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The soviets showed some confidence in their spacecraft by launching the unmanned Soyuz 2 first, but showed some caution by not sending a cosmonaut in Soyuz 2.
Soyuz 7K-oK assembly credit RKK Energia
Georgi Beregovoy pilot of Soyuz 3
Soyuz 3 on the launch pad
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The first attempt for a Zond 4 follow-up launched on April 22. It failed when the Launch Escape System sent an erroneous abort command at T+260 seconds and shut down the Proton booster’s second stage. The escape rocket fired and pulled the descent module to safety.
Zond 5
Zond 5 Recovery Indian Ocean
Scientist observing lunar Tortoises
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Hundreds of millions of people all over the planet had seen Gagarin smiling joyfully in person or on television. He was theirs, familiar to everyone, and at the same time a “Citizen of the Universe.”
Yuri Gagarin
Gagarin’s plaque in the Kremlin Wall.
50th Anniversary stamp for Vostok 1
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When we left the Soviet Union they had somewhat successfully landed a probe on Venus and they had completed the automatic docking of two Soyuz 7K-OK spacecrafts. However they did not reach their goal of a circumlunar flight in time for the 50th anniversary of the glorious revolution.
L1 – Zond
Mishin, Agadzhanov, & Chertok
7K-L1 spacecraft on Proton booster
