Vostok would return to the launch pad on December 1, 1960, again carrying two dogs. This time there was a problem with lsayev’s TDU-l de-orbit engine and, although everything else worked just fine, the vehicle was deliberately destroyed to prevent the possibility of it landing on foreign territory. Only three weeks later (just three days after the first successful flight of Mercury-Redstone) the fifth Vostok was launched but failed to make orbit when Kos berg’s third stage once again shut down early. This time the animals were saved by a launch escape system that had been suggested by Tikhonravov after the first Vostok failure. In an ominous prediction of things to come, the descent module had not separated from the instrument module. This problem would come back to haunt the Soviets many times in the years ahead. The two failures in December were making it look increasingly unlikely that Vostok was going to be safe to carry a human any time soon. Selection of a candidate cosmonaut continued until Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was moved to the top of the flight roster.
R-16 missile on pad.
On February 4 a third attempt was made to launch the four-stage Molniya/R-7, this time with a probe intended to investigate Venus. Once again one of the upper stages didn’t fire and the probe was stranded in Earth orbit, however, only eight days later on February 12, 1961, Korolev finally managed to successfully launch his four stage Molniya/R-7. This time it would take the 643 kg Venera I probe to within 100,000 km of Venus. Instrumentation aboard consisted of a magnetometer, ion traps, meteorite detectors, cosmic ray detectors and radiation detectors. The whole craft was equipped with solar panels for power. The fourth stage engine worked perfectly, demonstrating space start capability and the use of ullage rockets for the first time. Although Venera-1 didn’t make it into Venusian orbit it was another impressive triumph for the Soviets and all the more incredible when considered against the backdrop of such frenetic preparations for Vostok.
A final version of Vostok, one capable of carrying a human, was now complete. This model was designated Vostok 3A and it would make its first unmanned flight on March 9, 1961 The pressure to fly a successful mission was intense, since the Americans had flown Ham the chimpanzee into space just six weeks earlier. In keeping with an old tradition of not counting unsuccessful flights, this mission was called the fourth satellite-ship by the Soviet press even though it was the sixth. This spacecraft carried not only another dog but also a full-sized human mannequin .The mission lasted only one orbit, returning safely to Earth right on target. At this juncture history might have taken an entirely different course. Distressed by the problems experienced by Ham during Mercury Red stone 2, Wernher von Braun erred on the side of caution, choosing to launch at least one more unmanned vehicle on March 24, 1961 — the flight was perfect. The very next day Korolev launched another dog and mannequin on a single orbit inside his second man-rated Vostok. The flight went exactly as planned and the stage was finally set for Korolev’s greatest triumph.
Venera 1 Venus probe.
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin climbed aboard the third man-rated Vostok spacecraft. It would become known as Vostok 1, even though it was the eighth launch of the basic Vostok structure. A great deal of care had been taken in preparing Vostok 1 for Gagarin who had risen to the top of a promising group of Air Force pilot-candidates. At seven minutes past nine in the morning, Moscow time, Korolev’s three stage R-7, carrying Vostok 1, roared away from the launch pad at Tyuratam/Baikonur. Everything worked according to plan despite the checkered success rate of the three stage R-7. Just over eleven minutes after launch Gagarin became the first human to be placed in orbit. His mission profile was very similar to the earlier test flights, comprising just a single orbit. His 4725 kg spacecraft flew at an apogee of 327 km and a perigee of 181 km; somewhat higher than predicted. After one hour and eighteen minutes the de-orbit engine fired and Vostok 1 began its descent. Unfortunately, in a replay of an earlier flight, the instrument module did not separate completely, but, fortunately for Gagarin, it never really endangered him and ten minutes later he began to reenter the atmosphere. At an altitude of 7 km the hatch blew and Gagarin ejected on schedule; he landed safely by parachute just one hour and fifty eight minutes after leaving Baikonur. The era of space travel had begun.
Next: Part 7
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