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“I was the last one to see him alive and I told him ‘See you soon!’” Yuri Gagarin, recalls bidding farewell to his friend Kamarov in Soyuz 1.
Kamarov with Gagarin
Soyuz 1 on the Pad
Soyuz 1 shown with both panels extended
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With the success of Kosmos 146 and in spite of the failures of the first three 7K-Ok’s it was now time to plan for a Soyuz manned mission. The planned involved the launch and docking of two piloted Soyuzes. Soyuz 7K-OK production model number 4 was assigned the role of the active vehicle. The active vehicle was supposed to carry one cosmonaut into earth orbit. Twenty-four hours later, vehicle No. 5 (the passive vehicle) carrying three cosmonauts would be inserted in orbit. After rendezvouing, two cosmonauts from vehicle No. 5 would transfer through open space to vehicle No. 4.
Kosmos 146. A 7K-L1 model.
7K-OK and 7K-L1 Rendezvous Concept. Credit Mark Wade
Sketch of Vladimir Komarov by Joe G.
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When the 20 Cosmonaut candidates were asked to anonymously vote for which candidate they would like to see fly first, all but three chose Gagarin. The consensus was, Gagarin was very focused, and demanding of himself and others when necessary.
Gagarin
Titov
Nikolaev
Popovic
Bykovsky
Tereshkova
Tereshkova & Nikolaev
