Jan 02

Space Rocket History #44 – Voskhod-1with Kamarov, Yegorov, and Feoktistov – Part 1

Premiere Khrushchev was not willing to wait until Soyuz for another space first.  Khrushchev believed, There could be no final victories in the race for space propaganda.  He knew the US was working on project Gemini which would carry two astronauts in 1965.  So, as a means to upstage the US, Khrushchev ordered Chief Designer Korolev to fit three cosmonauts into the Voskhod spacecraft that was designed for two…

By Dave

By Dave

Yegorov

Yegorov

Feoktistov

Feoktistov

Komarov

Komarov

Voskhod 1 and 2

Voskhod 1 and 2

Mission Patch

Mission Patch

Dec 12

Space Rocket History #42 – Satellite Killer – Polyot-1

The Space Age had barely begun when Soviet engineers started planning ways to destroy enemy satellites. Some Western analysts have speculated that a design for an anti-satellite weapon system was started at Korolev’s OKB-1 bureau as early as 1956…

polyot1

Polyot-1

Credit: © Dietrich Haeseler

Credit: © Dietrich Haeseler

poletdh2

Credit: © Dietrich Haeseler

space rocket history pic45

By Dave

Dec 05

Space Rocket History #41 – The First Woman in Space, Vostok 5 & 6 with Bykovsky and Tereshkova – Part 3

During re-entry plasma enveloped Vostok-6. Tereshkova saw pieces of burning material fly past her window and she also smelled smoke entering the cabin…

Tereshkova Landing

Tereshkova Landing

Newspaper Story

Newspaper Story

Red Square

Red Square

Tereskova-Nikolaev

Tereskova-Nikolaev Wedding

50 Year Anniversary

50 Year Anniversary

Tereskova & Armstrong

Tereskova & Armstrong

Nov 28

Space Rocket History #40 – The First Woman in Space, Vostok 5 & 6 with Bykovsky and Tereshkova – Part 2

Vostok 5’s orbit turned out to be lower than the expected 181 by 235 km. The actual orbit was 175 by 222 km.  Initial calculations indicated the orbit of Vostok 5 would not decay for 10 or 11 days, however more conservative estimates, taking into account the increased solar activity and the resulting expanding of the upper atmosphere showed that the orbit could decay after only 8 days. With no way of predicting where Vostok 5 might land, the planned eight-day mission was now in question…

Tereshkova

Tereshkova

Tereshkova

Tereshkova

Tereshkova on TV

Tereshkova on TV