Vostok programme

The Vostok programme was a Soviet human spaceflight project that aimed to send the first Soviet cosmonauts into low Earth orbit and bring them back safely. It was part of a competition with the United States' Project Mercury. The Vostok programme made history by putting the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into space. He traveled in a single orbit in Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961.

The Vostok capsule was built using parts from the Zenit spy satellite project, and its launch vehicle came from the R-7 Semyorka intercontinental ballistic missile design. The name "Vostok" was kept secret until Gagarin's flight was announced to the world press.

The programme completed six crewed spaceflights between 1961 and 1963. The longest flight lasted almost five days, and the last four flights were launched just one day apart. This showed that the Vostok programme could do more than Project Mercury, which had a longest flight of just over 34 hours. After Vostok, the Soviet space programme moved on to the Voskhod programme in 1964 and 1965, using changed versions of the Vostok capsule and a bigger launch rocket.

Background

See also: Space Race

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. After this big step, the next goal was to send a person into space. Both the Soviet Union and the United States wanted to be the first to achieve this amazing feat.

Cosmonaut selection and training

In 1959, the Soviet Union began getting ready for humans to travel into space. They wanted their space travelers to be experienced Air Force pilots because they would need skills to handle high forces and other challenges. The candidates needed to be smart, able to stay calm in stressful situations, and in good physical shape.

The main leader of the Soviet space program, Sergei Korolev, decided that the space travelers should be men between 25 and 30 years old, not taller than 1.75 meters, and not heavier than 72 kilograms. By the end of 1959, 20 men were chosen to become cosmonauts. In 1960, they started training at a special center. The training included learning about space systems, rockets, and the stars, as well as daily exercise.

Because the first training place was too small, they moved to a new facility in Star City in June 1960. There, six men were picked for more intense training to be the first to fly in space. By January 1961, these six had finished their training and tests. Yuri Gagarin was chosen to be the first person to travel into space.

Missions

See also: Vostok (spacecraft)

Vostok 1, the first human spaceflight in April 1961, had several test flights before it. In mid-1960, Soviet leaders learned that American scientists might launch a human spaceflight as early as January 1961. This pushed Soviet scientists to move faster. By April 1960, they had made plans for the first Vostok spacecraft, called Vostok 1K. This design was for testing. They also planned Vostok 2K, a spy satellite later called Zenit 2, and Vostok 3K, which would be used for the human Vostok missions.

Because the Soviet Union is very large, it was hard to watch spaceflights from just one place. To help, the Soviets used seven ships around the world to keep in touch with orbiting spacecraft. Each ship could only talk to the spacecraft for five to ten minutes at a time.

Korabl-Sputnik 1

Main article: Korabl-Sputnik 1

The first Vostok spacecraft was not meant to come back to Earth; it was called Vostok 1KP (or 1P). Soviet leaders asked the media to call it Korabl-Sputnik, meaning "Satellite-ship." The real name Vostok was still secret. This first spacecraft was sent into space on May 15, 1960. Because of a problem, its engines turned on during the 64th orbit and sent it even higher. The spacecraft eventually fell back to Earth several years later.

Vostok 1K

The next six flights used the Vostok 1K design, which had life-support for humans and was meant to come back after one orbit. The first of these flights on July 28, 1960 carried two space dogs named Chayka and Lisichka. But an explosion destroyed the spacecraft right after launch, and both dogs were lost. The next flight, called Korabl-Sputnik 2, launched on August 19, 1960, carried two more dogs, Belka and Strelka, along with mice, insects, and human skin samples. This mission was successful, and Belka and Strelka were the first living beings brought back from orbit. They landed after a 26-hour flight and were found to be healthy.

A later flight on October 24 caused a big accident that killed many people, including a top leader named Mitrofan Nedelin. This made it hard to keep to the plan for a human flight in December 1960.

On December 1, 1960, another Vostok 1K spacecraft, called Korabl-Sputnik 3 by reporters, was launched. It carried two dogs named Pchyolka and Mushka. The engines to bring it back did not work as long as they should have, so leaders decided to destroy the spacecraft before it came down over the wrong area. Reporters said the cabin was destroyed because of the wrong altitude.

The next Vostok 1K flight on December 22, 1960 failed to reach space. It carried two dogs named Kometa and Shutka. The launch system failed, and the escape system brought the spacecraft down 3,500 kilometers from where it started. After a few days in very cold weather, both dogs were found alive, and the spacecraft was brought back to Moscow a few weeks later.

Vostok 3KA

See also: Korabl-Sputnik 4 and Korabl-Sputnik 5

Two test flights without humans used the same design as the human flights, called Vostok 3KA (or 3A). These flights carried one dog, a dummy human, and a way to destroy the spacecraft if needed. The first of these test flights, Korabl-Sputnik 4, launched on March 9, 1961. It carried a dog named Chernushka, a dummy called Ivan Ivanovich, and many small animals. After one orbit, the spacecraft came back safely, and the dog was found alive. This was a complete success.

The next test flight, Korabl-Sputnik 5, launched on March 25, 1961. It also lasted one orbit and carried a dummy and animals, including a dog named Zvezdochka. This mission was also a success and was the last step before allowing a human flight. The spacecraft from this mission was sold for $2,882,500 in 2011 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight, Vostok 1.

Crewed flights

Cancelled missions

One later plan from 1963 and seven earlier plans from 1966 were cancelled in early 1964. The parts were used for the Voskhod programme, which tried to achieve more firsts for the Soviet Union in space.

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