leave shortly thereafter. Now the weather in Moscow is expected to be fine. At 10:40 an Il-18 takes off for Moscow with Gagarin's party. This consists of Gagarin, Agaltsov, Rytov, Yazdovskiy, several correspondents, and some film operators. 50 km from Moscow seven fighters intercept the transport and form up as an escort, two off each wing, and three trailing. Gagarin calls them on the radio 'Brother fighter pilots - I send you greetings - Yuri Gagarin!' The aircraft formation flies down Lenin Prospekt, Red Square, and then up Gorkiy Street to Vnukovo. There are masses of people everywhere below. At exactly 15:00 the aircraft shuts down its engines 100 m from the reviewing stands. Yuri exits the aircraft and steps into history....

• Gagarin in Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Korolev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Gagarin first meets with Korolev, then holds a press conference. At 15:30 he meets with the VVS Military Soviet..

• Sunday in Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Khrushchev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Gagarin and Kamanin spend the day at Khrushchev's dacha..

• Gagarin back at TsPK. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. He returns to the cosmonaut training centre, and later gives a television interview..

• Gagarin physical examination. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  He checks into the Central Aviation Hospital for five to six days of intensive physical tests and observation. Denisovo and Borzenko from Pravda interview him during this period for the book that is to be issued. Kamanin has been named as the editor for the work.

• Vostok 1 awards - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bondarenko. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  Kamanin is having to take a lot of time preparing the paperwork for awards and promotions to be made as a result of Gagarin's flight. Of 500 VVS staff connected with the flight, 200 are to receive recognition of one kind or another. In the evening the VVS Military Soviet convenes to take testimony on the death of cosmonaut Bondarenko. It is found there were serious defects in the organization of the tests conducted at IAKM.

• May Day - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Khrushchev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1. Gagarin stands on the reviewing stand above Lenin's Mausoleum with the Soviet leadership. Kamanin finds the parades and demonstrations colourful but lacking genuine enthusiasm..

• Cosmonaut reception - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Malinovskiy. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 1.

  Malinovskiy, head of the VVS Miliatry Soviet, and his wife and daughter throw a reception for the cosmonauts and their wives. The party goes from 18:00 to 24:00 and passes without incident, but Kamanin found the guests' attempts to convince Malinovskiy to support military space projects were unproductive. He just doesn't get it.

• Vostok 2 discussions - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bushuyev, Feoktistov, Korolev, Yazdovskiy. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 2. Spacecraft: Sever, Vostok.

  Kamanin, Yazdovskiy, Bushuyev, and Feoktistov fly to Sochi. Korolev arrives on the next flight, and discussions begin on plans for the second Soviet manned spaceflight. Korolev wants a one-day/16-orbit flight, but Kamanin thinks this is too daring and wants a 3 to 4 orbit flight. Korolev rejects this, saying recovery on orbits 2 to 7 is not possible since the solar orientation sensor would not function (retrofire would have to take place in the earth's shadow). But Kamanin believes one day is too big a leap since the effects of sustained zero-G are not known. He finally agrees to a one-day flight, but with the proviso that a manually-oriented retrofire can be an option on orbits 2 to 7 if the cosmonaut is feeling unwell. Korolev reports that the new Sever spacecraft should be ready for flight by the third quarter of 1962. OKB-1 is working hard on the finding solutions to the problems of manoeuvring, rendezvous, and docking in orbit. Kamanin tells Korolev that it would be difficult to recruit and train three-man crews in time to support such an aggressive schedule.

• Vostok 2 - . Call Sign: Oryel (Eagle ). Crew: Titov. Backup Crew: Nelyubov, Nikolayev. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 4. Mass: 4,730 kg (10,420 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Vostok 2. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 1.00 days. Decay Date: 1961-08-07 . USAF Sat Cat: 168 . COSPAR: 1961-Tau-1. Apogee: 221 km (137 mi). Perigee: 172 km (106 mi). Inclination: 64.80 deg. Period: 88.40 min.

  Second manned orbital flight. The Soviet Union successfully launched Vostok II into orbit with Gherman S. Titov as pilot. The spacecraft carried life-support equipment, radio and television for monitoring the condition of the cosmonaut, tape recorder, telemetry system, biological experiments, and automatic and manual control equipment. Flight objectives: Investigation of the effects on the human organism of a prolonged flight in orbit and subsequent return to the surface of the Earth; investigation of man's ability to work during a prolonged period of weightlessness. Titov took manual control of spacecraft but suffered from space sickness. He was equipped with a professional quality Konvas movie camera, with which ten minutes of film of the earth were taken through the porthole. Both television and film images were taken of the interior of the spacecraft. Like Gagarin, Titov experienced problems with separation of the service module after retrofire. Titov was never to fly again, after being assigned to the Spiral spaceplane, which turned out to be a dead-end project. A biography of him by Martin Caidin ('I Am Eagle') made him somewhat more accessible than Gagarin to the West.

• Gagarin World Tour Completed - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 2.

  Between 27 May and 7 August Gagarin and Kamanin travel to Czechoslovakia, Finland, England, Iceland, Cuba, Brazil, Canada, Hungary. In July they are at Paris at the FAI, where the records supporting the record flights of Shepard and Gagarin are examined. Kamanin has no time to write up the materials from the tour. Both he and Gagarin are out of the country during preparations for and the actual flight of Titov aboard Vostok 2.

• Landing of Vostok 2 - . Return Crew: Titov. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 2. After 17.5 orbits, the spacecraft reentered on August 7 and landed safely at 7:18 GMT near Krasny Kut, Saratov. Titov made a separate parachute landing after riding his ejection seat out of the capsule..

• Korolev proposes a Vostok group flight - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  Korolev proposes to Kamanin the launch of three manned Vostok spacecraft at one-day intervals: the first on a three-day flight, and the second and third on two- or three-day flights. Three Soviet manned spacecraft would be in orbit at once. Kamanin has no problem in principle, but does not believe any such flight could take place until 1962, rather than the November 1961 schedule proposed by Korolev. Kamanin goes so far as to write a letter from the VVS saying they would not agree to such a schedule. Due to problems on Titov's one-day flight, Kamanin believed the next flight should not exceed two days, which implied a maximum of only two spacecraft could be in space at one time. Korolev is furious -- and his relationship with the VVS and Kamanin are poor thereafter.

• Vostok 3 training - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3. Spacecraft: Sokol SK-1, Vostok. Nikolayev conducts a three-day simulated spaceflight in his suit, in the spacecraft, including centrifuge runs at the beginning and end. Kamanin is furious about Titov's antics in Rumania, where he rode a motorcycle in a parade!.

• Gagarin out of the hospital. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Keldysh, Korolev, Tereshkova, Vershinin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 6.

  Korolev says he will need 28 pilot-cosmonauts and 22 specialist cosmonauts (engineers, scientists, etc) in the period 1962-1964. This is to include five women. Kamanin had already brought up the concept of a female spaceflight to Vershinin, Korolev, and Keldysh immediately after Gagarin's flight. He believed it was their patriotic duty to beat the Americans in putting a woman in space, and he wanted to find a female cosmonaut who would be a dedicated Communist agitator in the same class as Gagarin or Titov.

• Zenit-2 priority delays manned space flights - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Vostok, Zenit-2 satellite. Plans for a November group flight are delayed due to the priority of the spy satellite program. Korolev wants to fly manned Vostoks in December 1961/January 1962, but Kamanin and the VVS oppose this due to poor weather during that period..

• Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 1 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 1. Mass: 4,610 kg (10,160 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Decay Date: 1961-12-11 .

  First attempted launch of Zenit photo-reconnaisance satellite. According to Kamanin, there was a problem with the third stage, and the capsule landed between Novosibirsk and Yakutsk, but could not be located. There was no information on the nature of the problem. Korolev stayed at Tyuratam, preparing for the next launch attempt.

• New cosmonauts to be recruited. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  The leadership has approved Kamanin's plan for the selection in the next year of 60 new cosmonaut trainees, including five women. Kamanin expects to see some of the women in orbit by the second half of 1962. DOSAAF has submitted 40 to 50 potential female candidates, selected from their files. Meanwhile, Titov is set to tour Indonesia in January. The Vostok 3 and Vostok 4 group flight is planned for March 1962.

• Meeting on the planned Vostok 3/4 flights. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Sokol SK-1, Vostok.

  Six cosmonauts are certified as ready for flight. Trials of a new parachute and spacesuit design are not going well. The Vostok ECS has also not yet been perfected. The temperature in the cabin of Vostok 2 went down to 10 deg C due to what turned out to be an installation error (both the primary and back-up circulation fans were operating). Before finding the true nature of the problem, other modifications were made to the system, which resulted in the cabin being at 35 to 40 deg C in tests. The Mikron system, which is supposed to control the physiological function of the cosmonaut for ejection and landing, has never worked correctly.

• Vostok-Zh studies - . Nation: Russia. Program: Lunar L1. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Vostok-Zh.

  Vostok-Zh studies conducted for multiple dockings of rocket blocks and payloads in orbit for circumlunar missions, using Vostok rocket. Vostok-Zh spacecraft used to for manual dockings only. Manned reentry vehicle from circumlunar distance is Sever/Soyuz design. Korolev's reaction to Chelomei's exclusive assignment by Khrushchev to circumlunar mission.

• Korolev requests new Vostoks - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Vostok. Spacecraft: Vostok, Vostok-Zh, Zenit-4.

  Korolev has issued a letter requested eight new Vostok 3A spacecraft to be built in 1962-1963. He recommends that they should be finished as the 1100 to 1300 kg heavier 'Vostok-2', to be boosted by the 11A57 rocket, developed originally for the Zenit-4 spy satellite. These Vostok-2's will be used for docking experiments, to form EO Experimental Orbital stations, and to develop spacecraft systems for flight to the moon. The VVS fully supports these plans. One of the docking spacecraft will be piloted, the other unpiloted.

• Vostok ejection problems - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Spacecraft: Vostok. Kamanin discovers that the head of the Vostok parachute trials concealed the fact that the cosmonaut's parachute was snagging on the RFPK-10 antenna - in order to meet the deadline of 13 February set by the VPK for completion of tests..

• Immediate Vostok launches demanded - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich, Titov, Ustinov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  Ustinov wants launch of two cosmonauts within a month to answer the American Glenn flight. Of seven candidates, Nikolayev and Popovich are most likely to be selected. Meanwhile Titov has more incidents. He has driven his Volga into a bus. This is his third accident within a year.

• Vostok 3/4 training - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Nelyubov, Nikolayev, Popovich, Ustinov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  Kamanin selects the cosmonauts for the dual flight ordered by Ustinov: Nikolayev and Popovich, with Nelyubov and Bykovsky as back-ups. Ustinov has ordered launch by 10-12 March. - such is the Soviet's lousy leadership, Kamanin notes. They don't do anything for months, then suddenly want a manned launch within 10 days. Korolev wants a three-day flight, but the VVS wants no more than two days, and only then if the cosmonauts are in excellent condition after the first day.

• Vostok 3/4 to fly three days - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  Kamanin's plan for a limitation of two days has been blocked by Korolev. Korolev sees Kamanin as a brake on his adventures. Kamanin is also ordered to have the female cosmonauts selected by 1 March, and ready for flight by the end of August. Nine women have passed the hospital tests; from these four or five will be selected for cosmonaut training, and one of these will become the first woman in space.

• Vostok 3/4 flight duration - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Vershinin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Korolev is pressuring Vershinin to allow a three day flight. Korolev provides reassurances that this will only occur if the cosmonauts are all right after two days in space. Kamanin remains categorically opposed..

• Vostok 3/4 plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Korolev is still pushing for a three-day flight and new scientific experiments for the cosmonauts to conduct. Kamanin remains opposed to these 'adventures'..

• Vostok 3/4 delayed - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Gagarin, Nelyubov, Nikolayev, Popovich, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite.

  Due to technical problems and the launch failure of a Zenit spy satellite, the launch of the dual Vostoks is pushed back to April. Therefore a trip to New York by the cosmonauts in March will not be possible. In any case the Presidium has decided against allowing them to address the United Nations.

• Vostok 3/4 to launch 5-10 April - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Korolev, Nelyubov, Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Korolev has set this date and still wants a three-day flight. All of the cosmonauts and their trainers are opposed to any flight longer than two days..

• Vostok 3/4 Plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Smirnov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  Smirnov approves Korolev's flight plan. Vostok 3 is to fly three days; Vostok 4, launched a day later, for two days; they will land simultaneously. Kamanin feels the rush is crazy. For seven to eight months there was no authority from the leadership to fly. Then, suddenly, after Glenn's flight, come orders to launch into space within ten days.

• Cosmos 4 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 2. Mass: 4,610 kg (10,160 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Agency: RVSN. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 3.00 days. Decay Date: 1962-04-29 . USAF Sat Cat: 287 . COSPAR: 1962-Xi-1. Apogee: 317 km (196 mi). Perigee: 285 km (177 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 90.50 min.

  Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Program partially completed. Failure of primary spacecraft orientation system. It was to spend four days in space, to be followed by another mission during 5-10 May. This meant that Vostok 3/4 could not be launched before 20-30 May. The cosmonaut prime crew returned from their in-suit parachute training at Fedosiya.

• Titov in Baltimore - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Glenn, Titov, von Braun. Spacecraft: Mercury, Vostok.

  Titov and Kamanin meet journalist Drew Pierson, who claims that five Soviet cosmonauts died before Gagarin flew. They are introduced to Wernher Von Braun. In the afternoon they go to a barbecue at Glenn's house in Virginia. Kamanin carefully notes the technical information he has gleaned: Glenn wore no parachute; the Mercury's solid fuel retrorockets fire in 28 seconds, much more quickly and with more force than the Vostok's low-thrust liquid propellant engine; it is planned to launch a modernised version of Mercury on a one-day flight by the end of 1962; the astronauts train in the centrifuge to 16 G's (versus 12 G's for the cosmonauts); the NASA manned space headquarters is moving to Texas; Mercury is only capable of water landings, no work has been done on land landings or equipping the capsule with an ejection seat; several Amerrican women are considered fit for spaceflight, and the first American woman could make a three-orbit flight in the second half of 1962.

• Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 3 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 3. Mass: 4,610 kg (10,160 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Decay Date: 1962-06-01 .

  Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Third attempted launch of Zenit photo-reconnaissance satellite. It blew up 300 m from the pad, and did enough damage to put the launch complex out of operation for a month. Therefore the Vostok 3/4 launches could not take place until the end of July at the earliest.

• Zenit booster failure damages pad, delays Vostok 3/4 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Keldysh, Korolev, Titov, Vershinin. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite.

  A briefing by engineer V A Smirnov predicts that the Americans will make a 17-18 revolution flight of the earth by the end of 1962. Kamanin disagrees, believing they will not achieve this until the second half of 1963. Another Zenit-2 spy satellite has failed to achieve orbit. The first had failed due to a third stage problem, and now the third attempt failed due to a first stage problem. It blew up 300 m from the pad, and did enough damage to put the launch complex out of operation for a month. Therefore the Vostok 3/4 launches cannot now take place until the end of July at the earliest.

  Kamanin has continued arguments over the reorganisation of VVS space units and the role of IAKM. Korolev has never supported a leading role for the VVS or Kamanin in the Soviet space program. He is complaining about the 'offences' of the VVS, Kamanin, and the cosmonauts. Korolev cites Gagarin's trauma and Titov's motor accidents. He believes cosmonauts should be selected only from OKB-1 engineers. He also believes the cosmonauts are wasting too much time on publicity tours. Vershinin and Keldysh are hearing all of these complaints.

• US Plans in Space - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok.

  Kamanin notes that the US launched 86 satellites up to June 1, 1962 compared to only 21 by the USSR. He believes the Soviet reply should be a vigorous program that would launch 10 to 12 Vostok manned spacecraft in 1963 alone; to finally resolve organisational issues that hindered the Soviet program; and to adopt a goal of landing a man on the moon.

• Three-day Vostok flight - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Khrushchev, Korolev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Kamanin notes that Korolev now has Khrushchev's backing for a three-day duration Vostok flight. Of 15 State Commission members, Kamanin finds himself the only one opposed to the idea..

• State Commission on Vostok 3/4 - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. American nuclear tests over the Pacific have increased radiation levels in space. But the scientists believe manned flights of three to five days duration will still be safe..

• Experiments for Vostok 3/4 - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Meeting at OKB-1 between the cosmonaut commander and spacecraft engineers. It is decided that experiments conducted during the flight will be observations of: the third stage of the Vostok booster after separation of the spacecraft; the launch of Vostok 4, as seen from Vostok 3; and preselected ground objects. These will require two to three hours of manual orientation of the spacecraft, with pointing accurate to within 7 degrees of the expected position of the objects to be observed.

• Medical specialists support three day flight - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. The doctors now support Korolev's proposal for a three-day flight duration. They all opposed it after the problems on Titov's one-day flight. So much for Soviet 'science', harrumphs Kamanin..

• First Zero-G training on Tu-104 - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. The Soviets conduct their first cosmonaut zero-G training on an aircraft flying parabolic trajectories. 6 to 25 seconds of weightlessness is experienced on each manoeuvre..

• Cosmos 7 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 4. Mass: 4,610 kg (10,160 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 4.00 days. Decay Date: 1962-08-01 . USAF Sat Cat: 346 . COSPAR: 1962-A-Iota-1. Apogee: 356 km (221 mi). Perigee: 197 km (122 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 90.00 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Also performed radiation measurements..

• Vostok 3/4 State Commission - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Nearly 70 people attend the meeting. Launch is set for 9 and 10 August. The support teams will fly to Tyuratam on 2 to 3 August..

• At Tyuratam - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  The VVS contingent flies to the cosmodrome in three Il-14's. Due to the very hot conditions, they land on the 2 km dirt strip - the paved runway is only 1200 m long. Kamanin notices a lot of new construction since he was last at the cosmodrome, 16 months earlier, for Gagarin's launch.

• Titov again - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Kuznetsova, Ponomaryova, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Kamanin learns that Ponomaryova and Kuznetsova spent all night in TItov's apartment at TsPK. 'Dumb girls' he intones. Kamanin travels in a Lvov bus from Area 10 to Area 2, a distance of 40 km. Driving a Volga automobile, the stretch can now be done in only thirty minutes on the newly paved road. Korolev and his engineers are hard at work. Spacecraft number 5 is already in final tests, with Spacecraft 6 one to two days behind it in the processing flow. The launches will be observed by all of the female cosmonauts and 4 to 8 of the new engineer-cosmonauts.

• Launch preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Vostok, Zenit-2 satellite.

  Kamanin is at the Syr Darya River at 06:50, and arrives at Area 2 at 09:00. Suit communications tests are underway. From 11:00 to 13:00 there is a discussion on how the cosmonauts will observe the third stage of their booster, and how the spacecraft will be oriented. To stay pointed, they will need to put the spacecraft in a very slow maneuver of 0.06 deg/sec, or one revolution in 1.8 hours. Once they have achieved this, they have to put the spacecraft in a roll of 0.5 deg/sec, or one revolution in 12 minutes, in order to maintain the spacecraft's thermal balance due to solar heating. Kamanin does not understand why this is necessary - the Cosmos 4 spy satellite, of the same design, spent all four days of its mission in stabilised flight, using infrared horizon trackers, and maintained a stable internal temperature of 17 deg C. Korolev mentions that Cosmos 4 could distinguish types of aircraft on airfields, and the form and tonnage of ships at sea.

• Sunday at the cosmodrome - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Vostok. Launch preparations continue. From 08:00 to 15:00 the NUZ ejection seat parachute system and radio communications are tested. Spacecraft 6 completed acceptance tests for the third time. All should be ready for launch by August 6..

• Vostok 3/4 Launch Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Korolev, Nikolayev, Popovich, Rudenko, Smirnov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  Smirnov, Rudenko, Gagarin attend. Go-ahead is given for launch on 10/11 August. Nikolayev wants to spend one hour in his spacecraft before launch, but Korolev is against this, not wanting the spacecraft disturbed after it has passed all of its tests. Finally a compromise is reached, whereby Nikolayev will get his hour, but without wearing his spacesuit.

• Additional Vostok missions; launch preparations. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Korolev, Nikolayev, Popovich, Rudenko, Titov. Program: Vostok, Soyuz. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4, Vostok 5, Vostok 6, Vostok 6A, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Soyuz A, Soyuz B, Soyuz V, Vostok.

  Kamanin discusses with Rudenko the need for construction and flight of ten additional Vostok spacecraft. Korolev still plans to have the first Soyuz spacecraft completed and flying by May 1963, but Kamanin finds this completely unrealistic. The satellite is still only on paper; he doesn't believe it will fly until 1964. If the Vostoks are not built, Kamanin believes the Americans will surpass the Russians in manned spaceflight in 1963-1964. From 13:00 to 14:00 Nikolayev spends an hour in his spacesuit in the ejection seat. Kamanin finds many mistakes in the design of the ejection seat. There is no room for error in disconnect of the ECS, in release of the seat, and so on. At 17:00 the State Commission holds a rally to fete Gagarin and Titov in the square in front of headquarters. Kamanin finds the event very warm but poorly organised. At 19:00 Smirnov chairs the meeting of the State Commission in the conference hall of the MIK. Korolev declares the spacecraft and launch vehicle ready; Kamanin declares the cosmonauts ready. Nikolayev is formally named the commanding officer of Vostok 3, and Popovich of Vostok 4. Rudenko gets Popovich's name wrong - his second serious mistake. He had earlier called the meeting for the wrong time.

• Launch preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Kamanin gets up at 05:00. A Yangel missile was to have been launched in the morning, but it has been postponed to the evening. Vostok 4 completed its third series of functional tests, but did not pass the visual inspection. The ejection seat, which was taken out of the capsule last night at 23:00, was not back into the capsule until 09:00 this morning, which meant that Popovich could not complete his training in the seat in his suit as planned. The cosmonauts start preparing the ship's flight plans/logs. The Tyuratam airfield is discussed. The 1200 m paved runway is insufficient, it needs to be extended to 3000 m for future requirements. From 15:00 to 20:30 the cosmonauts and the press go on a photo opportunity - fishing on the Syr Darya River.

• Vostok 3 rollout - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Keldysh, Korolev, Nikolayev, Popovich, Smirnov. Program: Vostok, Soyuz. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Soyuz A, Soyuz B, Soyuz V.

  At the MIK Popovich finally trains in his suit in the seat 'as planned'. At 11:30 Smirnov, Korolev, and Keldysh inspect the new space food prepared for the flight, then meet with the cosmonauts. The Soyuz spacecraft is discussed - the cosmonauts want to have a mock-up commission. Afterwards the pilots conduct more training in their flight suits. At 21:00 Vostok 3 is rolled out from Area 10 to the pad. There was a two hour delay due to the need to reinspect the fasteners on the ejection seat - use of unauthorised substitutes was detected on other seats.

• Vostok 3 countdown - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Korolev, Nikolayev, Popovich, Smirnov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  At 12:00 the first press conference was held with reporters from Tass, Pravda, Izvestia, and Krasnaya Zvezda. At 13:15 the launch team holds a meeting at the pad, confirming all is ready. Afterwards Korolev, Smirnov, and the cosmonauts went up in the lift to the capsule. Nikolayev sat in the spacecraft while Korolev quizzed him for thirty minutes on changes made to standard configuration. Then they go to the 'Gagarin' cottage (actually that of Marshal Nedelin) for the night. From 17:00 to 19:00 Feoktistov briefs the cosmonauts on the final flight and contingency plans. Korolev comes in, and discusses the future Soyuz spacecraft, and his planned 16 tonne and 75 tonne manned spacecraft. Then Korolev goes out to the pad again to check on the booster. Kamanin notes that Korolev seems to be made of granite - aside from the Zenit-2 and Vostok launches, Korolev is preparing for three launches of probes to Venus in September, and more probes to Mars and the moon in October. Korolev yens to be allowed to travel abroad, at least to Czechoslovakia. But the State will not allow even this, let alone revealing his central role in their space program. At 22:00 it is agreed that the flight could be prolonged to a fourth day if the spacecraft and cosmonaut were holding up. There were some problems in the three-day test of the Tral telemetry system, but only actual use will show if the problem exists in operational conditions.

• Vostok 3 - . Call Sign: Sokol (Falcon ). Crew: Nikolayev. Backup Crew: Bykovsky, Volynov. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 5. Mass: 4,722 kg (10,410 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Barmin, Gagarin, Khrushchev, Kirillov, Kozlov, Frol, Popovich, Smirnov, Ustinov. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Vostok 3. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 3.93 days. Decay Date: 1962-08-15 . USAF Sat Cat: 363 . COSPAR: 1962-A-Mu-1. Apogee: 218 km (135 mi). Perigee: 166 km (103 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 88.30 min.

  Joint flight with Vostok 4. The first such flight, where Vostok capsules were launched one day apart, coming within a few kilometers of each other at the orbital insertion of the second spacecraft. The flight was supposed to occur in March, but following various delays, one of the two Vostok pads was damaged in the explosion of the booster of the third Zenit-2 reconnsat in May. Repairs were not completed until August. Vostok 3 studied man's ability to function under conditions of weightlessness; conducted scientific observations; furthered improvement of space ship systems, communications, guidance and landing. Immediately at orbital insertion of Vostok 4, the spacecraft were less than 5 km apart. Popovich made radio contact with Cosmonaut Nikolayev. Nikolayev reported shortly thereafter that he had sighted Vostok 4. Since the Vostok had no maneuvering capability, they could not rendezvous or dock, and quickly drifted apart. The launches did allow Korolev to offer something new and different, and gave the launch and ground control crews practice in launching and handling more than one manned spacecraft at a time. The cosmonaut took colour motion pictures of the earth and the cabin interior. Additional Details: here....

• Vostok 4 - . Call Sign: Berkut (Golden Eagle ). Crew: Popovich. Backup Crew: Komarov, Volynov. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 6. Mass: 4,728 kg (10,423 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 2.96 days. Decay Date: 1962-08-15 . USAF Sat Cat: 365 . COSPAR: 1962-A-Nu-1. Apogee: 211 km (131 mi). Perigee: 159 km (98 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 88.20 min.

  Joint flight with Vostok 3. Acquisition of experimental data on the possibility of establishing a direct link between two space ships; coordination of astronauts' operations; study of the effects of identical spaceflight conditions on the human organism. The launch of Popovich proceeds exactly on schedule, the spacecraft launching with 0.5 seconds of the planned time, entering orbit just a few kilometers away from Nikolayev in Vostok 3. Popovich had problems with his life support system, resulting in the cabin temperature dropping to 10 degrees Centigrade and the humidity to 35%. The cosmonaut still managed to conduct experiments, including taking colour motion pictures of the terminator between night and day and the cabin interior.

  Despite the conditions, Popovich felt able to go for the full four days scheduled. But before the mission, Popovich had been briefed to tell ground control that he was 'observing thunderstorms' if he felt the motion sickness that had plagued Titov and needed to return on the next opportunity. Unfortunately he actually did report seeing thunderstorms over the Gulf of Mexico, and ground control took this as a request for an early return. He was ordered down a day early, landing within a few mintutes of Nikolayev. Only on the ground was it discovered that he was willing to go the full duration, and that ground control had thought he had given the code.

• Vostok 3/4 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  The dual flights proeceed normally. At the 07:30 communications session Nikolayev is on his 31st orbit, and Popovich on his 16th. Nikolayev reports having awoken from his sleep period at 04:30 and Popovich at 04:53. At 22:30 there is a stormy meeting of the State Commission. Nikolayev's cabin temperature has dropped from 27 deg C at lift-off, to 13 deg C on the 29th orbit, and still 13 deg C on the 36th orbit. However the cosmonaut reports he has no trouble with this temperature in his suit. Problem existed with the Tral telemetry system, but these have now been solved. Nearly everyone wants to prolong Nikolayev's flight to a fourth day, except Kamanin, who is worried about the unknown physical condition of the cosmonaut after such a long flight. Furthermore the change will move the landing to a rocky area with higher winds expected. After heated discussion it is decided to review the matter again in the morning and decide then.

• Vostok 3/4 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Khrushchev, Korolev, Nikolayev, Popovich, Smirnov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  A meeting of the state commission is held at 07:00 to decide whether to prolong Nikolayev's flight to a fourth day. It is finally agreed that they will bring both spacecraft down on 15 August, with Nikolayev re-entering on his 65th orbit and Popovich on his 49th. Kamanin advises Nikolayev via the Yelizovo tracking station: "Go for a fourth day / 65 orbits". But this will ruin plans for a three-day comprehensive post-landing medical examination, since Nikolayev and Popovich have to be in Moscow on Friday, the 18th, for the preplanned celebrations at the Kremlin.

  The State Commission met again at 17:00, to decide whether to extend Popovich to a fourth day as well. Smirnov and Korolev have already discussed this with Khrushchev. It all right with them, and there are no technical reasons not to. But Popovich is much more active than Nikolayev, since he wasn't expecting a four day flight, and he has not conserved his resources as Nikolayev has. At 12:00 the spacecraft temperature was down to 11 deg C, with low humidity. Kamanin objects violently, and finally it is decided to ask the cosmonaut directly if he feels able to go for the extra day. Popovich, when contacted, immediately declares himself ready to go for an extra day and a 65 orbit mission. It is decided to study expected landing conditions for an extended mission and the physical condition of the cosmonaut before making a final decision.

• Landing of Vostok 3 - . Return Crew: Nikolayev. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3. Recovered August 15, 1962 6:52 GMT. Landed 48:02N 75:45 E. Both the Vostok 3 and 4 spacecraft land successfully six minutes apart a short distance from each other..

• Landing of Vostok 4 - . Return Crew: Popovich. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Keldysh, Khrushchev, Korolev, Nikolayev, Popovich, Rudenko, Smirnov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 4.

  Recovered August 15, 1962 6:59 GMT. Landed 48:09 N 71:51 E. By 07:00 the temperature aboard Vostok 4 is down to 10 deg C, and the humidity at 35%. Popovich is ready to continue for a fourth day, but he admits the cold is getting to him. Keldysh and Rudenko now support returning Vostok 4 to earth on the 49th orbit, but Smirnov still wants to go for the extra day. Then Popovich radios 'I observe thunderstorms (groza). Groza is the pre-agreed code word to indicate that the cosmonaut is vomiting. It is believed he is declaring an emergency and requesting an immediate landing. The State Commission meets again and has to decide within 40 minutes whether to begin setting the spacecraft up for retrofire. But then when Korolev and Smirnov ask the cosmonaut to verify, he explains "I am excellent, I was observing meteorological thunderstorms and lightning". However Gagarin and Kamanin are suspicious of the explanation - they believe Popovich had an attack of nausea, panicked, made the emergency radio transmission, but then felt better and didn't want to admit to his weakness when confronted by the leadership. However it is now too late. He is set to return at nearly the same time as Nikolayev on Vostok 3. Both spacecraft land successfully six minutes apart a short distance from each other. However flight plans for the State Commission are wrecked due to bad weather at nearby airfields.

• Vostok 3/4 post-flight debriefings - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Nikolayev and Popovich finally arrive in Kuibyshev aboard an Il-18 aircraft that originated from from Sary Shagan. Now come the medical check-ups and interviews by the State Commission, The State Commission finds that both missions have outstanding results. The cosmonauts present believe that in the future men, not machines, should pilot the spacecraft. The way was clear for 5 to 10 Vostok flights in the next year.

  Nikolayev's post-flight debriefing: The rocket vibration was not great initially, but very forceful at the end of operation of the second stage. There was quite a shock on separation of the spacecraft from the third stage. 15 minutes before the launch of Popovich's spacecraft I oriented the Vostok and at 11:03 the spacecraft was at the correct 73 degree pitch attitude. However I was unable to see either Popovich's spacecraft or his booster rocket. I had bad communications with Zarya on the first day. On the fourth revolution, during the communications session with Khrushchev, I could not hear, but then during the second, third, and fourth day of the flight communications were clear. The Globus instrument was valuable. Zero-G was not unpleasant, and on the fourth day I sharply turned by head to the left and right but could not force any bad reactions. I felt fully trained in use of the equipment. Over Turkey I could see airfields, cities, paved roads, and ships at sea. The TDU retrorocket operated for 42 seconds. The re-entry capsule revolved randomly on reaching the denser atmosphere and I pulled 8 to 9 G's on re-entry. There were many boulders in the landing area, but I was able to guide my parachute to land in a 2 x 2 m clear area.

  Popovich debriefing: I could easily see the earth flowing below. Manual orientation using this by day or the stars by night was possible. There was lots of static on the UHF band on space-ground communications. Space-to-space communications with Sokol were very good, especially over the equator. Moving my head caused no motion sickness problems. After ejection, I secured my reserve parachute (as had Nikolayev). I saw a search aircraft twenty minutes after landing. The NAZ antenna did not deploy (as with Nikolyaev).

  After the debriefing, a celebration is held with the cosmonauts, State Commission, and local officials. Everyone gets pretty drunk. Kamanin is finally instructed to take Nikolayev and Popovich to bed at midnight. The rest continue until 2 in the morning.

• Vostok 3/4 post-flight - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Nikolayev, Popovich, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  The cosmonauts continue their post-flight medical examinations, but everyone is suffering from hangovers from the celebration the night before. There was a stupid incident, with some of the leaders blaming Nikolayev of bad behaviour. Most of the commission leaves in the evening. In the afternoon the new heroes of the cosmos - Gagarin, Titov, Nikolayev, and Popovich - are taken boating, to the acclaim of crowds on the shore.

• Vostok 3/4 cosmonauts arrive in Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4.

  In the morning, the cosmonauts rehearse the speeches sent to them from Moscow for the celebrations. Then they depart Kuibyshev. A fighter escort intercepts the cosmonauts' aircraft at 13:00, and the aircraft lands at Moscow at 14:00 sharp. Enormous celebrations follow.

• Vostok 3/4 cosmonauts meet with workers - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. The cosmonauts hold their traditional meeting with 6,000 workers at OKB-1, and hand over the ships' logs to Korolev..

• Vostok 3/4 cosmonauts meetings - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. The cosmonauts meet with the General Staff of the Air Force, followed by a press conference at noon..

• Future Vostok flight plans discussed - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Keldysh, Korolev, Malinovskiy, Smirnov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 11, Vostok 12, Vostok 5, Vostok 6, Vostok 6A, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9.

  At Baikonur for the launch of a Venera probe, the Soviet space leadership discussed future plans. The female cosmonaut training group was there for their first rocket launch. The next Vostok would carry the first woman into space; Ponomaryova, Solovyova, and Tereshkova were the leading candidates. Flight plans were discussed at a meeting in the evening between Kamanin and Leonid Smirnov. It would be possible to make the flight by the end of 1962, but March-April 1963 was more likely, depending on the final report on the Vostok 3/4 flights. The work force would be fully occupied in August-October in launching probes to Venus and Mars, also probably delaying any Vostok flight until the following spring. The next flight would probably be part of a group flight of two or three spacecraft, piloted by both men and women. The female flights would be limited to three days, while the male flights would last for 7 to 8 days. Additional Details: here....

• Baikonur conditions - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Kamanin is at Tyuratam for the impending Venera launch, together with some of the cosmonauts. He notes that officers at Tyuratam have to live in hostels, without their families. Some have been there from three to five years, separated from their wives and children. Those who leave to see their families are court-martialled for desertion. At a morning briefing a new 'forced' method of manually orienting the Vostok is discussed. This will allow the spacecraft to turn 360 degrees in 12 minutes. The conservative method using residual angular velocities takes two hours. In the evening the State Commission for the Venera launch meets. This is the first one ever not attended by Korolev - after the meeting in the Kremlin, he became very ill, and is in the hospital. It will be two to three weeks before he can return to work.

• Sputnik 19 - . Payload: 2MV-1 s/n 1. Mass: 890 kg (1,960 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Kuznetsova, Ponomaryova, Solovyova, Tereshkova, Yerkina. Agency: RVSN. Program: Venera, Vostok. Class: Venus. Type: Venus probe. Spacecraft Bus: 2MV. Spacecraft: Mars 2MV-1. Decay Date: 1962-08-28 . USAF Sat Cat: 371 . COSPAR: 1962-A-Pi-1. Apogee: 252 km (156 mi). Perigee: 173 km (107 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 88.70 min.

  Attempt to launch a probe towards Mars. The launch went well, but the fourth stage motor burnt for only 45s of the planned 240s. The stage remained in Earth orbit. However Kamanin notes that it was good that the launch of the basic vehicle was a success - it gave the visiting female cosmonauts confidence in the rocket they will have to ride.

• Female Vostok flights delayed to 1963 - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 11, Vostok 12, Vostok 5, Vostok 6, Vostok 6A, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft Bus: Sokol. Spacecraft: Sokol SK-1.

  The prospects did not look good for authorisation of production of ten further Vostok spacecraft. In a heated discussion between Rudenko, Ivanovskiy, and Grechko, it was argued that production of further Vostoks would delay flight of the first Soyuz spacecraft by a year. On the other hand this would mean no Soviet manned flights in 1963-1964. Furthermore Ivanovskiy reported that production of the female version of the Vostok space suit could not be completed until the end of 1962. Therefore this meant that the flight of two female cosmonauts in the final two available Vostok spacecraft would be delayed until March-April 1963 - the very end of the storage life of the spacecraft.

• Korolev supports military Vostok flights - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Khrushchev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 11, Vostok 12, Vostok 13, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9.

  Korolev, still very ill in the hospital following a collapse six days earlier, supported Kamanin's plan for acceptance of the Vostok manned spacecraft for military service with the Soviet Air Force. It could enter series production and be used for continuous military research flights. However the General Staff continued to oppose any expansion of manned space flight. It it wasn't for Khrushchev, Korolev noted, there would not be any Soviet manned space programme at all.

• N1 and GR-1 authorised. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Keldysh, Korolev, Yangel. Program: Vostok.

  Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 1021-436 'On start of work on the N1 and GR-1' was issued. Following a review of the N1 project by an Academy of Sciences expert commission headed by Keldysh in July, this decree provided a detailed plan leading to a first launch by the end of 1965. Planning and drawing release for the GR-1 were completed by this date and the decree ordered test flights to begin in the third quarter of 1963. However development problems with the NK-9 engine resulted in continual delays. Finally in 1964 Korolev's GR-1 was cancelled and Yangel's R-36 was selected for the mission. This would deprive Korolev of a vital test-bed for flight test of the N1 engines.

• Cosmos 9 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 7. Mass: 4,700 kg (10,300 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 4.00 days. Decay Date: 1962-10-01 . USAF Sat Cat: 422 . COSPAR: 1962-A-Omega-1. Apogee: 981 km (609 mi). Perigee: 829 km (515 mi). Inclination: 67.60 deg. Period: 103.10 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Also performed radiation measurements..

• Cosmos 10 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 5. Mass: 4,700 kg (10,300 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 4.00 days. Decay Date: 1962-10-21 . USAF Sat Cat: 437 . COSPAR: 1962-B-Zeta-1. Apogee: 376 km (233 mi). Perigee: 178 km (110 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 90.00 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Also performed radiation measurements..

• Plans for additional Vostoks quashed - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 11, Vostok 12, Vostok 13, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9.

  Kamanin prepared recommendations for General Staff discussions on future Vostok military flights. His plan involved construction of ten additional spacecraft including new versions to test military equipment for reconnaisance, interception, and combat objectives. Flights would begin in 1963: manned flights of ten days duration; flights with biological payloads of 30 days duration; flights with biological payloads in high orbits to test the effects of Van Allen radiation belt exposure; flights that would conduct a range of technology experiments, including manual landing; landing with the cosmonaut within the capsule; depressurisation of the capsule to vacuum test equipment and suits for future spacewalks; etc). The plan was killed by his superiors.

• Plans for Vostok female cosmonaut flight discussed. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6, Vostok 6A.

  A meeting was held to discuss alternatives for the next two Vostok flights. Alternatives were simultaneous flight of two capsules, each with a female cosmonaut; or one female flight and a male 5 to 7 day flight. The flight would occur no earlier than April 1963.

• Meeting of the Soviet Ministers - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok, Soyuz. Flight: Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9.

  They agree to a plan for a national centrifuge facility: specifications to be determined in 1963, and the facility completed by 1967. They are not if favour of building more Vostoks - they want to move on to the Soyuz spacecraft. But this will produce an 18 to 24 month gap in Soviet manned spaceflight, during which the Americans will certainly catch up (Cooper's one-day Mercury flight is already scheduled).

• Female cosmonaut crew selection. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Ponomaryova, Tereshkova. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6, Vostok 6A. The members of the female cosmonaut group were given academic tests and interviewed to choose the first woman in space.. Additional Details: here....

• General Staff rejects construction of additional Vostoks - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Ustinov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. The letter to Ustinov, head of the Military Industrial Commission, opposed acquisition of ten additional spacecraft. However Korolev had secretly begun final assembly of four additional Vostoks in his factory..

• Final tests for female cosmonauts. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6, Vostok 6A.

  Academic examinations were completed of the female cosmonaut corps. Kuznetsova had missed to much training and was excluded from even taking the test. Of the four women remaining, only Tereshkova did not receive the highest marks. This was attributed to her being too nervous and excited during the examination. All were given the rank of Junior Lieutenant in the VVS Soviet Air Force.

  Kamanin considered Tereshkova as the leading candidate for the first flight, with Solovyova as her back-up. In personality they were equivalent to Gagarin/Nikolayev - indeed, Tereshkova was considered 'Gagarin in a skirt'. Ponomaryova and Yerkina were equal candidates for the second female Vostok flight. The group would go to a resort in the Urals from 30 November to 10 January. The final decision as to which one would fly would only be made 3 or 4 days before the flight.

• Soviet Space Plans for 1963-1964 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Smirnov, Ustinov. Program: Soyuz, Vostok, DS. Flight: Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Soyuz A, Soyuz B, Soyuz V, Vostok, Zenit-2 satellite, Zenit-4.

  Meeting of the Interdepartmental Soviet of the Academy of Sciences reviews space exploration plans. In the next two years, 5-6 Luna probes will be sent to the moon, including soft landers with a mass of 100 kg, and orbiters to map the surface. There will be flybys and landings of Mars and Venus. Two Zond spacecraft will study the space environment out to 20 million kilometres from the earth. In earth orbit, 10 Zenit spy satellites, 10 to 12 Vostok manned spacecraft, 4 to 6 Soyuz spacecraft, and 10 to 12 Kosmos satellites will be launched. The Kosmos will fly missions in meteorology, communications, television transmission, and heliographic, and geological studies. Kamanin finds this a good program, but it nearly all relies on a single launch pad and one-time transmission of data from a few satellites. The military plan is not reviewed; it must go through the VPK Military-Industrial Commission first. An Expert Commission is to be formed on the Soyuz spacecraft. Smirnov and Korolev have dictated a letter to Ustinov asking that eight more Vostoks be built. On the other hand, some on the general staff want 60 cosmonauts trained in the next two to three years, to support 8 to 10 flights of single-place spacecraft and 7 to 8 flights of multiplace spacecraft.

• Big fight on cosmonaut tour - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Nikolayev, Popovich, Rudenko. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4. The issue of Popovich and Nikolayev going to Indonesia has been escalated to the level of Gromyko, Rudenko, and Ivashutin of the KGB..

• Cosmos 12 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 6. Mass: 4,700 kg (10,300 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1962-12-30 . USAF Sat Cat: 517 . COSPAR: 1962-B-Omega-1. Apogee: 385 km (239 mi). Perigee: 202 km (125 mi). Inclination: 64.80 deg. Period: 90.40 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Also performed radiation measurements..

• Absurd situations! - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Popovich. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 4.

  A decree ordering the training of sixty cosmonauts has been laying around, and suddenly the leadership wants to enforce it. 15 new trainee male cosmonauts, and 15 women are to be recruited - an overall total of 20 by the end of 1962 and 40 by the end of 1963 And crews are to be formed and trained, even though there are no spacecraft being built for the missions. And the decision that Popovich is to go on his Cuba tour is handed down only 2.5 hours before he is supposed to depart.

• Cosmonaut training plan for 1963 - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Each cosmonaut is to get 50 flight hours piloting aircraft, of which 25 are to be in fighters. The amount of academic and spacecflight training will be double the load of a normal VVS officer..

• Smirnov opposed to dual female Vostok flight. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Smirnov, Titov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6, Vostok 6A. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Smirnov only wants to fly two, not four Vostoks this year. One male, and one female cosmonaut would be launched in a group flight. Correct approvals cannot be obtained in time for manufacture of four Vostoks until August of this year. Later Kamanin has another scene with Titov. The cosmonaut was drunk on a factory visit, and defied the militia when confronted.

• Further construction of Vostok spacecraft approved. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Vostok. Decree 24 'On the Manufacture of 'Vostok' Objects --manufacture of Vostok spacecraft in 1963' was issued..

• Plethora of projeects - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Vershinin. Program: Vostok, Soyuz. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6, Vostok 6A, Vostok 7. Spacecraft: Raketoplan, Soyuz A, Vostok. Vershinin says the Soviet Union can't work on the Vostok, Soyuz, and Raketoplan manned spacecrafft all at the same time. But he still wants fo fly four Vostoks by the end of the year..

• Vostok programme cut back - second female flight cancelled - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Kozlov. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 5, Vostok 6, Vostok 6A, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Vostok flight plans were drastically curtailed at a meeting of the Presidium of the Communist Party. Korolev presented the plan for 1963 as approved by the Interorganizational Soviet at the beginning of the year. This plan, already in an advanced stage of execution, was rejected utterly by Kozlov and Vershinin. The Ministry of Defence announced its categorical opposition to further Vostok production. It was finally decided that there would be only two flights in 1963 using existing spacecraft. These were scheduled for June and would consist of simultaneous female and male flights. Kamanin was infuriated that although he was ordered by a leadership decree in December 1961 to train five women for spaceflight, the same leadership was now asking - Who ordered this? What was the purpose? Are we sure they're ready?

• Vostok launch plans in 1963. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Vostok. Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On preparation of proposals on launches of Vostok spacecraft' was issued..

• Cosmos 13 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 9. Mass: 4,700 kg (10,300 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1963-03-29 . USAF Sat Cat: 554 . COSPAR: 1963-006A. Apogee: 303 km (188 mi). Perigee: 214 km (132 mi). Inclination: 65.20 deg. Period: 89.60 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Also performed radiation measurements..

• Vostok 6A (cancelled) - . Crew: Ponomaryova. Backup Crew: Yerkina. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 8. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Tereshkova, Ustinov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 6A. Spacecraft: Vostok. Decay Date: 1963-06-19 . USAF Sat Cat: 595 . Apogee: 192 km (119 mi). Perigee: 163 km (101 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 88.00 min.

  From August 1962 until February 21, 1963 it was planned that the next two Vostok flights (Vostok 5 and 6) would take place in March-April 1963 and be a dual female flight. Two capsules would be launched a day apart; each would remain aloft for three days. Although a final decision would only be made at the last minute, cosmonaut chief Kamanin always planned to name Tereshkova for the first flight. She was appropriately feminine and modest, and always mouthed the correct Communist party line in interviews. Ponomaryova was considered the most qualified candidate technically and emotionally for the Vostok 6 flight. However her aggressive feminism and failure to mouth Soviet catch-phrases were considered drawbacks by the male Communist stalwarts that ran the programme. This dual female flight plan was approved all the way up the Soviet hierarchy until it was killed at the last moment at a meeting of the Presidium of the Communist Party on 21 March 1963 by party ideologue Kozlov and Ministry of Defence Chief Ustinov. Only one female would be allowed to fly for propaganda purposes. A male cosmonaut (Bykovsky) was rushed into final training, delaying the dual flights for two months. Tereshkova made it into space aboard Vostok 6, following Bykovsky aboard Vostok 5. But Ponomaryova and the other female cosmonauts trained in the 1960's never flew.

• Vostok proposed as the first 'space trainer'. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Keldysh, Korolev. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  In a meeting between the VVS and OKB-1 engineers, Korolev and Keldysh push for acceptance by the military and use of Vostok as the first 'space trainer'. Cosmonauts would train for spaceflight on Vostok missions before being assigned to operational flights aboard Soyuz.. This was consistent with aircraft practice (e.g. where the first effective jet fighter, the MiG-15, was converted to the MiG-15UTI and became the standard jet trainer for the VVS). It also envisioned a future where operational Vostok and Soyuz spacecraft would be mass-produced by the military and flown as regularly as fighter aircraft.

• Decree issued for four Vostok flights in 1963. - . Nation: Russia. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok. Decree issued by the Soviet ministers and Central Committee setting out four Vostok flights in 1963. Two are to be launched by 15 June. .

• Vostok plans in 1963. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Vostok. Decree 'On plans for Vostok launches in 1963' was issued..

• Cosmonaut training for Vostok 5/6. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Khrunov, Leonov, Tereshkova, Volynov. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  It is clear that the female cosmonauts are trained and ready for an August flight, and the men (Bykovskiy, Volynov, Leonov, Khrunov) can complete training by that date. The male cosmonauts object to spending 7 to 8 days in a spacesuit in the ground spacecraft mock-up as required by the flight doctors. They don't want to spend more than 3 to 4 days.

• Cosmos 15 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 8. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 5.00 days. Decay Date: 1963-04-27 . USAF Sat Cat: 569 . COSPAR: 1963-011A. Apogee: 336 km (208 mi). Perigee: 194 km (120 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 89.80 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Also carried weather, radiation experiments..

• Cosmos 16 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 10. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 10.00 days. Decay Date: 1963-05-08 . USAF Sat Cat: 571 . COSPAR: 1963-012A. Apogee: 379 km (235 mi). Perigee: 201 km (124 mi). Inclination: 64.70 deg. Period: 90.30 min. Program partially completed. Part of the information lost due to failure of engine block stabilization system. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Also performed radiation measurements..

• Yerkina excluded from Vostok 6 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Yerkina. Flight: Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok. Yerkina was excluded from Vostok 6 due to her performance during the three day test in the hot mock-up. She took off her boots after one day, and ate only three rations in three days. She was weak and fainted after coming out of the spacecraft. .

• Vostok 5 / Vostok 6 Planning - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Keldysh, Khrunov, Korolev, Leonov, Ponomaryova, Rudenko, Solovyova, Tereshkova, Volynov, Yerkina. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Korolev reports still problems with components of the electrical system from the Kharkov factory -- the same problems that existed in 1962. The cosmonauts will go to Tyuratam on 27/28 May, with launch planned for 3/5 June. Bykovskiy is named prime for Vostok 5, with Volynov his backup. Tereshkova is named prime for Vostok 6, with Solovyova and Ponomaryeva both as her backups. This selection is however made despite strong support for Ponomaryeva as prime by Keldysh and Rudenko.

• Tereshkova and Solovyova rated most ready to fly on Vostok 6. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Ponomaryova, Solovyova, Tereshkova, Yerkina. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok. Tereshkova and Solovyova are most ready to fly and will be sent to Fedosiya for sea training first. Ponomaryova and Yerkina will follow tomorrow. Bykovskiy started his run in the hot mock-up at 10:00 am. .

• Cooper's flight scrubbed; Bukovskiy to start in Vostok 5 hot mock-up. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Cooper. Flight: Mercury MA-9, Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Cooper's flight was scrubbed due to a problem with the Bermuda tracking site. Bykovskiy's suit microphone failed on the second day in the hot-mock-up and he as to communicate by telephone or telegraph. The doctor's insistence that each cosmonaut spend the full duration of his planned flight in the hot mock-up is idiotic. The US practice is to simulate the active portions of the flight only. In actuality every day spent in a suit on the earth is as gruelling as three days in space.

• Bykovsky's ordeal in Vostok-5 hot mock-up to be ended on third day. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Cooper. Flight: Mercury MA-9, Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok. It is decided that extending Bykovskiy's ordeal in the hot mock-up to a third day makes no sense. The IAKM doctors are utterly incompetent. Cooper has landed after a successful flight. The US is now hot on our tail in the space race. .

• Volynov completes three days in the Vostok 5 hot mock-up. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Volynov. Flight: Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok.

• The cosmonauts are informed of the selections for the Vostok 5/6 flights. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Khrunov, Korolev, Leonov, Ponomaryova, Solovyova, Tereshkova, Volynov, Yerkina. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok. Korolev asks Ponomaryova why she is so sad - 'I am not sad, but serious, as always'..

• Vostok 5 ready for launch on 10 June. - . Nation: Russia. Flight: Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok. It is reported that the spacecraft will be ready for launch on 5 June and the launch vehicle on 10 June. .

• Cosmos 18 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 11. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 9.00 days. Decay Date: 1963-06-02 . USAF Sat Cat: 586 . COSPAR: 1963-018A. Apogee: 269 km (167 mi). Perigee: 212 km (131 mi). Inclination: 64.60 deg. Period: 89.30 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Also performed radiation measurements..

• VPK meets to approve plans for Vostok 5 and 6 flights. - . Nation: Russia. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok. It was proposed that Vostok 5 carry a small 1.5 kg optical telescope to allow better visual observations outside of the spacecraft..

• Vostok 5/6 Flight Preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Raushenbakh, Rudenko. Flight: Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Sunday before the launch. Rudenko goes to the Syr Darya for a swim. The cosmonauts play volleyball, then receive instruction from Rauschenbach on manual orientation of the spacecraft for re-entry. Then everyone goes to the beach for swimming and chess. Good river bass are cooked for dinner. In the evening, the film The Magnificent Seven is screened. Kamanin finds it violent but involving - the two hours go by in no time.

• Cosmonauts and brass arrive at the cosmodrome for the Vostok 5/6 launch. - . Nation: Russia. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  A meeting is held to discuss emergency recovery of the Vostoks. There is no realistic chance of their survival if they land at sea in the South Atlantic, Pacific, or Antarctic Oceans, however plans must be made. Several ships and three to four Tu-114 aircraft would be required to have any realistic chance of recovery. However these are not available.

• Vostok 5/6 Flight Preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Korolev, Ponomaryova, Solovyova, Tereshkova, Volynov. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  At 9 am Tereshkova, Solovyova, and Ponomaryova practice donning and doffing their space suits. Bykovskiy and Volynov prepare their ship's logs. Korolev discusses plans for tests of the cosmonaut's ability to discern objects from space. Colonel Kirillov completes preparation of the spacecraft for flight.

• The State Commission for Vostok 5/6 launches meets. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  All is ready, but the wind is predicted to by 15 to 20 m/s on 7 June. The launch vehicle cannot be launched in winds over 15 m/s. Bykovskiy and Tereshkova are confirmed as the crew for 8 and 3 day flight durations. When they return to earth, a new and difficult life as celebrities will begin for them -- they will be known all over the world.

• Vostok 5/6 Flight Preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Volynov. Flight: Vostok 3, Vostok 4, Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  On the last five days it has been 25 deg C during the days and 15 deg C at night. In the evening the classified film on Nikolayev and Popovich's flights is screened. Kamanin regrets that it cannot be made public. What the Soviet state considers secrets - the configuration of the rocket and spacecraft, the identity of the managers and launch teams - are public knowledge in the US program. A VVS Li-2 (DC-3) transport arrives at Tyuratam with three tonnes of fruit. A real treat for the launch teams. The cosmonauts spend their final night in the cottages. These are equipped with good-quality Italian air conditioners that keep the cosmonauts comfortable on their last night on earth.

• Launches of Vostok 5 and 6 delayed - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Titov. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Launches of Vostok 5 and 6 are delayed due to failure of the command radio line. There were many such failures during preparation of the spacecraft. It will take three to four days to fix. Kamanin inspects the site for the planned cosmonaut quarters on the Syr Darya river. It is located next to Khrushchev's houses (which he has handed over to Chelomei for quartering his people) and the television centre. The building will face east, with a view of the river and a wooded island. Bykovskiy is run through a first 'practice press conference' to teach him the correct responses to questions. The military officers want to minimise press contacts with the cosmonauts in any case. But the kids in the town are mad about the cosmonauts -- the chanted from 6 to 11 pm in the evening outside their quarters, and Kamanin has seen teenage girls stand in the rain for hours for a chance to see Titov (and he never even came out as promised).

• Vostok 5/6 Flight Preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok. A review of the spacecraft radio problems shows that the rejection rate for production equipment is 6% against 2% guaranteed by 5-GURVO. Tereshkova sits in the Vostok 6 spacecraft, and makes a good impression on the technicians. .

• Vostok 5 is rolled out - . Nation: Russia. Flight: Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Vostok 5 is rolled out to the pad at 9 am. It is erected and then tested from 11:00 to 13:30. All is well and it is declared ready for launch. At 16:00 the cosmonauts take the traditional pre-launch walk along the Syr Darya. All is filmed for posterity, including the cosmonauts fishing for their dinner.

• Vostok 5 scrubbed due to solar flares. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Keldysh, Korolev. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The launch of Vostok 5 is set for 11 June. Final training and consultations are under way. Korolev is not happy with the condition of the spacecraft. At 22:30 in the evening the launch is scrubbed when Keldysh calls from Moscow and advises excessive solar flare activity is expected. Keldysh will review the data tomorrow and advise if it really poses a danger to the cosmonauts.

• Vostok 5 slipped to 14 June - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Korolev, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The cosmonauts spend the day on the beach. Tereshkova sits a long time with Korolev on the balcony on the second floor of the house on the river. He interviews here thoroughly to make sure she is ready for the flight. The State Commission meets at 17:00. The expected solar flare did not occur, but the Crimean Observatory claims the risk will remain high. The decision is made to defer the launches to 14/15 June.

• Vostok 5 preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky. Flight: Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok. The next two days are spent waiting - on the beach in the heat, in fishing, and in politics between the brass at the site. .

• Vostok 5 a go for 14 June. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky. Flight: Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok. The solar activity has subsided and the launch of Vostok 5 is set for the following day. Kamanin has foreboding about the flight - eight days in space will be tough on both man and machine. .

• Vostok 5 Launch - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Gagarin, Khrushchev, Kirillov, Korolev, Pilyugin, Tyulin. Flight: Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  At 8 am the State Commission meets and approves a five-hour countdown to launch of Vostok 5 at 14:00. The cosmonaut and his backup have slept well and are at medical at 9:00 for the pre-flight physical examination and donning of their space suits. At T minus 2 hours and fifteen minutes they ride the bus to the pad. A few minutes after Bykovskiy is inserted into the capsule, problems with the UHF communications channels are encountered - three of the six channels seem to be inoperable. Gagarin and Odintsov are consulted on how it will be for the cosmonaut to fly with just three channels operable - is it a Go or No-Go? Go! Next a problem develops with the ejection seat. After the hatch is sealed, a technician cannot find one of the covers that should have been removed from the ejection seat mechanism. It is necessary to unbolt the hatch and check - the seat will not eject if the cover has been left in place. At T minus 15 minutes Gagarin, Korolev, Kirillov, and Kamanin go into the bunker adjacent to the rocket.

  A new problem arises -- the 'Go' light for the Block-E third stage won't illuminate on the control room console. It can't be determined if it is a failure of the stage or an instrumentation failure. It will take two to five hours to bring up the service tower and check out the stage. But if the rocket is left fuelled that long, regulations say it must be removed from the pad and sent back to the factory for refurbishment. In that case there can be no launch until August. Krylov and the State Commission would rather defer the launch to August. The last possible launch time is 17:00 in order to have correct lighting conditions for retrofire and at emergency landing zones. But Korolev, Tyulin, Kirillov, and Pilyugin have faith in their rocket, decide that the problem must be instrumentation, and recycle the count for a 17:00 launch.

  The launch goes ahead perfectly at 17:00 - even all six UHF communications channels function perfectly. On orbit 4 Bykovskiy talks to Khrushchev from orbit and good television images are received from the capsule. Bykovskiy reports he can see the stars but not the solar corona. His orbit is good for eleven days.

• Vostok 5 - . Call Sign: Yastreb (Hawk ). Crew: Bykovsky. Backup Crew: Leonov, Volynov. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 7. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Vostok 5. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 4.96 days. Decay Date: 1963-06-19 . USAF Sat Cat: 591 . COSPAR: 1963-020A. Apogee: 131 km (81 mi). Perigee: 130 km (80 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 87.10 min.

  Joint flight with Vostok 6. The Soviet Union launched Vostok 5, piloted by Lt. Col. Valery F. Bykovsky. Two days later Lt. Valentina V. Tereshkova, the first spacewoman, followed in Vostok 6. On its first orbit, Vostok 6 came within about five km of Vostok 5, the closest distance achieved during the flight, and established radio contact. Both cosmonauts landed safely on June 19. The space spectacular featured television coverage of Bykovsky that was viewed in the West as well as in Russia. Unlike earlier missions, only a black and white film camera was carried. Photometric measurements of the earth's horizon were made.

  Mission objectives were officially: further study of the effect of various space-flight factors in the human organism; extensive medico-biological experiments under conditions of prolonged flight; further elaboration and improvement of spaceship systems.

  Vostok 5 was originally planned to go for a record eight days. The launch was delayed repeatedly due to high solar activity and technical problems. Finally the spacecraft ended up in a lower than planned orbit. Combined with increased atmospheric activity due to solar levels, Vostok 5 quickly decayed temperatures in the service module reached very high levels.

  Bykovsky also experienced an unspecified problem with his waste management system (a spill?) which made conditions in the cabin 'very uncomfortable'. He was finally ordered to return after only five days in space.

  To top it all off, once again the Vostok service module failed to separate cleanly from the reentry sphere. Wild gyrations ensued until the heat of reentry burned through the non-separating retraining strap.

• Vostok 5 day 3 / Vostok 6 launch - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Gagarin, Khrushchev, Korolev, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Bykovskiy slept well, his pulse was 54. The ground station could observe him via television - he made no motion while sleeping. On orbit 23 the cosmonaut was to communicate with earth, but no transmissions were received. Gagarin asks him why, and Bykovskiy simply replies that he had nothing to say and had already had a communications session with Zarya-1. But this was not true, they also reported no transmissions. At 07:00 he is asleep again, pulse 48-51. An hour later Korolev calls and discusses the impending launch of Vostok 6, 11 hours later.

  At 12:15 Tereshkova is on the pad. Her pulse skyrockets to 140 aboard the elevator to the top of the rocket. 10 to 15 minutes later she is in the capsule and testing radio communications with ground control. There are no problems with the spacecraft or launch vehicle during the countdown - everything goes perfectly, just as it did on 12 April 1961 when Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. Tereshkova handles the launch and ascent to orbit much better than Popovich or Nikolayev according to her biomedical readings and callouts. Kamanin feels reassured that it was no mistake to select her for the flight.

  The launch of the first woman into space creates a newspaper sensation throughout the world. Direct orbit-to-orbit communications between Tereshkova and Bykovskiy are excellent. She talks to Khrushchev and the Soviet leadership soon thereafter. This was truly a great victory for Communism!

• Vostok 6 - . Call Sign: Chayka (Seagull ). Crew: Tereshkova. Backup Crew: Ponomaryova, Solovyova. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 8. Mass: 4,713 kg (10,390 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 2.95 days. Decay Date: 1963-06-19 . USAF Sat Cat: 595 . COSPAR: 1963-023A. Apogee: 166 km (103 mi). Perigee: 165 km (102 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 87.80 min.

  Joint flight with Vostok 5. First woman in space, and the only Russian woman to go into space until Svetlana Savitskaya 19 years later. On its first orbit, Vostok 6 came within about five km of Vostok 5, the closest distance achieved during the flight, and established radio contact. Flight objectives included: Comparative analysis of the effect of various space-flight factors on the male and female organisms; medico-biological research; further elaboration and improvement of spaceship systems under conditions of joint flight. It was Korolev's idea just after Gagarin's flight to put a woman into space as yet another novelty. Khrushchev made the final crew selection. Korolev was unhappy with Tereshkova's performance in orbit and she was not permitted to take manual control of the spacecraft as had been planned.

• Vostok 5 and Vostok 6 return to earth - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Korolev, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  In the morning Tereshkova manually oriented the spacecraft for re-entry easily and held the position for 15 minutes. She was very happy with the result. At 9:00 the state commission took their places in the command post. At 9:34:40 the retrofire command was sent to Vostok 6. After a few seconds, telemetry was received indicating that the engine burn was proceeding normally. The nerves of the commission members finally settled down, but Tereshkova did not call out each event as required. No report of successful solar orientation was received, no report of retrofire, and no report of jettison of the service module. Things remained very tense in the command post - no communications were received from the capsule at all. Knowledge that the spacecraft was returning normally were only received via telemetry, including the signal that the parachute opened correctly from above the landing site. Both spacecraft landed two degrees of latitude north of the aim point. It was calculated that this could have occurred by duplicate landing commands having been sent, but such a failure could not be duplicated in post-flight tests of ground equipment.

  Many errors occurred in the entire landing sequences, including actions of the VVS recovery forces. The conditions of the cosmonauts were only reported several hours after their landings. Big crowds gathered at both landing sites. Bykovskiy spent the night in Kustan, then left on 20 June aboard an Il-14 for Kuibyshev. Tereshkova spent her first night in Karaganda, then flew in an Il-8 to Kuibyshev. Many congratulatory phone calls were received from the Soviet leadership. Korolev declared he had no longer had the time to personally direct Vostok flights and wanted to hand the spacecraft over to the military for operational use. He could then concentrate on development of the Soyuz and Lunik spacecraft.

• Landing of Vostok 6 - . Return Crew: Tereshkova. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Tereshkova. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 6. Vostok 6 landed at 08:20 GMT at 53:16 N 80:27 E..

• Landing of Vostok 5 - . Return Crew: Bykovsky. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 5. Vostok 5 landed at 11:06 GMT at 53:24 N 67:37 E..

• Vostok 5/6 cosmonaut debriefing - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Korolev, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Korolev, Tyulin, and Rudenko left Tyuratam aboard an An-12, followed by 60 others (cosmonauts, officers, engineers) aboard an An-10. General Goreglyad requests that 'extraneous' staff remain in Kuibyshev, while the rest will proceed on to Moscow with Bykovskiy and Tereshkova. The aircraft arrive at 11:30 in Kuibyshev, then go to the debriefing building on the Volga river. There the debriefing of the two cosmonauts began at 13:00. After the debriefings, in the evening, Korolev took the cosmonauts for a trip on the Volga. Kamanin was infuriated - partying would ruin the post-flight medical tracking.

• Vostok 5/6 cosmonaut debriefing - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Tomorrow morning the entire entourage would depart for Moscow. But on this day at the house on the Volga the cosmonauts were subjected to the attentions of seventy doctors, 100 correspondents, and a large additional number of KGB supervisors, military officers, and engineers. Tereshkova looked fresh and her first press conference with sixty correspondents went well - she made no big errors.

• Vostok 5/6 cosmonaut welcome in Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Khrushchev, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The big day for the cosmonauts. Departure for Moscow was scheduled for 10:30, with the meeting with Khrushchev at Vnukovo planned for 15:00. A sensitive issue - who would exit the aircraft first - Tereshkova, the main celebrity, or Bykovskiy, the senior cosmonaut and the first one launched? An enormous motorcade takes the entourage from the house on the Volga to the airport. Tereshkova and Kamanin are in the lead automobile, followed by Bykovskiy in the second, then the correspondents and so far in others, at five minute intervals. Huge crowds all along the route chant 'Valya! Valya! During the flight to Moscow Kamanin goes over Tereshkova's speech with her. When she and Bykovskiy get off the plane and march up to the tribune, a completely new life will begin for them. After the immense reception at the airport, they go with the leadership to a huge rally at Red Square.

• Vostok 5/6 returned cosmonauts traditional meeting with Korolev - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Korolev, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The returned cosmonauts have the traditional meeting with Korolev at the design bureau and hand over their flight logs. The new cosmonaut group is presented as well. Korolev is in a good mood, and makes an especially long-winded speech. Tereshkova has to leave early, at 12:00, to attend yet another press conference and a woman's congress. These activities kept her going until 22:00 in the evening - a gruelling schedule indicative of what was to come.

• Vostok 5/6 cosmonauts pose for their official colour photographs. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Vostok.

• Vostok 5/6 cosmonauts preparared for first international press conference. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Keldysh, Serbin, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  At a meeting of the Central Committee, Tereshkova and Bykovskiy are taken through possible questions and correct replies by Serbin and Keldysh in preparation for their first international press conference. The training extends form 10 in the morning to 17:00 in the afternoon.

• Vostok 5/6 international press conference - . Nation: Russia. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Big international press conference with the cosmonauts, beginning at 13:00. The session goes 1 hour and 45 minutes and all answers given by the cosmonauts are acceptable. After this conference they disappear from public view for seven days of medical examinations and monitoring.

• Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 12 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 12. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Decay Date: 1963-07-10 . Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• Cosmonaut training group formed for planned 1964 Vostok flights - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Gorbatko, Khrunov, Komarov, Leonov, Shonin, Volynov, Zaikin. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok. Belyaev, Komarov, Shonin, Khrunov, Zaikin, Gorbatko, Volynov, and Leonov are assigned..

• Cosmos 20 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 13. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1963-10-26 . USAF Sat Cat: 673 . COSPAR: 1963-040A. Apogee: 296 km (183 mi). Perigee: 201 km (124 mi). Inclination: 64.80 deg. Period: 89.40 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• Cosmos 22 - . Payload: Zenit-4 no. 1. Mass: 6,300 kg (13,800 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-4. Duration: 6.00 days. Decay Date: 1963-11-22 . USAF Sat Cat: 689 . COSPAR: 1963-045A. Apogee: 376 km (233 mi). Perigee: 193 km (119 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 90.20 min. High resolution photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule.

• Plans for the next Vostok flights - . Nation: Russia. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok. Plans for the next Vostok flights are discussed with the training group formed in September. Two group flights of 8 to 10 days each seem the most likely possibility. .

• Vostok 5/6 cosmonauts' Far East tour - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Tereshkova. Flight: Vostok 5, Vostok 6. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The cosmonauts are to depart on a Far East tour on 27 November, but scheduling is difficult because Sukarno calls to change the dates for Indonesia nearly daily. Kamanin develops four variant scenarios. The cosmonauts are to visit Sri Lanka, Burma, and Indonesia.

• VVS Opposes Further Vostok Flights - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Kennedy, Korolev, Rudenko. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  News reaches Moscow that Kennedy has been assassinated. Kamanin talks with Rudenko, who is not interested in Kamanin's plans for a wider VVS role in space. Rudenko believes Korolev's promises that Soyuz will start test flights in 1964 and that no further Vostok flights are necessary. Kamanin pleads that without such flights the American Gemini program will fly unopposed and give the Americans a decisive lead in the space race. The Soviet Union could launch a modified Vostok - a three place spacecraft - to upstage Gemini but the decision has to made now. Rudenko is unmoved.

• Vostok / Soyuz Space Plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Kamanin meets with Korolev at OKB-1. Korolev is opposed to the VVS getting out of manned space flight. The Air Force already has a good laboratory infrastructure to support such space flights. More to the point Korolev feels more at home working with pilots and is sick and tired of dealing with the artillery officers that run the rocket forces. He's been stuck with them for twenty years and its a constant stress. A resolution was issued for development of the Soyuz on 1 December. However Korolev needs 80 million roubles to build and fly four Soyuz spacecraft in 1964, but has only been allocated 30 million.

• Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 14 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 14. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Decay Date: 1963-11-28 . Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• 1964 Flight Plans - . Nation: Russia. Program: Vostok, Soyuz. Flight: Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2A, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Soyuz A, Soyuz B, Soyuz V, Voskhod.

  Four Vostoks are planned for 1964, one of these with dogs and other biological specimens, which will fly for ten days at altitudes of up to 600 km. This is to be followed by an eight day manned flight, then two Vostoks on a ten-day group flight. The altitude for these latter flights will be decided after the results of the dog flight. Then, by the end of the year, the first Soyuz flights will be made. Two to three of the new spacecraft are being prepared. Therefore the crews must start training for circumlunar flights and cislunar navigation. Kamanin decides that he must select 3-4 navigators, 1-2 mathematicians, and 2-3 astronomers to make up a training group of cosmonaut-navigators for these flights.

• Crews for 1964 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Nikolayev, Rudenko, Tereshkova. Program: Vostok, Soyuz, Lunar L1. Flight: Soyuz A-1, Soyuz A-2, Soyuz A-3, Soyuz A-4, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Soyuz A, Soyuz B, Soyuz V, Voskhod.

  Kamanin meets with Rudenko, to discuss selection of three crews for Vostok and three crews for Soyuz flights in 1964. Ioffe reports that the Soyuz docking simulator will be completed by 25 December. Tereshkova, Nikolayev, and Bykovsky are in Indonesia on a public relations tour, to be followed by Burma.

• Cosmos 24 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 15. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 9.00 days. Decay Date: 1963-12-28 . USAF Sat Cat: 712 . COSPAR: 1963-052A. Apogee: 391 km (242 mi). Perigee: 204 km (126 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 90.50 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• Cosmonaut plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Nikolayev, Tereshkova. Program: Vostok, Lunar L1. Flight: Soyuz A-1, Soyuz A-2, Soyuz A-3, Soyuz A-4, Vostok 10, Vostok 11, Vostok 12, Vostok 13, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Soyuz A, Vostok.

  Kamanin is to put together a cosmonaut training plan for additional Vostok and new Soyuz flights by 1 February. Due to a lack of completed spacecraft, the next Vostok flight will not be possible until June 1964 at the earliest. The travel plans for the cosmonauts during the first half of 1964 are also to be drawn up. Tereshkova, Nikolayev, and Bykovsky are to tour India, Indonesia, Burma, Nepal, and Sri Lanka later in the year. Tereshkova will go to Ghana and Lebanon on 20 January, then to England on 31 January.

• Military Soviet on cosmonaut assignments - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Artyukhin, Belyayev, Beregovoi, Bykovsky, Demin, Gorbatko, Gulyayev, Khrunov, Kolodin, Komarov, Kugno, Leonov, Nikolayev, Ponomaryova, Popovich, Shatalov, Shonin, Solovyova, Titov, Volynov, Zaikin, Zholobov. Program: Vostok, Lunar L1. Flight: Soyuz A-1, Soyuz A-2, Soyuz A-3, Soyuz A-4, Vostok 10, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Soyuz A, Vostok.

  The General Staff of the VVS considers future cosmonaut assignments. The acceptance of Beregovoi into the active cosmonaut corps is hotly contested. He has passed all the tests, but is 43 years old, and the official maximum age for a cosmonaut is 35. Finally it is decided that on 25 January six cosmonauts will begin training for Vostok flights (Volynov, Khrunov, Belyayev, Leonov, Komarov, and Beregovoi). On 1 February four crews will begin training for Soyuz flights: Crew 1: Nikolayev, Shonin, Demin, Kugno; Crew 2: Bykovsky, Zaikin, Artyukhin, Gulyayev; Crew 3: Popovich, Gorbatko, Ponomaryova, Kolodin; Crew 4: Titov, Shatalov, Solovyova, Zholobov.

• Cosmonaut plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Kolodin, Rudenko, Volynov. Program: Vostok, Lunar L1. Flight: Soyuz A-3, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok. Marshall Rudenko questions Kamanin's crew assignments. He wants Volynov moved from the lead Vostok group and switched with Kolodin in the Soyuz group..

• Cosmonaut controversy - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Beregovoi, Volynov. Program: Vostok, Lunar L1. Flight: Soyuz A-2, Vostok 10, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The cosmonauts are resisting the VVS leadership's changes to training plans, particularly the pushing of Beregovoi and the downgrading of Volynov's assignment. Kamanin vows to vigorously fight flying Beregovoi until he has completed the full course of cosmonaut training and has proven himself worthy of a flight assignment.

• Parachute training - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Leonov, Tereshkova, Zverev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 10, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Kamanin prepares schedules for Tereshkova's visit to England on 4-10 February. Leonov's Vostok training group travels to Kirzhach to complete parachute training. Kamanin tries to pressure Korolev, Zverev, and Ivanovskiy to accelerate work on further Vostok flights.

• Korolev's plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Beregovoi, Volynov. Program: Vostok, Lunar L1. Flight: Soyuz A-3, Vostok 10, Vostok 11, Vostok 12, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  Korolev is supporting establishment of a new institute, the IMBP, for study of biological reactions to spaceflight. He plans to complete 8 additional Vostok capsules, of which two or three will be used for unmanned life sciences missions. There is continued controversy over the next few days about the acceleration of Beregovoi's training to qualify him for an early spaceflight, and Volynov's movement from the Vostok to Soyuz training groups.

• Soyuz mock-up - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Vostok, Lunar L1. Flight: Soyuz A-1, Soyuz A-2, Soyuz A-3, Soyuz A-4, Voskhod 1, Voskhod 2, Vostok 10, Vostok 11, Vostok 12, Vostok 13, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The cosmonauts visit Korolev at OKB-1 for the first viewing of the mock-up of the Soyuz spacecraft. Korolev announces that single-place Vostoks will fly no more, and that instead four of the spacecraft will be completed during 1964 to take three crew members. This decision has been taken since it was now certain that Soyuz will not be ready to fly in 1964, and the impending first flights of American Gemini and Apollo spacecraft will give the USA a lead in manned spaceflight before Soyuz missions can be flown.

  Kamanin is disturbed by the decision. He recalls that in 1961 flight of the Vostok with two or three crew was discussed, with flights to occur in 1962-1963. But at that time Korolev cancelled the plans, saying the Soyuz would be used for such missions. Now Soyuz will not fly until 1965, and he has changed his tune. Furthermore, the modified Vostok is inherently risky, with no way to save the crew in case of a launch vehicle malfunction in the first 40 seconds of flight. Unlike Vostok, the three crew will not have individual ejection seats or parachutes to give them a chance of escape in the event of an abort. The crew will be subject to 10 to 25 G's during an abort. There is no assurance the environmental control system can be modified to handle three crew. It all seems very unsafe, and Kamanin believes the six consecutive successful Vostok flights have given Korolev's engineers a false sense of the safety of the Vostok system. Kamanin is perplexed. How does he plan to convert a single-place spacecraft to a three-place spacecraft in a few months? Korolev has no clear answers, but asks for the cosmonauts' support of the scheme.

• VVS Meeting on Voskhod - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod, Vostok. Flight: Voskhod 1, Vostok 10, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Leading responsible VVS officers meet to develop an Air Force position on Korolev's plan to fly a three-place version of Vostok by the autumn. They see the plan as extremely risky, with insufficient time to design, implement, and test the modified design..

• Zenit-2 spy satellite accepted into mlitary service - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Defence Ministry of the USSR decree 0045 'On adopting the Zenit-2 satellite launched on the 8A92 into armaments' was issued..

• Voskhod spacecraft approved. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod, Vostok. Flight: Voskhod 1, Voskhod 2, Vostok 10, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Military-Industrial Commission (VPK) Decree 59 'On approval of work to convert Vostok to Voskhod and use it for three-person space missions' is issued. The resolution instructs GKOT to complete four Vostok spacecraft to the multi-passenger Voskhod configuration. The first is to be completed by 15 June 1964; the second by 30 June; the third and fourth, in July. The crew for the first mission will consist of a pilot-cosmonaut, a scientist, and a physician. Launch is set for the first half of August 1965.

• Voskhod plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Keldysh, Korolev, Smirnov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  VVS officers meet to plan training for the Voskhod 1 crew. It is agreed that a passenger-cosmonaut can be trained within three months. That means, in order to be ready for an August mission, the candidates for the scientist- and physician-cosmonaut seats will have to be identified, screened, and selected by 30 April. It is estimated that 30 physician and 30 scientist candidates will have to be submitted to the medical commission in order for the necessary six finalists to get through the screening. Kamanin privately believes this is all an insanely dangerous adventure. Smirnov, Keldysh, and Korolev have gone off the rails in their desire to make sure that the Americans do not seize and space 'firsts' once the Gemini flights begin.

• Voskhod commander assignment - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Khrushchev, Nikolayev, Tereshkova. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin meets with Nikolayev, who briefs him on his goodwill tour of Soviet cities. Kamanin shows him a 200-rouble fine art book on the first space missions, of which he has received only six copies to distribute. Nikolayev would like one, but Kamanin says it is reserved for Tereshkova. Gagarin later briefs Kamanin on his tour of Western Europe. Gagarin is interested in commanding the Voskhod 1 mission, but Kamanin believes it is too risky. However the excuse he gives to Gagarin is that none of the flown cosmonauts are flight-ready due to constant publicity tours. Given only three months to prepare for the flight, the commander will have to be one of the unflown cosmonauts current in training. Later Kamanin formulates a position for the General Staff on the Voskhod flights. The VVS should promise full support for the Party's resolution, while pointing out the risks and the unreliability of the Voskhod design. Kamanin is told the support will be transmitted, but the qualifiers will not. Kamanin fumes that Khrushchev has given the go-ahead to proceed without being informed at all of the grave risks.

• Voskhod candidates - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Keldysh, Korolev, Popovich, Titov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin works out with the other ministries the criteria for the Voskhod crew. The commander will be a trained unflown cosmonaut. The others have to be civilians. The VVS will be responsible for training the passengers on a three-month schedule. Candidates will be considered from OKB-1, the Academy of Science, the IAKM (Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine) and the DOSAAF civilian flying organisation. After General staff review, it is decided the commander will be a flown cosmonaut (Titov, Bykovsky, or Popovich): that Korolev will submit six engineer-cosmonaut candidates from within OKB-1; that Korolev will co-ordinate submittal of a small group of physician-cosmonaut candidates; and that Keldysh will submit scientists from the Academy.

• Vostok 7 (cancelled) - . Crew: Komarov. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 9. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Komarov, Korolev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 7. Spacecraft: Vostok. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Perigee: 200 km (120 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. The first supplemental Vostok flight planned in January-March 1963 was a high altitude manned flight into the lower Van Allen radiation belt for radiological-biological studies. All follow-on Vostok missions were cancelled in Spring 1964..

• Physical requirements for Voskhod passengers established - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The candidates will have to be under 40 years old, 160 to 175 centimetres in height, and under 80 kg in weight. They must basically be in perfect health, with tested tolerance to vestibular disruption, and screened for other known physical conditions that might interfere with spaceflight.

• Voskhod training groups - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Khrushchev, Nikolayev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin has decided to train two groups in parallel: flown cosmonauts (Titov, Bykovsky, and Popovich), and passenger-cosmonauts. Gagarin and Nikolayev oppose plans to fly non-military personnel in space. Kamanin observes with disgust that Khrushchev is handing out medals meant for true Soviet heroes to himself and foreign leaders such as Janos Kadar and Fidel Castro. He observes that Khrushchev will turn 70 on April 17, and no longer enjoys support from the military or other sectors of the state. Kamanin recites what he sees as Khrushchev's mistakes: his denunciation of Stalin, his ruining of relations with other Communist states such as Yugoslavia, Albania, and China; and he has ruined the Soviet domestic economy, with basic foodstuffs suffering in quality and quantity.

• Cosmos 28 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 16. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-04-12 . USAF Sat Cat: 779 . COSPAR: 1964-017A. Apogee: 373 km (231 mi). Perigee: 213 km (132 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 90.40 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• Korolev and crew selection - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Korolev is categorically against assigning a flown cosmonaut to the Voskhod mission. He also makes light of the training requirements for the passenger-cosmonauts. He is wreaking havoc with Kamanin's crew plans with his positions, and creating unrest among the cosmonaut corps.

• Construction of nine Voskhod spacecraft approved. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1, Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On approval of work on four Voskhods and five EVA-equipped Vykhods' was issued. Work on the 3KV (three crew) and 3KD (two crew plus inflatable airlock) versions of the basic Vostok spacecraft began.

• Voskhod crews - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Bykovsky, Demin, Khrunov, Komarov, Leonov, Popovich, Titov, Volynov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Komarov has declared that nine cosmonauts are spaceflight-ready: Bykovsky, Popovich, Titov, Volynov, Leonov, Khrunov, Belyayev, Komarov, and Demin. One of these will command Voskhod, the other two seats will be occupied by a physician and an engineer or news correspondent. Kamanin is given only two to three months to prepare the passengers for spaceflight - something he reiterates is a dangerous adventure.

• Voskhod plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Biryuzov, Korolev. Program: Voskhod, Vostok. Flight: Voskhod 1, Voskhod 2, Vostok 10, Vostok 7, Vostok 8, Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Berkut, Voskhod.

  Kamanin receives the directive issued by Biryuzov to implement the Voskhod Party resolutions. Four spacecraft will be completed, two in a three-man configuration, to be flown in the second half of 1964, and two in a configuration that will provide an airlock and allow one cosmonaut to exit into open space. Less than a year is allowed to develop the new spacecraft version for the spacewalk, as well as develop the space suit. This will be a crash priority program, and allow Korolev no resources to complete and launch five Vostok spacecraft on manned and life sciences missions beginning in May.

• Cosmos 29 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 19. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 7.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-05-02 . USAF Sat Cat: 791 . COSPAR: 1964-021A. Apogee: 292 km (181 mi). Perigee: 203 km (126 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 89.50 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• Voskhod passengers. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  50 candidates from VVS institutes, Minzdrav, and the Academy of Science have been screened, and 36 were immediately ruled out, leaving 14 for medical screening. As for OKB-1 candidates, Korolev had not yet submitted a single name, and time for training is running out quickly.

• Voskhod showdown - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Khrushchev, Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1, Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Korolev meets with the cosmonauts, VVS, and RVSN staff to discuss concerns as to the safety of Voskhod. As for flying without spacesuits, Korolev points out than in 14 Zenit-2/Zenit-4 and 10 Vostok flights there has not been a single instance of loss of cabin pressure. He conveniently omits stating that the suit used on the Vostok missions allowed the cosmonaut 4 to 6 hours of oxygen supply to return to earth in case of cabin depressurisation; but on Voskhod the crew will perish. As for individual crew parachutes, he believes they are useless since the crew would not get a chance to use them in an emergency anyway. Korolev sold Khrushchev on the mission by characterising Voskhod as a modification of the reliable Vostok spacecraft. However, he did inform Khrushchev that the risk of loss of the crew on a Voskhod flight was greater than on a Vostok flight. However it was decided this risk was worth taking in exchange for the great political effect of having the first multi-man crew in space.

• OKB-1 Voskhod candidates - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Grechko, Kubasov, Makarov, Volkov, Yazdovskiy, Zaitsev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Of 14 engineering cosmonaut candidates finally submitted by Korolev, only 6 survived preliminary screening and were sent for medical screening (Volkov, Grechko, Zaitsev, Kubasov, Makarov, Siborov, Feoktistov, and Yazdovskiy)..

• Cosmos 30 - . Mass: 6,300 kg (13,800 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-4. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-05-26 . USAF Sat Cat: 797 . COSPAR: 1964-023A. Apogee: 366 km (227 mi). Perigee: 206 km (128 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 90.30 min. High resolution photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule.

• Voskhod passenger candidates - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Katys, Lazarev, Moskalyov, Polyakov, Sorokin, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  After screening the flight candidates have been boiled down to four: Lazarev, Yegorov, Polyakov, and Sorokin. Moskalev and Katys are the remaining scientist-passenger candidates. Kamanin believes Katys, with a doctorate in technical sciences, is the better candidate and definitely superior to any of the OKB-1 engineer candidates.

• Voskhod passenger candidates - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Katys, Lazarev, Polyakov, Sorokin, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Following final review, the General Staff ordered Lazarev, Yegorov, Polyakov, Sorokin, and Katys to enter training for flight aboard the Voskhod spacecraft..

• Vostok 8 (cancelled) - . Crew: Belyayev. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 10. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 8. Spacecraft: Vostok. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Perigee: 200 km (120 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. The second supplemental Vostok flight planned in January-March 1963 was a high altitude manned flight into the lower Van Allen radiation belt for radiological-biological studies. All follow-on Vostok missions were cancelled in Spring 1964..

• Voskhod technical review - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1, Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Korolev presents the Voskhod technical design to organisations outside of OKB-1. Over 27 VVS representatives, including 10 cosmonauts, attend. The two Vostok variants have been dubbed 3KV (3-crew version) and 3KD (2 crew version with airlock). Korolev will complete integration of the first 3KV article by 12 June (8 days from the briefing). The first two articles will be shipped to Baikonur on 15 June for final test. An unmanned test flight with mannequins will be made in July, with the first three-crew manned flight in August. This will be followed by the first 3KD flight in September, with the first spacewalk. The difficulty in preparing equipment and training crews on this schedule are immense; and the chances of complete success are low. But it is the only way the Soviet Union can maintain its leadership in space in the face of the impending Gemini and Apollo flight tests, and the delays in Soyuz. After the meeting, Kamanin decides to train two cosmonauts as Voskhod spacecraft commanders, and the other three as spacewalkers.

• Cosmos 32 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 18. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-06-18 . USAF Sat Cat: 807 . COSPAR: 1964-029A. Apogee: 322 km (200 mi). Perigee: 205 km (127 mi). Inclination: 51.30 deg. Period: 89.80 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• Feoktistov - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Korolev has put forth Feoktistov as the sole candidate for the engineer-passenger position on Voskhod. Kamanin is upset, since he believes a backup is needed, and there were five candidates originally..

• Voskhod development approved. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1, Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Decree 'On approval of work on Voskhod and Vykhod' was issued..

• Voskhod sitting height limitation - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Benderov, Demin, Katys. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 3. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  It is discovered that three of the candidates for Voskhod flights cannot fit in the seats that will be fitted to the capsule. Katys and Benderov have sitting heights of 95 cm, and Demin, 98 cm. All of the rest are under the 90 cm limit. They will have to be removed from training.

• Cosmos 33 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 20. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-07-01 . USAF Sat Cat: 816 . COSPAR: 1964-033A. Apogee: 279 km (173 mi). Perigee: 205 km (127 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 89.40 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• Cosmos 34 - . Mass: 6,300 kg (13,800 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-4. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-07-09 . USAF Sat Cat: 822 . COSPAR: 1964-034A. Apogee: 342 km (212 mi). Perigee: 201 km (124 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 89.90 min. High resolution photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule.

• Voskhod crews selected. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Feoktistov, Gorbatko, Katys, Khrunov, Komarov, Lazarev, Leonov, Sorokin, Volynov, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin select Volynov, Katys, and Yegorov as the prime crew for the Voskhod flight. Komarov, Feoktistov, and Sorokin will be the backup crew. Lazarev will serve as reserve for both crew physician position. The VVS leadership approves the selection. For the first space walk (the flight designated Vykhod at the time), Belyayev, Leonov, Khrunov, and Gorbatko are in training. All want to be first, but Kamanin finds Leonov and Khrunov to have the best analytical minds, to be able to get themselves out of a jam if something goes wrong. He selects Belyayev and Gorbatko to be trained as spacecraft commanders for the missions.

• Voskhod landing system trials - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Three tests of the Voskhod landing system have been made. The soft landing rockets are not firing at the proper moment to cancel all vertical motion at touchdown. .

• Cosmos 35 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 21. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-07-23 . USAF Sat Cat: 833 . COSPAR: 1964-039A. Apogee: 258 km (160 mi). Perigee: 218 km (135 mi). Inclination: 51.30 deg. Period: 89.20 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• Voskhod problems - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Katys. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Spacecraft development continues with difficulty, there are many technical discrepancies, most notably with the landing system. The launch of the unmanned test spacecraft is proceeding on schedule, but there is no idea when it will be possible to launch the manned version. Training of the command and physician cosmonauts is proceeding all right, but there is a real question about the third seat. Katys is not bad, but Feoktistov has problems with his vertebrae and large intestine.

• Voskhod training - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Katys, Severin, Volynov, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Volynov, Katys, and Yegorov conduct tests in the spacecraft for the first time at the cosmonaut training centre. The cabin is extremely cramped, even without spacesuits, and Katys does not fit in the standard seat, his head sticks 3 to 4 cm beyond the moulded head rest. Gay Severin promises to prepare an individual seat liner for Katys. Kamanin briefs the crew on the status of tests of the Voskhod soft landing system and an incident in the recovery of a Zenit reconnaissance satellite capsule, which was the same type as Voskhod and Vostok. It descended in the Ural mountains, landed on a 30 degree slope, and rolled 300 m before coming to a halt. Due to the unreliability of Voskhod, it is proposed that each crew member be provided with a special mask to protect the face and throat. The Academy of Science has not yet provided the promised experiments to be conducted in-flight. On the other hand, the medical experiments and observations have already been agreed.,

• Voskhod flight slips - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Crew training is proceeding normally and the crews will be ready by the scheduled 1 August date. On the other hand the date for launch of the first manned mission has slipped from 15 August well into September. .

• Titov interviewed - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Titov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Titov is reviewed by VVS officers. He is unrepentant and insists he did nothing wrong. Kamanin recites his sins - he has become remote from the cosmonaut collective, his is hanging out with riffraff such as writers and artists, he doesn't come home at night, he drinks too much, drives too fast, is undisciplined... the list goes on and on. He is going to be put under strict medical control and be closely supervised in the future. Afterwards Kamanin calls Korolev, who confirms that the first manned Voskhod will be impossible by the end of August, and there are so many technical issues that he has no idea when the first Vykhod flight will occur. Kamanin notes the Ranger 7 flight, and that the Americans are also catching up with the Soviet Union in the field of lunar and planetary probes....

• Vostok 9 (cancelled) - . Crew: Volynov. Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 11. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Volynov. Program: Vostok. Flight: Vostok 9. Spacecraft: Vostok. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Perigee: 200 km (120 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. The third supplemental Vostok flight planned in January-March 1963 was a high altitude manned flight into the lower Van Allen radiation belt for radiological-biological studies. All follow-on Vostok missions were cancelled in Spring 1964..

• Voskhod state commission formed. - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On formation of the State Commission for Voskhod' was issued..

• Voskhod State Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Katys, Komarov, Korolev, Lazarev, Sorokin, Volynov, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The readiness of two crews is certified (the prime crew of Volynov, Katys, and Yegorov and backup crew of Komarov, Feoktistov, and Sorokin). Korolev presses for Feoktistov to be included in the prime crew, citing his unequalled technical knowledge of the spacecraft. Kamanin and the VVS doctors oppose this, citing his poor medical condition which makes him uncertifiable for flight. A very heated discussion ensues, with the final decision to continue training all seven cosmonauts, with the first candidates for flight being Volynov, Katys, and Yegorov, with Komarov, Lazarev, and Sorokin being reserve cosmonauts. The question of Feoktistov's flight certification will be taken up by a special panel of physicians.

• Cosmos 37 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 22. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-08-22 . USAF Sat Cat: 848 . COSPAR: 1964-044A. Apogee: 240 km (140 mi). Perigee: 208 km (129 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 88.90 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Program partially completed. Break in the film fof the SA-10 camera..

• Aviation Day in Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Gagarin, Nikolayev, Tereshkova. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Kamanin is able only to offer Gagarin, Nikolayev, and Tereshkova for the presidium the day before. Later he hears that the special physician's panel is unanimous - Feoktistov will never be allowed to fly in space due to his condition..

• VPK Meeting on Voskhod - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. The Military-Industrial Commission, following statements by the Chief Designers, sets the launch of the prototype Voskhod with mannequins for 5 September followed by the manned flight between 15 and 20 September..

• Voskhod crew manoeuvring. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Komarov, Lazarev, Rudenko, Volynov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Rudenko raises objections to the crew selections. Kamanin suggests the most qualified and fit crew would be Volynov, Komarov, and Lazarev. Marshal Rudenko informs the crew must consist of a commander, a physician, and an engineer. Furthermore yet another commission has been convened to clear Feoktistov for flight. Kamanin is infuriated - after a selection process, beginning with 150 candidates from VVS alone, the leadership is hand-selecting the crew in defiance of the fair and rational selection process.

• Voskhod launch preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Korolev is to leave for Baikonur tomorrow. The launch of the first Voskhod, with mannequins aboard, is set for 7-8 September, with the crewed flight no earlier than 20 September. Kamanin plans to fly to Baikonur on 2-3 September..

• Katys deleted from Voskhod prime crew. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Katys, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  It is discovered that Katys has a brother and sister living in Paris, a fact he did not disclose during the selection process. They left for Paris in 1910, 16 years before Katys was even born. But together with the fact that his father was executed by the Soviet state, it makes him unsuitable to be a cosmonaut. Yegorov and Feoktistov are making serious efforts to be appointed to the crew. Yegorov did poorly in zero-G training and Feoktistov is physically unqualified. Meanwhile TASS, APN, and other Soviet newspapers are stubbornly pursuing information about the crew for the forthcoming flight. Film biographies and press kits are being made of all of the candidates, so that the information can be released once the final crew - whoever they are - are in orbit. But this violation of secrecy disturbs Kamanin.

• Crash at Fedosiya - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  A Voskhod capsule is finally dropped from 10 km altitude in order to test the parachute hatch ejection mechanism. The hatch fails to deploy, the parachute never opens, and the capsule crashes to earth. Korolev claims the test capsule's electrical scheme is not representative of the production capsule, and promises to ship a production representative capsule, which he guarantees will be reliable, to Fedosiya by 22 September.

• Cosmos 45 - . Mass: 6,300 kg (13,800 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Agency: Korolev bureau. Program: Voskhod. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-4. Duration: 5.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-09-18 . USAF Sat Cat: 880 . COSPAR: 1964-055A. Apogee: 311 km (193 mi). Perigee: 203 km (126 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 89.60 min.

  High resolution photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule; also carried weather experiments. The Zenit-4 launches a day ahead of schedule. The booster rocket performs perfectly as Korolev and Kamanin watch from the veranda of the IP-1 tracking station. This confirms readiness of the same launch vehicle for the Voskhod launch.

• Baikonur facilities - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin inspects the cosmonaut's hotel. The 18-room 2-story building has been completed, but work hasn't even started on any of the sports facilities that were supposed to adjoin it. This is all that is completed after four years of work. Later the final abort instruction manual and mission control authority are hammered out between Korolev and Kamanin. Korolev wants to make sure he retains authority over the mission.

• Baikonur abuzz - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Chertok, Khrushchev, Tsybin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The cosmodrome is a beehive of activity, not just for the unmanned Voskhod launch, now set for 18 September, but also for the impending visit of Premier Khrushchev on 24 September. Meanwhile Tsybin, Chertok, Kholodkov, and Vinokur are hurriedly implementing and testing changes made to the landing system as a result of the failures at Fedosiya. This will likely slip the mannequin launch to the end of September.

• State Commission delayed. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. The meeting is pushed back a day due to continued delays in proving the changes in the Voskhod landing system..

• Voskhod State Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Chertok, Kerimov, Korolev, Mrykin, Rudenko, Tyulin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The State Commission meets at Baikonur. Chertok advises that the failure of the parachute hatch to jettison in the trials in Fedosiya was due to a serious defect in the schematics of the electrical layout and will not occur again. Korolev declares he is ready to certify Voskhod ready for the final drop test at Fedosiya but would prefer to delay the launch of the spacecraft with mannequins until after the Fedosiya test. The state commission finally agrees to reschedule the launch from 28-30 September, subject to a successful test at Fedosiya on 24-25 September.

  Aftrwards Tyulin calls Korolev, Mrykin, Kerimov, Rudenko, and Kamanin aside. He tells them the Communist Party and Soviet Ministers have now taken a personal interest in the crew selection for Voskhod. Korolev and Kamanin bitterly debate their competing preferred crews.

• Voskhod crew ready - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Feoktistov, Gagarin, Katys, Khrunov, Khrushchev, Komarov, Lazarev, Sorokin, Volynov, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin arrives at Baikonur. All is ready for the Voskhod launch, except the spacecraft. Kamanin conducts a final readiness review with Volynov, Komarov, Katys, Feoktistov, Yegorov, Sorokin, and Lazarev. He tells them that every one of them must do his utmost to be physically and psychologically ready for the flight, since the final crew selection will not be made until 2 or 3 days before the launch. Gagarin, Belyayev, and Khrunov are at the cosmodrome, where they are showing the Vykhod spacecraft to Khrushchev. Later Kamanin discusses the crew selection with the military leadership. The top brass have no interest in space and seem to be ready to give in to Korolev. This invalidates everything Kamanin was worked for in terms of establishing a systematic method of cosmonaut selection, training, and crew selection.

• Cosmos 46 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 23. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-10-02 . USAF Sat Cat: 885 . COSPAR: 1964-059A. Apogee: 264 km (164 mi). Perigee: 211 km (131 mi). Inclination: 51.30 deg. Period: 89.20 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Demonstration launch witnessed by Khrushchev..

• Voskhod launch preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Tyulin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin meets Korolev at the MIK assembly building at 09:30. Korolev is preoccupied - his wife is in the Kremlin hospital, scheduled for surgery on 1 October. It is a dangerous diversion when all his powers and concentration need to be devoted to clearing the spacecraft for flight. There has been a problem in installing the second seat in the capsule; it won't clear the hatch by 3 mm. At 10:00 Kamanin reviews preparations of the Baikonur recovery forces for a launch abort. He secretly believes, in view of Voskhod's unreliability and unsafe nature, that all such preparations are mainly psychological and of little realistic effectiveness. At 17:00 the State Commission meets to assess launch readiness. Tyulin reveals that the Tral 1P telemetry system aboard Voskhod has failed. The diagnosis is clear, but it will take 6 to 7 days to get a replacement. The tracking ships in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have been there since August, based on Korolev's originally guaranteed launch date. They will run out of supplies by 5-10 October. Finally it is decided that the boosters and spacecraft for both Voskhod missions will be completed in parallel. The launch of the first spacecraft will be will be delayed to 6 October at 10:00 Moscow time. The manned Voskhod will launch no more than six days after the test with mannequins. The tracking ships will be ordered to stay at sea until 15 October. Korolev leaves for Moscow for two days to be with his wife. The second group of cosmonauts are at the cosmodrome to observe spacecraft and launch preparations; now their visit will have to be extended significantly.

• Voskhod slips - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bogomolov, Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin is disgusted. The countdown for Voskhod was planned out for 146 hours; now Bogomolov reveals that this is 40 hours too little for all tasks. Korolev suddenly announced on 29 September that he planned to launch the next two Voskhod spacecraft in November, although everyone knows this cannot be possible until March-April 1965 at the earliest. Kamanin cannot understand this constant unrealistic, unprofessional planning.

• Voskhod slips again - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. The mannequin launch is now set for 6-8 October, and the manned launch to 12-14 October. Kamanin is looking forward to Korolev's return to Baikonur in order to confront him over the crew selection. .

• Voskhod integration problems - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Work on completing the spacecraft is finally on schedule, but then it is found that there is a failure in the Signal device, which provides communications after the separation of the capsule from the equipment section after retrofire. Nevertheless it is decided to continue according to schedule and roll the booster and spacecraft out to the pad the next morning. Korolev has spent the day at Fedosiya, where the Voskhod landing system has finally completed a successful end-to-end test after being dropped from an aircraft at 10 km altitude.

• Voskhod crews arrive - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Katys, Komarov, Volynov, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  At 15:30 the Voskhod cosmonauts arrive aboard an An-10 at Baikonur and are greeted by Korolev and others. Although they have not been told officially, Kamanin is sure that Volynov and Katys have heard that the State Commission finally selected Komarov, Feoktistov, and Yegorov for the flight. In the evening Kamanin plays tennis with the flight crew and is surprised - Yegorov and Feoktistov play well, and Komarov played poorly.

• Voskhod cleared for flight - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. The Tral 1P device has arrived and is installed. The state commission sets launch for the Voskhod with two mannequins for 10:00 on 6 October.

• Cosmos 47 - . Payload: Voskhod 3KV s/n 2. Mass: 5,320 kg (11,720 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Kirillov, Korolev, Rudenko, Tyulin. Agency: Korolev bureau. Program: Voskhod. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Duration: 1.01 days. Decay Date: 1964-10-07 . USAF Sat Cat: 891 . COSPAR: 1964-062A. Apogee: 383 km (237 mi). Perigee: 174 km (108 mi). Inclination: 64.60 deg. Period: 90.10 min.

  Unmanned test of Voskhod spacecraft. At 07:00 the State Commission meets at Area 2. All Chief Designers, Commanders, and Section report that all is ready for flight. The commission gives the order to proceed with the launch. Weather at the pad is 7 balls, 8-10 m/s wind with gusts to 15 m/s, temperature 9 to 12 deg C. Weather in the recovery zones is reported as winds up to 15 m/s. Weather in the recovery zone is not clear, but that is not considered an impediment, and in fact Kamanin would like to see how the landing system functions in bad conditions. Kamanin visits the pad at T-30 seconds; at T-20 seconds, the veranda at IP-1 has over 50 viewers of the launch, including 15 cosmonaut candidates and the 7 Voskhod cosmonauts. Kamanin is relegated to the IP-1 veranda this time, with Rudenko, Kirillov, and Tyulin the bunker adjacent to the pad. Korolev stays with the booster until T-5 minutes, then enters the bunker. The booster ignites precisely at 10:00; the strap-ons burn out and are jettisoned at T+120 seconds; the core burns out and the final stage ignites at T+290 seconds; and at T+523 seconds spacecraft 3KV number 2 is placed in orbit as the final stage shuts down. The spacecraft separates and all systems look normal.

  Recovered October 7, 1964 7:28 GMT. Officially: Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

• Cosmos 47 returns to earth. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  At 7 am the Cosmos 47 landing commission convenes. Kamanin has had only three hours sleep. The spacecraft is to conduct retrofire on its 17th orbit of the earth and land in Kustan, where winds are 15-17 m/s. The capsule made a good landing, with the parachute-rocket soft landing system working perfectly - the spacecraft had zero velocity on impact with the ground. The spacecraft penetrated 90 mm into the ground. The strong winds caught the parachute after landing and dragged it 160 m, but if a crew had been aboard they could have quickly commanded separation of the parachute. All systems of the booster and spacecraft worked perfectly, except that the third stage engines' thrust fell by 10% for three seconds, but the engine controller detected the shortfall and made up the velocity.

• Cosmos 47 capsule returned to Baikonur. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Kosberg. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The capsule arrived aboard an An-12 at 11:30. All systems performed well. It is reported that one of Kosberg's third stage engines developed an out-of-control high frequency oscillation in a stand test, and exploded. The State Commission decides to delay the manned Voskhod launch 3 or 4 days while the safety of the engines on the booster are verified. A special commission is sent to Voronezh to assess the situation. Kosberg's engines have flown 60 times, and been tested on the stand 400 times, without this problem having occurred before. In the evening seven reporters arrive from the Soviet press and begin their work leading up to the manned launch.

• Cosmos 47 teardown - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Komarov, Korolev, Rudenko, Tkachev, Tyulin, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  At 10:00 Korolev, Tyulin, Rudenko, Tkachev, and other leaders examine the capsule. The condition of the parachute, and capsule exterior and interior show how well the soft landing system functioned. Then they examine the Voskhod s/n 3 which will be sued for the manned flight. The crew of Komarov, Yegorov, and Feoktistov take their place in the cabin, and Korolev and Kamanin examine the cramped accommodations and ask Komarov questions to verify his understanding of the ship's controls. For an hour from 16:00 the crew is interviewed by news correspondents. After the interview, the crew plays tennis for the benefit of photographers. Afterwards post-flight examinations are discussed. A suggestion that the crew spends three nights in a hospital after the flight is rejected. Instead they will spend three nights in the cosmonaut's quarters at Baikonur, under medical observation. Finally, the State Commission meets to verify the crew selection. The session is filmed and recorded for later use by the press.

• Voskhod-1 State Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Kosberg. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kosberg testifies that the problem that led to the engine explosion on the test stand was due to the stand itself and would not occur with a flight engine. Korolev agrees, and recommends launch based on the successful flight record of the engine, the successful Cosmos 47 test mission, and the completion of two successful end-to-end drop tests of the soft landing system. The commission sets launch for 12 October at 10:30 Moscow time.

• Voskhod-1 preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Ustinov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The landing commission meets at 09:00. Emergency landing arrangements for each orbit are examined. Weather at both launch and landing sites is predicted to be excellent - clear, 5 m/s wind. Komarov is given Communist relics to be taken into space and returned to earth - a portrait of Marx which had belonged to Lenin, a photo of Lenin holding a copy of Pravda, and a banner from the Paris Commune. At 16:00 the crew meets with the garrison of Area 2 and thanks the launch team for all of their hard work. Afterwards Korolev takes the crew to the capsule and gives final instructions. Around 18:00 there is an emergency meeting in Korolev's office. A defect in the transmitter of the Tral system was detected at 14:30, , and it is not possible to easily get at the equipment any more. There is a dispute as to how long it would take to change out the equipment - estimates range from 10 minutes to two hours. In any case, Korolev had not been informed, but the Soviet hierarchy has already learned of the problem. Korolev flies into a rage, something Kamanin has not seen in four years of working with Korolev. Korolev settles the matter by calling Ustinov on the VCh scrambler phone and personally certifying that the booster and spacecraft are ready for flight.

• Voskhod 1 - . Call Sign: Rubin (Ruby ). Crew: Feoktistov, Komarov, Yegorov. Backup Crew: Katys, Lazarev, Volynov. Payload: Voskhod 3KV s/n 3. Mass: 5,320 kg (11,720 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Korolev, Rudenko, Tyulin. Program: Voskhod. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Duration: 1.01 days. Decay Date: 1964-10-13 . USAF Sat Cat: 904 . COSPAR: 1964-065A. Apogee: 336 km (208 mi). Perigee: 178 km (110 mi). Inclination: 64.70 deg. Period: 89.60 min.

  The U.S.S.R. launched the world's first multi-manned spacecraft, Voskhod I, the first to carry a scientist and a physician into space. The crew were Col. Vladimir Komarov, pilot; Konstantin Feoktistov, scientist; and Boris Yegorov, physician. Potentially dangerous modification of Vostok to upstage American Gemini flights; no spacesuits, ejection seats, or escape tower. One concession was backup solid retrorocket package mounted on nose of spacecraft. Seats mounted perpendicular to Vostok ejection seat position, so crew had to crane their necks to read instruments, still mounted in their original orientation. Tested the new multi-seat space ship; investigated the in-flight work potential and co-operation of a group of cosmonauts consisting of specialists in different branches of science and technology; conducted scientific physico-technical and medico-biological research. The mission featured television pictures of the crew from space.

  Coming before the two-man Gemini flights, Voskhod 1 had a significant worldwide impact. In the United States, the "space race" was again running under the green flag. NASA Administrator James E. Webb, commenting on the spectacular, called it a "significant space accomplishment." It was, he said, "a clear indication that the Russians are continuing a large space program for the achievement of national power and prestige." Additional Details: here....

• Landing of Voskhod 1 - . Return Crew: Feoktistov, Komarov, Yegorov. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Babiychuk, Feoktistov, Gagarin, Khrushchev, Kirillov, Komarov, Korolev, Kuznetsov, Nikolayev, Rudenko, Smirnov, Tyulin, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The world's first recovery of an orbital spacecraft with its crew aboard on land was made possible by rocket package suspended above capsule in parachute lines, which ignited just prior to impact in order to cushion landing. The trio landed after 16 orbits of the earth, 24 hours and 17 min after they had left, on October 13, 1964 07:47 GMT. Additional Details: here....

• Cosmos 48 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 24. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 6.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-10-20 . USAF Sat Cat: 908 . COSPAR: 1964-066A. Apogee: 284 km (176 mi). Perigee: 204 km (126 mi). Inclination: 65.10 deg. Period: 89.30 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Program partially completed. Returned early due to failure of spacecraft thermoregulation system; internal temperature rose to 43 degrees C..

• Word of Khrushchev's removal made public. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Brezhnev, Khrushchev, Korolev, Tyulin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1, Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Five aircraft are necessary to fly all of the VVS staff and engineering workers back to Moscow. Word has come through that Khrushchev has been removed from his posts, with Brezhnev now the First Secretary of the Communist Party and Kosygin now Premier of the Soviet Ministers. Kamanin's opinion was that Khrushchev was not in the same league as Lenin or Stalin, and that he would have only a minor place in history, but he is surprised by his sudden downfall. Tyulin believes that Korolev's promise to Khrushchev to fly Vykhod in November is now nullified, and that a more reasonable date of March-April 1965 can be set.

• Preparations for return to Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Komarov, Malinovskiy, Yegorov, Yeliseyev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The Voskhod 1 crew memorise and rehearse the speeches they will deliver to the leadership and masses on their return to Moscow. Later Kamanin plays tennis with the crew. Kamanin believes that Malinovskiy has finally become more supportive of Soviet manned spaceflight, which can be seen as a reflection of the country's military potential. Unwavering support will be needed to fulfil the recently approved space plan, which foresees manned docking operations in orbit, a manned flyby of the moon, a manned lunar landing, and missions of 20 to 30 days in earth orbit.

• Voskhod 1 crew in Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Biryuzov, Brezhnev, Feoktistov, Komarov, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The crew arrives at Vnukovo Airfield at 12:30 aboard an Il-18. The crew walks up to the reviewing stand and Komarov makes the standard report to the Communist Party and Soviet Ministers. At 14:00 there is a meeting at Red Square, and at 17:00 an audience at the Kremlin. The next day will be the customary meeting with Korolev and the workers of OKB-1, and the day after, the press conference, and on 22 October the meeting with the staff at the Cosmonaut Training Centre. The celebrations provide the first opportunity for Brezhnev to present himself in public in the role previously held by Khrushchev. The celebrations are somewhat dampened by new that an Il-18 crashed near Belgrade, killing all 17 occupants of a military delegation, including Marshal Biryuzov. This was the same aircraft and same crew that had flown the cosmonauts from Kustanin to Tyuratam....

• Cosmonaut meeting at OKB-1 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Feoktistov, Keldysh, Komarov, Korolev, Mozzhorin, Tyulin, Yegorov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The traditional meeting with the crew is followed by a smaller group in Korolev's office. Numerous toasts are drunk to the crew, to future victories in space, and... "on to the moon". From 18:00 to 20:00 the cosmonauts are prepared by Keldysh, Tyulin, Pashkov, Skuridin, Mozzhorin, Rumyanets, and others in allowable answers for the next day's press conference. Kamanin wants the crew to be free to answer questions about the physical characteristics of the booster and spacecraft (thrust, weight, dimensions, and so on) but Keldysh and Tyulin prohibit it strongly.

• Cosmos 50 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 25. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1964-11-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 919 . COSPAR: 1964-070A. Apogee: 232 km (144 mi). Perigee: 190 km (110 mi). Inclination: 51.20 deg. Period: 88.70 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Unsuccessful mission. Failure of the braking engine system. Spacecraft ordered to self destruct..

• Cosmonaut recruitment - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Kuznetsova, Ponomaryova, Solovyova, Tereshkova, Yerkina. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 5. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin would like to get going with the training of 40 additional cosmonauts from many disciplines in order to 'storm space'. Korolev is opposed. Kamanin is also trying to get new flights scheduled for his female cosmonauts. This is never mentioned in the planning of future flights. Korolev is opposed to sending any further women into space. Kamanin would like to see a two-woman Voskhod flight, or a woman making a spacewalk. Aside from Tereshkova, Ponomaryova and Solovyova are as qualified and talented as any of the male cosmonauts for such flights. Yerkina and Kuznetsova, although they have completed the course, are ruled out by weaknesses in technical areas or character, in Kamanin's opinion.

• Cosmos 52 - . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 26. Mass: 4,720 kg (10,400 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: Korolev bureau. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-2 satellite. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1965-01-19 . USAF Sat Cat: 968 . COSPAR: 1965-001A. Apogee: 298 km (185 mi). Perigee: 203 km (126 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 89.50 min. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite..

• Vykhod review - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Leonov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Over 60 leading engineers and cosmonauts review progress on development of Vykhod systems and spacewalking techniques. The group views films of Leonov training in zero-G in the Tu-104 aircraft, as well as an American film of the moon as taken from Ranger on its kamikaze impact mission. Development of systems seems to be going very well and very thoroughly. Both the men and the equipment should be ready by 15 February. There remains the need for a back-up oxygen supply for the spacewalker, and improved reliability of the primary KP-55 oxygen generator. Development of the technology to allow the cosmonaut to leave the spacecraft is essential for later manned explorations of the moon and planets.

• Cosmonaut examinations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Demin, Dobrovolsky, Gorbatko, Gubarev, Khrunov, Leonov, Pitskhelauri, Shatalov, Zaikin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft: Vostok.

  The 15 candidate-astronauts take their first phase examinations. 13 are rated outstanding, with Shatalov, Gubarev, and Demin doing the best. Two are rated only 'good' - Dobrovolskiy and Pitskherlauri. Dobrovolskiy was the worst, getting some answers completely wrong. For example, he said that the maximum thickness of Vostok's heat shield was 440 mm, when the correct answer was 140 mm; and identified Krug as a homing beacon on the search aircraft, rather than aboard the spacecraft. However overall everything went well, and all were considered to have passed. On this day Belyayev and Leonov complete their centrifuge training. Belyayev is 40 years old, and had little trouble with the centrifuge. Kamanin resolves to name Khrunov as a spacecraft commander in Belyayev's place, with a final crew being Khrunov-Leonov in case Belyayev cannot fly for some reason. Khrunov is available since Zaikin since the decision has been made to train Zaikin as Leonov's backup instead of Gorbatko.

• Vykhod crews - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Beregovoi, Gorbatko, Khrunov, Leonov, Zaikin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Faced with continuing pressure to fly Beregovoi on the Vykhod flight. Kamanin notes that the spacecraft requires short cosmonauts of minimum weight (Belyayev is 170 cm tall and weighs 72 kg; Leonov 172 cm and 78.2 kg; Gorbatko 168.5 cm and 69 kg; Khrunov 171 cm and 70.8 kg; and Zaikin 167 cm and 69.3 kg). By comparison Beregovoi is 180 cm tall and weights 84.5 kg.

• Unmanned Vykhod airlock tests - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. The first tests of the airlock in the TBK-60 pressure chamber are successful. The airlock is taken up to 35 km altitude equivalent..

• Vykhod airlock experiments - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  At Chkalovskiy Airfield, the Vykhod airlock experiments are repeated, this time to an altitude of 37 km. This time the tests, run at up to 37 km equivalent altitude, are successful. The cosmonaut's pulse reached 90-108 per minute during the effort to get into the lock and open it. In all the test took two hours, but Korolev was pleased with the results. But afterwards he differs with Kamanin in the need for a 16-m arm centrifuge to be used for cosmonaut training. It should mainly be used by industry, Korolev believes.

• Vykhod redesignated Voskhod 2 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Leonov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The 3KD spacecraft will be known as Voskhod-2 rather than Vykhod. It was felt that 'Vykhod' ('exit') would reveal the purpose of the flight, which should not be revealed unless the experiment succeeds. The cosmonauts are training very hard in the zero-G trainer and will use the airlock at 37 km equivalent vacuum in the TBK-60 on 8 February. The motto is "Train hard to make it easy to do".

• Voskhod-2 State Commission - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Severin, Tsybin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The first meeting of the State Commission for the Voskhod-2 flight is held. Korolev, Tsybin, Severin, and other testify to the readiness of the spacecraft and booster systems. It is decided to fly the pathfinder mannequin fight on 14-16 February, and the crewed flight on 25-27 February. Kamanin objects that the radio beacon system on Voskhod is less reliable than that on Vostok, as proven on the Voskhod-1 mission.

• Voskhod 2 crew vacuum chamber tests - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Korolev, Lazarev, Leonov, Sorokin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 1. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Belyayev and Leonov practice deploying and exiting the airlock at 37 km equivalent altitude in the TBK-60 chamber. The Vega system for keeping track of the spacewalking cosmonaut's life signs fails again. Kamanin is infuriated. Later he discusses future spaceflight plans with Korolev, who was supposed to deliver five Voskhods in 1965. Korolev says that three spacecraft will only be completed by October, and should only be available for flights at the end of the year. He wants to use one as a biosat in an unmanned flight of organisms for 30 days; a second for the flight of a cosmonaut pilot and physician for 15 days; and the third for flight of a cosmonaut and engineer to perform an artificial gravity experiment. Two further spacecraft will be finished to the Vykhod configuration in October 1965 for flights in March 1966. Nothing is official yet, and Kamanin urges that the necessary resolutions be passed as soon as possible so that training can begin. He thought before that there was little chance that Yegorov's back-ups, Lazarev and Sorokin would fly, but now he puts them back in training so they will be ready for this flight schedule. But Korolev remains opposed to flying either candidate.

• Voskhod 2 crew selection. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Khrunov, Leonov, Zaikin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. The State Commission meets to consider Voskhod 2 crew assignments. Belyayev and Leonov are named the prime crew, with Zaikin and Khrunov as their back-ups. .

• Cosmos 57 preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Khrunov, Zaikin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  After a one-day diversion to Tashkent due to bad weather, Kamanin and the VVS delegation land at Baikonur. The weather is -10 deg C and heavy snow. It is reported from Moscow that Zaikin and Khrunov successfully operated the airlock at 37 km altitude in the TKB-60, and this time the Vega system finally worked. In the evening, as the others leave for a film, Kamanin looks out from his room in the cosmonaut dormitory at Area 17. He sees hundreds of new buildings in the snow, where none existed only five years ago. Baikonur is truly developing into a powerful space centre.

• Cosmos 57 delayed - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Once again the primary Tral system aboard the spacecraft has failed, and it will take 7 to 8 days to replace. Korolev, Kamanin, and the other leaders return to Moscow..

• Cosmos 57 preparations resume. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bogomolov, Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin and Korolev return to the cosmodrome. Korolev is furious with Bogomolov over the continuing Tral problems and with Bogomolov's outspokenness. Meanwhile the problem of what to do if the airlock loses pressure is discussed. No good solution is found; in such a case the cosmonaut would be unable to enter the capsule. Finally the problem of which tracking station will issue the signal for opening and closing the airlock is discussed. IP-7 at Klyuchi and IP-6 at Yelizovo are both possibilities. Korolev would like both to be able to do so, in order to have a backup. It occurs to Kamanin that these kinds of problems could easily be handled if the first Voskhod-2 had a crew aboard. As spacecraft become increasingly complex, it will eventually be necessary to fly space missions with crews aboard that are not publicly announced. He foresees a need for many such 'black' flights in the future to prove out new systems, to complete military operations, and to train crews.

  In the evening all problems are finally solved and the Voskhod spacecraft declared ready for flight.

• Cosmos 57 preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Barring any further discrepancies, the spacecraft will be mated to the launch vehicle and rolled out to the pad on 20 February. Launch will be 21-22 February. Voskhod-2 with a crew aboard won't launch until the first half of March. However Korolev is preparing the Ye-6 robot lunar soft lander for launch on 13 March, making it an end of March launch date more likely for Voskhod-2. Kamanin still questions the radio systems aboard Voskhod, and Korolev placates him by saying a new system will be developed for Voskhod-3.

• Cosmos 57 roll-out - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. The booster is rolled out to the pad at 08:00, slightly behind schedule after delays in mating the spacecraft the day before. It is -22 deg C at the launch centre; conditions at the landing site are poor, but his will not delay the launch. .

• Cosmos 57 - . Payload: Voskhod 3KD s/n 1. Mass: 5,682 kg (12,526 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Agency: Korolev bureau. Program: Voskhod. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Duration: 0.22 days. Decay Date: 1965-02-22 . USAF Sat Cat: 1093 . COSPAR: 1965-012A. Apogee: 708 km (439 mi). Perigee: 159 km (98 mi). Inclination: 64.80 deg. Period: 93.20 min.

  Unsuccessful mission. Voskhod 2 test. Immediately after orbital insertion airlock and spacesuit inflated normally. Then two ground control stations sent commands to the spacecraft simultaneously. The combined signals accidentally set off the retrofire sequence, which some time later triggered the self destruct mechanism (designed to prevent the spacecraft from falling into enemy hands).
  Officially: Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space. Additional Details: here....

• Cosmos 57 failure analysis - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Korolev is confined to his cottage with a high temperature. Meanwhile tapes and documentation are being flown in from Kamchatka, Moscow, and Kolpasheva, and experts are flying in from OKB-1. So far it has been discovered that IP-6 and IP-7 were simultaneously communicating with the spacecraft at the time the re-entry sequence began.

• Cosmos 57 investigation stalled - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Tyulin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  An accident commission has been formed, but receipt of tapes from IP-7 and IP-6 are held up by bad weather in Omsk. This incident certainly seems to have ended any consideration of Kamanin's idea of flying secret 'black' missions with crews aboard to test new spacecraft. The launch of the E-6 Lunik is set for 12 March, so Tyulin has pushed the Voskhod-2 manned launch back to the end of March at a minimum.

• Cosmos 57 failure analysis - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Malinovskiy, Mnatsakanian. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The tapes finally arrive from all concerned tracking stations by 11 am. Korolev is ill, and his deputies work in his place. At 16:00 the accident commission meets. They find that at precisely the same time, IP-6 and IP-7 transmitted command 42 (decompress airlock) to the spacecraft. In such a case, the command could have been received and interpreted by the spacecraft as a single command 5 (retrofire). IP-6 was supposed to have transmitted the command at this point in the mission, with IP-7 to retransmit them as a backup only on command from Moscow. However IP-7 thought at the time that they were responsible for sending commands to the spacecraft. Accordingly, the spacecraft itself has been fully exonerated.

  However it is found that of the 45 commands that can be sent to the spacecraft, four of them, including the command of the re-entry sequence, are unprotected from this kind of error. In Kamanin's opinion, in the last five years, Mnatsakanian's bureau has done nothing to ensure security of commands to spacecraft or the exploitation of this major weakness by the United States.

  It is decided that the launch of Voskhod-2 can go ahead in the second half of mine. However Korolev calls Kamanin and others to be briefed at his bedside. His temperature is down to 37 deg C, normal, but yesterday it was 40 deg C - diagnosis: "unknown cause". Korolev does not want to launch Voskhod-2 until a Zenit spy satellite has flown with its re-entry capsule fitted with the same airlock ring as Voskhod-2. This will prove that the re-entry capsule is stable during descent with the airlock ring, something that could not be demonstrated by Cosmos 57. Kamanin agrees that this will be proposed to the State Commission.

  However they do not part without sharp words being exchanged over the quality of VVS doctors and military versus civilian cosmonauts. Korolev notes that due to the military's complete lack of interest in space, the only military cosmonaut that will ever be needed is Gagarin.... Kamanin is wounded but realises the truth of Korolev's words, attributing the issue to Malinovskiy, who has blocked all proposals for a military role in manned spaceflight, let alone a VVS role.

• State Commission on Cosmos 57 - . Nation: Russia. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The final conclusion is as before, that simultaneous transmission of the air release command from IP-6 and IP-7 started the chain of events leading to the self-destruction of the spacecraft. It is decided that a Zenit planned for 4-8 March will fly with the Vykhod airlock ring, followed by the E-6 launch on 12 March, and the Voskhod-2 launch with a crew aboard for 15-20 March.

• Voskhod-2 crew review. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Khrunov, Leonov, Zaikin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin reviews emergency procedures with the Voskhod-2 prime and backup crews, and finds their training fully complete - they are ready for flight. Re-entry with the airlock ring is a special concern. If the airlock has jettisoned normally, the ring will have a height of 27-40 mm above the surface of the spherical capsule; if it only partially jettisons, the rings could be as much as 70-80 mm high. In such a case the asymmetry of the ring on the upper heat shield might impart a rotation to the capsule. The drogue parachute can be safely deployed at up to 1.5 to 2.0 revolutions per second; beyond that there is real danger to the crew's survival. If the experiment with the Zenit capsule fitted with the ring is successful, that will provide some confidence. But if the Zenit is not launched or fails to return to earth, then in Korolev's opinion the flight should be delayed until the safety of re-entry with the ring can be demonstrated. However the majority of the State Commission disagrees with Korolev, and believe it will be safe to proceed with the Voskhod-2 flight even without the Zenit test.

• Voskhod plans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Beregovoi, Khrunov, Korolev, Rudenko, Tereshkova, Volynov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2, Voskhod 3, Voskhod 4, Voskhod 5, Voskhod 6. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Only on this day does Kamanin receive a copy of Korolev's "Preliminary Plan for Voskhod spacecraft (3KV and 3KD) series in 1965", issued in February. His plan is:

  • 3KV Number 5 - to be completed in June, launched by August, an unmanned biological flight with life forms, to be kept in orbit for 15-30 days, with experimental equipment in the cabin to monitor the organisms and a self-destruct system
  • 3KV Number 6 - to be completed in August, and flown by October on a 15-day mission with a two-man crew: a flight commander and scientist
  • 3KV number 7 - to be completed in December, and flown by April 1966 on a 15-20 day mission with a pilot and physician aboard. The spacecraft would also conduct artificial gravity experiments for 3-4 days of the flight
  • 3KD numbers 8 and 9 - a prime spacecraft and a backup, fitted with the airlock system. A spacecraft commander and pilot would make a flight or flights of 3 to 5 days. 2 or 3 spacewalks would be conducted on each flight, with the EVA cosmonaut using a manoeuvring apparatus to back away as far as 50 to 100 m from the spacecraft. Manually controlled landing of the capsule would also be demonstrated
  Kamanin is disappointed that there are few experiments of military significance in Korolev's plan. Kamanin calls Korolev to complain, and Korolev rightly replies that if the Ministry of Defence would authorise him to build more than nine spacecraft, then he could conduct other experiments... Meanwhile, Leonov is conducting his final practice sessions on exiting and re-entering the airlock aboard the Tu-104 zero-G aircraft. Khrunov will have his final sessions the next day.

  Kamanin is preparing the final press packet, with the cosmonaut biographies, which will be delivered to TASS but only released by them after confirmation that the spacecraft is in orbit. Later Kamanin and forty other guests, including hero-cosmonauts and future hero-cosmonauts, throw a party for Tereshkova's 28th birthday. There is tension in the room as the cosmonauts eye each other as competitors for the flights after Voskhod-2. Volynov is the leading candidate to command the next flight, and has already been a back-up four times, but Marshal Rudenko keeps blocking his selection for flight (Volynov is a Jew). Rudenko is pushing Beregovoi for the next flight, and everyone in the room knows it...

• Cosmos 59 - . Mass: 6,300 kg (13,800 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: MOM. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Zenit-4. Duration: 8.00 days. Decay Date: 1965-03-15 . USAF Sat Cat: 1191 . COSPAR: 1965-015A. Apogee: 321 km (199 mi). Perigee: 205 km (127 mi). Inclination: 64.90 deg. Period: 89.80 min. High resolution photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule fitted with airlock mating ring planned for Voskhod-2 spacecraft..

• Voskhod-2 departure - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Artyukhin, Beregovoi, Demin, Ivanov, I, Katys, Shatalov, Volynov, Voskresensky, Yaroshenko. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 3. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The cosmonauts and VVS contingent prepare to depart to Baikonur - altogether 50 people on a single An-10 flight. Kamanin has started training a group of cosmonauts for the 15-day Voskhod-3 mission: Volynov, Beregovoi, Shatalov, Demin, and Artyukhin. Katys briefs Kamanin on his work together with Equipment Institute of the Academy of Sciences in preparing scientific experiments to be conducted on the next flight. Later Kamanin talks with his superiors about three candidates for future physician-cosmonaut missions. Voskresensky is the leading candidate. He specialises in research on the effects of zero-gravity on organisms, has published over thirty papers, and knows English. Yaroshenko is completing work on methods for conducting surgical operations in zero gravity. Ivanov conducts psychological studies on the impact of the spaceflight environment.

• Tyuratam - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Khrunov, Korolev, Leonov, Tyulin, Zaikin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Kamanin and the cosmonauts land at the airfield at 11:45, but have to wait until 12:10 for the arrival of Tyulin and Korolev for the official greeting. Korolev is ill but pushing himself hard. A dispute breaks out about crew assignments. At the last minute some want Khrunov to substitute for Belyayev. Korolev is clearly disgusted by such reversals after the prime crew has been set for months.

• Voskhod preparations incident - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Khrunov, Korolev. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Korolev is furious over Khrunov's actions, and says he does not need such cosmonauts in his program. The matter seems to be escalating, but is finally defused when Khrunov meets with Korolev..

• Voskhod-2 crew briefing - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Gagarin, Kamanin, Komarov, Korolev, Kuznetsov, Leonov, Rudenko. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  Korolev, Rudenko, Kamanin, Kuznetsov, Gagarin, Komarov, and Tselikin give the crew their final briefing. Communications protocols are worked out. Korolev tells the crew he is satisfied that they are ready for flight, but tells them not to take unnecessary risks or heroics. The main thing is that they return safely to earth.

• Sunday at the cosmodrome. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Keldysh, Leonov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Volleyball, chess, excessive drinking by some. Keldysh returns to Moscow; journalists arrive from Moscow..

• Voskhod 2 preparations - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Brezhnev, Keldysh, Korolev, Rudenko, Smirnov, Tyulin, Ustinov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  With the rocket erected on the pad, a meeting is held several hundred meters away between the chief designers, Keldysh, Rudenko, and 600 to 700 workers. Afterwards Korolev and Tyulin call Moscow, and certify to Smirnov, Ustinov, Kosygin, and Brezhnev that all is ready for the flight.

• Voskhod 2 - . Call Sign: Almaz (Diamond ). Crew: Belyayev, Leonov. Backup Crew: Gorbatko, Khrunov, Zaikin. Payload: Voskhod 3KD s/n 4. Mass: 5,682 kg (12,526 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Gagarin, Korolev, Rudenko, Tyulin. Agency: MOM. Program: Voskhod. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. Duration: 1.08 days. Decay Date: 1965-03-19 . USAF Sat Cat: 1274 . COSPAR: 1965-022A. Apogee: 475 km (295 mi). Perigee: 167 km (103 mi). Inclination: 64.80 deg. Period: 90.90 min.

  First spacewalk, with a two man crew of Colonel Pavel Belyayev and Lt. Colonel Aleksey Leonov. During Voskhod 2's second orbit, Leonov stepped from the vehicle and performed mankind's first "walk in space." After 10 min of extravehicular activity, he returned safely to the spacecraft through an inflatable airlock.

  This mission was originally named 'Vykhod ('Exit/Advance'). It almost ended in disaster when Leonov was unable to reenter the airlock due to stiffness of the inflated spacesuit. He had to bleed air from the suit in order to get into the airlock. After Leonov finally managed to get back into the spacecraft cabin, the primary hatch would not seal completely. The environmental control system compensated by flooding the cabin with oxygen, creating a serious fire hazard in a craft only qualified for sea level nitrogen-oxygen gas mixes (Cosmonaut Bondarenko had burned to death in a ground accident in such circumstances, preceding the Apollo 204 disaster by many years). Additional Details: here....

• EVA Voskhod 2-1 - . Crew: Leonov. EVA Duration: 0.0160 days. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Leonov. Program: Voskhod. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. First walk in space..

• Landing of Voskhod 2 - . Return Crew: Belyayev, Leonov. Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Korolev, Leonov, Voronin. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  On re-entry the primary automatic retrorocket system failed. A manually controlled retrofire was accomplished one orbit later (evidently using the primary engine, not the backup solid rocket retropack on the nose of spacecraft). The service module failed to separate completely, leading to wild gyrations of the joined reentry sphere - service module before connecting wires burned through. Vostok 2 finally landed near Perm in the Ural mountains in heavy forest at 59:34 N 55:28 E on March 19, 1965 9:02 GMT. The crew spent two nights in deep woods, surrounded by wolves. Recovery crews had to chop down trees to clear landing zones for helicopter recovery of the crew, who had to ski to the clearing from the spacecraft. Only some days later could the capsule itself be removed. Additional Details: here....

• Voskhod 2 crew contacted - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Leonov, Rudenko. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  The crew spent the night in the forest. Only at dawn can a helicopter fly over the landing point again. He reports he sees the two crew, one felling wood, the other building a bonfire. During the night, neither the two crew from the helicopter that landed 5 km away or the searchers from the PVO regiment were able to find the crew in the dense forest. Finally at 07:30 a Colonel Sibiryakov, physician Tumanov, and a technician are lowered from a Mi-4 helicopter to a point 1500 meters from the capsule. Several others are lowered to begin chopping down trees to create a clearing where the helicopter can land. Sibiyakov's party depart at 08:30, skiing toward the capsule, finally reaching the crew after three hours of arduous travel at 11:30. The crew is in fine condition - helicopters had dropped supplies and warm underwear the night before.

  The recovery forces want to have a helicopter pick up the cosmonauts from the landing site, meaning hoisting them from a hover at an altitude of 5 to 6 m. Rudenko vetoes this idea due to the poor visibility, insisting they must be evacuated in snowmobiles. When he is told this is impossible, he becomes adamant that they must wait for conditions to improve. This is ridiculous. Kamanin believes there will be hell to pay if the cosmonauts have to spend a second night in the forest at a landing point only 70-80 km from the capital of the oblast.

• Voskhod 2 crew recovered - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Brezhnev, Keldysh, Korolev, Leonov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  By the next morning, two clearing suitable for helicopter operations have been cleared - a small zone 1.7 km from the capsule, and a larger zone 5 km from the capsule. At 6:50 the cosmonauts and their rescuers - seven in all - ski away from the capsule, reaching the small zone at 8:06. They are picked up there by an Mi-4 helicopter and flown to the large zone, arriving their 20 minutes later. From there a larger Mi-6 helicopter flies them at 9:50 to the airport at Perm. They were to depart aboard an An-10 from Perm at 11:00 for Tyuratam, but their departure is delayed by an hour as they talk on the telephone with Brezhnev. Afterwards toasts are raised at Area 10 at Baikonur by the Chief Designers and Keldysh. Korolev calls for them all to push together toward reaching the moon. The cosmonauts finally arrive at the cosmodrome at 17:30 and are driven through cheering crowds in Zvezdograd. In the hall of the hotel they give the first account of their mission.

• Voskhod 2 debriefings - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Brezhnev, Keldysh, Korolev, Leonov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. The Voskhod 2 crew briefs the State Commission from 10:00 to 13:00. At 13:00 Korolev and Keldysh call Brezhnev, and are told to have the cosmonauts in Moscow the next day for celebrations..

• Voskhod 2 crew in Moscow - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Belyayev, Brezhnev, Leonov. Program: Voskhod. Flight: Voskhod 2. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod. The crew is feted at Red Square, followed by a 17:00 reception in the Kremlin with Brezhnev, Kosygin, and other leaders..