Voskhod 1

Voskhod 1
Mission Insignia

Mission Statistics

Mission Name: Voskhod 1

Call Sign: Рубин (Rubin - "Ruby")

Number of Crew Members: 3

Launch: October 12, 1964
07:30:01 UTC
Baikonur LC1

Landing: October 13, 1964
07:47:04 UTC
52� 2' N, 68� 8' E

Duration: 1 days, 17 minutes

Number of Orbits: 16

Voskhod 1 was the first spaceflight to carry more than one person into space and the first flight without space suits. The Soviet mission was specifically planned to beat the US Gemini program to this milestone. As a further propaganda coup, the spacecraft was claimed to have carried into orbit a fragment of a communard banner from the Paris Commune of 1871.

On board were three cosmonauts: Vladimir Komarov, who piloted the craft; Konstantin Feoktistov, an engineer who had been part of the Sputnik and Vostok design teams; and Boris Yegorov, a doctor.

Much of the mission was devoted to biomedical research and to study of how a multi-disciplinary team could work together in space. The mission was probably cut short by political upheaval back on Earth surrounding the coup that deposed Nikita Khrushchev. The cramped conditions of the crew have also been suggested as a factor ruling out a longer duration flight.

Crew

Mission Parameters

Mass: 5320 kg
Perigee: 178 km
Apogee: 336 km
Inclination: 64.7�
Period: 89.6 minutes

Previous Mission:
Vostok 6

Voskhod programme

Next Mission:
Voskhod 2