Voskhod 1
 Voskhod 1 capsule in theScience Museum, London | |
| Operator | Soviet space program |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 1964-065A |
| SATCATno. | 904 |
| Mission duration | 1 day, 17 minutes, 3 seconds |
| Orbits completed | 16 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Voskhod-3KVNo.3 |
| Manufacturer | Experimental Design BureauOKB-1 |
| Launch mass | 5,320 kilograms (11,730 lb) |
| Landing mass | G |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 |
| Members | Vladimir Komarov Konstantin Feoktistov Boris Yegorov |
| Callsign | Рубин(Rubin- "Ruby" )[1] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 12 October 1964, 07:30:01UTC[2] |
| Rocket | Voskhod11A57 |
| Launch site | Baikonur1/5[2] |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 13 October 1964, 07:47:04UTC |
| Landing site | 52°2′N68°8′E/ 52.033°N 68.133°E |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee altitude | 178 kilometres (111 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 336 kilometres (209 mi) |
| Inclination | 64.7 degrees |
| Period | 89.6 minutes |
Voskhod 1(Russian:Восход-1,lit. 'Sunrise-1') was the seventh crewedSovietspace flight. Flown by cosmonautsVladimir Komarov,Konstantin Feoktistov,andBoris Yegorov,it launched 12 October 1964, and returned on the 13th. Voskhod 1 was the firsthuman spaceflightto carry more than one crewman into orbit, the first flight without the use ofspacesuits,and the first to carry either an engineer or a physician into outer space. It also set a crewed spacecraft altitude record of 336 km (209 mi).[3]
The three spacesuits for the Voskhod 1 cosmonauts were omitted; there was neither the room nor the payload capacity for the Voskhod to carry them. The original Voskhod had been designed to carry two cosmonauts, but Soviet politicians pushed theSoviet space programinto squeezing three cosmonauts into Voskhod 1. The only other space flight in the short Voskhod program,Voskhod 2,carried two suited cosmonauts – of necessity, because it was the flight on whichAlexei Leonovmade the world's firstwalk in space.[4]
As part of its payload Voskhod 1 carried a ribbon off aCommunardbanner from theParis Communeof 1871 into orbit.[5]
Cosmonauts
[edit]| Position | Cosmonaut[6] | |
|---|---|---|
| Command Pilot | Vladimir Komarov First spaceflight | |
| Engineer | Konstantin Feoktistov Only spaceflight | |
| Medical Doctor | Boris Yegorov Only spaceflight | |
Back-up crew
[edit]| Position | Cosmonaut[7] | |
|---|---|---|
| Command Pilot | Boris Volynov | |
| Engineer | Georgi Katys | |
| Medical Doctor | Aleksei Sorokin | |
Reserve Cosmonaut
[edit]| Position | Cosmonaut[7] | |
|---|---|---|
| Medical Doctor | Vasili Lazarev | |
Mission parameters
[edit]- Mass:5,320 kg (11,730 lb)
- Perigee:178 km (111 mi)
- Apogee:336 km (209 mi)
- Inclination:64.7°
- Period:89.6 min
Background
[edit]
The original prime crew of cosmonauts for Voskhod 1, composed ofBoris Volynov,Georgi Katys,andBoris Yegorov,was rejected just three days before the scheduled launch date for thespace capsule.Katys was reportedly removed after the KGB discovered that his father had been shot during theGreat Purgein 1937 and Volynov apparently was the victim of discrimination due to his part-Jewish background, although he would later fly onSoyuz 5andSoyuz 21.[8]
Politics played a role in the crew's selection. Various factions each supported their own representatives for the flight.Sergei Korolevwanted his engineers to become cosmonauts, believing that spacecraft designers should fly in their own vehicles. TheSoviet Air Forceagreed to a crew composed of a military pilot, an engineer or scientist, and a doctor, but advocated for an all-military crew.Konstantin Feoktistov,who had been a design engineer for theVostok,Voskhod,andSoyuzprograms, was selected for this flight, becoming the only Soviet outer space designer to make a spaceflight. Yegorov, a medical doctor, used his political influence to get selected for the crew through his father'sPolitburoconnections. The Soviet space program viewed its crews as passengers more than pilots; the new cosmonauts received only three to four months of training, perhaps the briefest in space history other than that received by the American politiciansJake GarnandBill Nelsonfor Space Shuttle flights in the 1980s.[9]: 413–414, 416
Mission highlights
[edit] | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification.(October 2020) |
TheVoskhod spacecraftwere basicallyVostok spacecraftwith a backupsolid-fuelretrorocket added onto the top of the descent module. The ejection seat was removed and three crew couches were added to the interior at a 90-degree angle to that of the Vostok cosmonaut's position. Because of the cramped conditions, the cosmonauts also had to go on a diet to fit in their couches. A solid-fuelbraking rocketwas also added to the space capsule's parachute lines to provide for a softer landing at touchdown. This was necessary because, unlike the Vostok space capsule, no ejection seats were fitted in the Voskhod; the cosmonauts had to land inside the descent module.[10]Aside from that, the Vostok booster had lacked sufficient payload capacity to support the extra weight of a retrorocket package, but the larger upper stage used on the 11A57 launch vehicle meant that this was no longer an issue. As there was no launch escape system, the mission could not be aborted until three minutes after liftoff when the payload shroud was jettisoned and so a low-altitude booster accident would have meant the loss of the crew.
Liftoff took place at 7:30 on the morning of 12 October. Much of the mission of Voskhod 1 was devoted to biomedical research, and to the study of how a multidisciplinary team could work together in space. The mission was short, at only slightly over 24 hours. Incidentally, the Soviet premierNikita Khrushchevwas removed from power during the spaceflight, and it has been speculated that this led to the mission's being cut short.[11]The cramped conditions of the Voskhod space capsule has also been suggested as a factor ruling out a longer-duration spaceflight.[3]
During the flight, Khrushchev spoke with the cosmonauts via radio phone from hisdachain the Crimea. Shortly after this conversation, he was summoned back to Moscow where he learned that he was being expelled from office and the Communist Party. When the crew returned to Earth the next day, they were greeted byLeonid BrezhnevandAlexei Kosyginin their first public appearance as leaders of the Soviet Union.
Despite the propaganda boasting around Voskhod 1, it was privately referred to by the leadership of the Soviet space program as "a circus" due to the messy process of crew selection, the cosmonauts needing to diet to fit inside their spacecraft, Khrushchev's expulsion during the flight, and also the extremely dangerous circumstances of it (the crew having neither pressure suits nor any way to escape from a malfunctioning launch vehicle).
Happening as it did before the beginning of theProject Geminitwo-man flights, Voskhod 1 had a significant, but temporary, international impact. TheNASAAdministrator,James E. Webb,called the flight of Voskhod 1 a "significant space accomplishment" adding that it was "a clear indication that the Russians are continuing a large space program for the achievement of national power and prestige."[3]
Development
[edit]The Voskhod 1 mission was the first three-man mission attempted by theUSSR.The development for this mission was formally approved on 13 April 1964.[12]This mission used a modified Vostok spacecraft that had been designed for previous manned missions. The modifiedVostok spacecraftwas renamed Voskhod 1 for the new three-man missions.[13]The Voskhod 1 required many modifications since three cosmonauts had to fit in the capsule that had previously been designed for only one person. Some modifications also had to be made to the 11A57 launch vehicle which was used to launch the Voskhod 1. The first major modification was replacing the one ejection seat with three couches since there were now three cosmonauts. These couches included a suspension system to absorb the shock from launch and landing.[14]Because of space and weight requirements these new seats could not be ejection seats. This resulted in a new parachute mechanism being needed to soft land the entire crew capsule. In addition, the limited space did not allow the cosmonauts to wear pressurized spacesuits and they were only able to wear training suits.[13]This was not a major issue since the crew capsule was pressurized. However, it was less safe because the crew would not survive if the capsule depressurized while in space. In previous missions if the primary retrograde rocket failed the capsule would remain in orbit for 10 days before returning to earth. However, with a crew of three they would not be able to survive for that long. Because of this a backup retrograde rocket was added to deorbit the spacecraft in the event that the primary retrograde rocket failed.[14]In addition to these modifications to Voskhod 1, the third stage of the 11A57 launch vehicle was also changed from the Block Ye to the more powerful Block I. This was done because all the modifications added nearly 600 kilograms of weight to Voskhod 1.[13]
During the development of Voskhod 1 a test of the parachute system was conducted on 6 September 1964.[12]The test was conducted by dropping a Voskhod capsule from an altitude of 10,000 meters. During the test, the hatch for the parachute failed to open. This resulted in the Voskhod capsule crashing without the parachute being deployed. After further testing of the parachute system, it was determined that the electrical circuit that controlled the parachute hatch was the cause of the failure. Because of this, the circuit was redesigned with redundancies of the main components. This resulted in a more reliable circuit.[13]A second test of the Voskhod capsule took place on 5 October 1964.[12]This test resulted in a successful soft landing under a parachute. An unmanned test flight was also conducted on 6 October 1964.[12]For this test, a Voskhod spacecraft was renamed theKosmos-47and was put into orbit for one day. Kosmos-47 made a successful soft landing under the parachute. This was the last major test before the actual Voskhod 1 crewed mission.[14]This development concluded with the successful Voskhod 1 mission which launched on 12 October 1964.[12]
See also
[edit]
Notes
[edit]- ^Yenne, Bill (1988).The Pictorial History of World Spaceflight.Exeter. p. 31.ISBN0-7917-0188-3.
- ^ab"Baikonur LC1".Encyclopedia Astronautica.Archived fromthe originalon 15 April 2009.Retrieved30 March2009.
- ^abc"Voskhod 1".astronautix.Archived fromthe originalon 13 May 2008.Retrieved27 November2015.
- ^"Voskhod 2".astronautix.Archived fromthe originalon 22 November 2013.Retrieved27 November2015.
- ^Horne, Alistair (1965).The Fall of Paris.Macmillan. p. 433.
- ^""Восход" / Большая советская энциклопедия ".gatchina3000.ru.Retrieved18 March2020.
- ^ab"Астронет > Хроника освоения космоса: 1964 год".astronet.ru.Retrieved18 March2020.
- ^"Volynov".astronautix.Archived fromthe originalon 16 November 2002.Retrieved27 November2015.
- ^Siddiqi, Asif A.Challenge To Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945–1974.NASA.
- ^"Spaceflight mission report: Voskhod 1".spacefacts.de.Retrieved27 November2015.
- ^An example appears inThe Timesobituary of Feoktistov:[1]
- ^abcde"Mission of Voskhod spacecraft (Voskhod-1)".russianspaceweb.Retrieved2 May2021.
- ^abcdChertok, Boris (2009).Rockets and People Volume III: Hot Days of the Cold War.Washington, DC: NASA History Series. pp. 229–239.ISBN978-0-16-081733-5.
- ^abc"The Mission of Voskhod 1".Drew Ex Machina.12 October 2014.Retrieved2 May2021.
References
[edit]- "Voskhod 1".Encyclopedia Astronautica.Archived fromthe originalon 13 May 2008.Retrieved10 August2008.
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| Planned | ||