Vostok Program,seriesofpilotedspacecraft launched in the early 1960s by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR). The program (vostok is Russian for “east”) grew from the dreams of Sergei Korolyev, the founder of the Soviet space program and the head of the country’s leading aerospace design bureau, and from the Cold War space race between the United States and the USSR. A Vostok spacecraft was the first to carry a human into space. See Space Exploration.
Thespaceracebeganin 1957 with the launch of the first satellite, Sputnik 1, by the USSR (see Sputnik). The world reacted so strongly to the launch that Soviet leaders, including Nikita Khrushchev, saw opportunities to win Cold War political battles by making history in space. Later that year Korolyev launched a dog into space aboard Sputnik 2. United States leaders suspected that the Soviets were preparing to launch piloted spacecraft, so the United States established its first manned space program, the Mercury program, in 1958. This move drove the Soviets to accelerate their plans for piloted spacecraft.
TheUSSRrushedtodesign a spacecraft for piloted flights. They chose to modify a spy satellite (see Satellite, Artificial) to serve as the basis of the Vostok program. The USSR tested the Vostok spacecraft under the name Korabl-Sputnik and launched six piloted Vostok flights. All were successful.
TheVostokprogram'sgoals were mostly political, but its technical and scientific aims included testing basic spacecraft systems, such as heat shields and life support; showing that humans could survive launch into space, reentry to Earth’s atmosphere, and landing; and showing that humans could withstand weightlessness for several days.
Vostokcapsuleswerethe first spacecraft to carry humans into space. The USSR tested the design of the Vostok capsule on flights with dogs, mannequins, and scientific instruments as passengers. All of the piloted Vostok missions were successful, helping the USSR win a major battle in the space race.
Korolyev'sengineerstested the Vostok capsule under the Korabl-Sputnik program. On May 15, 1960, Korabl-Sputnik 1 reached orbit. All went as planned until just before the retrorocket fired, when controllers discovered that the spacecraft was pointed away from Earth. When it fired its retrorocket it climbed to a higher orbit instead of heading toward Earth. The spacecraft dropped out of orbit naturally and burned up in 1965.
Korabl-Sputnik2waslaunched on August 19, 1960, and was a successful flight by two dogs, Belka and Strelka. By contrast, Korabl-Sputnik 3—launched on December 1, 1960—was intentionally destroyed after its retrorocket shut down prematurely. The capsule probably would have landed safely, but it would have missed the USSR and landed in foreign territory. The dogs onboard, Pchelka and Mushka, were killed.
Korabl-Sputnik4,launched on March 9, 1961, was the first Vostok capsule designed exactly as it would be for piloted flight. Chernushka, the dog aboard, landed safely after one orbit. On Korabl-Sputnik 5, launched on March 25, 1961, a dog named Zvezdochka rode in the capsule as it landed, while a mannequin wearing the Vostok program's Sokol pressure suit ejected before landing. Zvezdochka survived the landing and the Sokol suit performed well.
OnApril12,1961,with a shout of "Poyekhali!" (“Let’s go!”) 27-year-old Yuri Gagarin lifted off from the USSR for a 108-minute, one-orbit flight aboard Vostok 1. All went well during this first piloted spaceflight until the equipment module ejected. By some accounts, the cable bundle linking the module to the capsule failed to detach, causing the two parts of Vostok 1 to tumble wildly about each other. After about 10 minutes they separated, and Gagarin landed safely.
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