Voskhod programme
Part of a series of articles on the |
Soviet space program |
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The Voskhod programme (
Voskhod development was both a follow-on to the Vostok programme and a recycling of components left over from that programme's cancellation following its first six flights. The Voskhod programme was superseded by the Soyuz programme.
Design
The Voskhod spacecraft was basically a Vostok spacecraft that had a backup, solid-fueled retrorocket added to the top of the descent module. As it was much heavier, the launch vehicle would be the 11A57, a Molniya 8K78M with the Blok L stage removed and later the basis of the Soyuz booster. The ejection seat was removed and two or three crew couches were added to the interior at a 90-degree angle to that of the Vostok crew position. However, the position of the in-flight controls was not changed, so the crew had to crane their heads 90° to see the instruments.
In the case of Voskhod 2, an inflatable exterior airlock was also added to the descent module opposite the entry hatch. The airlock was jettisoned after use. This apparatus was needed because the vehicle avionics and environmental systems were air-cooled, and depressurization in orbit would cause overheating. A solid-fueled
Unlike Vostok and the later Soyuz, Voskhod had no launch abort system, meaning that the crew lacked any means of escape from a malfunctioning launch vehicle.
Voskhod had a solid-fueled backup retrorocket on top of the capsule in case the main one failed (as it did on Voskhod 2). While Vostok lacked this feature, it was not considered a problem since the spacecraft would decay from orbit within 10 days. Relatively lightweight, Voskhod was well below the 11A57 booster's lift capacity, meaning that it launched into a much higher orbit and would not decay as quickly.
Flights
The Voskhod flights, with launch dates:
Uncrewed
- Kosmos 47 – Uncrewed test flight of the Voskhod hardware.
- Kosmos 57 – Uncrewed test flight, unsuccessful.
- Kosmos 110 – Uncrewed, sent two dogs, Veterok and Ugolyok, on a 22-day flight, launched 22 February 1966 and landed 16 March.
Crewed
Order | Mission | Launch | Duration | Landing | Crew | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Voskhod 1 | 12 October 1964 | 1 d 0 h 17 m 3 s | 13 October 1964 | Vladimir Komarov | Konstantin Feoktistov | Boris Yegorov | First multiman spacecraft. |
2 | Voskhod 2 | 18 March 1965 | 1 d 2 h 2 m 17 s | 19 March 1965 | Pavel Belyayev | Alexei Leonov | First spacewalk .
|
Cancelled
- Voskhod 3 – 19-day two-man mission to study long-term weightlessness with artificial gravity, medical, military and other experiments[1]
- Voskhod 4 – 20-day single-man mission to study long-term weightlessness with artificial gravity, medical, military, and other experiments[2]
- Voskhod 5 – 10-day two-woman mission with medical and other experiments and first female EVA-spacewalk[3]
- Voskhod 6 – 15-day two-man mission with military and other experiments and multiple spacewalks to test new EVA jet belt[4]
Results
While the Vostok programme was dedicated more toward understanding the effects of space travel and microgravity on the human body, Voskhod's two flights were more aimed towards spectacular firsts. Although achieving the first
References
- ^ Astronautix, Voskhod 3
- ^ Astronautix, Voskhod 4
- ^ Astronautix, Voskhod 5
- ^ Astronautix, Voskhod 6
- ^ "Voskhod 3". Archived from the original on 2010-02-07. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
External links