Space Rocket History #93 – Soyuz Development – Part 2 – Rivals

Posted on December 18, 2014 by spac9750

The circumlunar plan involved 3 new spacecrafts. First the Soyuz A 7K spacecraft, capable of carrying three men, (2 men for a circumlunar flight) into space and returning them to earth. The 5.5 ton spacecraft has three modules, the orbital module, the re-entry module, and the service module.

The second new spacecraft is the Soyuz B 9K booster stage, with a fueled mass of 18 tons. After docking with the 7K, the 9K is capable of boosting the combined spacecraft out of earth orbit on a course to the moon.

The third new space craft is called Soyuz V 11k tanker. It has a mass of 5 tons. It is used to ferry fuel from the earth to the 9K Booster. It will take 4 tankers to fill the 9K booster with enough fuel to push the Soyuz 7K on a path to the moon.

Soyuz A, B, V

Vladimir Chelomey

Boris Chertok

Soyuz 7K-OK

Mar 27

Space Rocket History #56 – First Space Walk – Voskhod 2 with Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyayev – Part 2

Posted on March 27, 2014 by spac9750

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Leonov opened the airlocks outer hatch He was positioned on his “back” and this orientation revealed the beauty of earth in its entirety. His heart began to race as he pushed his upper body outside and saw the deep blue vista of the Mediterranean Sea, fringed by the easily recognizable shapes of Greece and Italy and, farther east, the Crimea, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Volga River…

EVA

EVA

Celebration

Descent Module

Stamp

Nov 21

Space Rocket History #39 – The First Woman in Space, Vostok 5 & 6 with Bykovsky and Tereshkova – Part 1

Posted on November 21, 2013 by spac9750

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In June of 1963, the Soviet Union performed an encore of the Vostok 3 and 4 missions with two manned spaceships orbiting the Earth simultaneously. However, Vostok 5 and 6 was more than a simple repetition. Vostok 5’s objective was to beat the flight-duration record. But Vostok-6 would carrying the first woman into space. The 26 year old Valentina Tereshkova….

Mission Patch

Valery Bykovsky

Valentina Tereshkova

Oct 17

Space Rocket History #34 – Group Flight – Vostok 3 and 4

Posted on October 17, 2013 by spac9750

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In February of 1962, the United States put John Glenn into orbit. This prompted Soviet leadership to suddenly asked Chief Designer Korolev to launch the next space spectacular promptly. To make this mission truly spectacular the Soviets decided to launch a group flight of two Vostoks lasting up to four days in orbit.