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World's first space crew flies riskiest mission ever!

On October 12, 1964, the USSR continued its pioneering conquest of space orbiting the first multi-member crew onboard the Voskhod ("sunrise") spacecraft. This achievement was made even more sensational by the fact that three cosmonauts blasted into space after only single-pilot missions. However unknown to the world was the unfathomable risk taken by the cosmonauts. Without any viable emergency rescue at liftoff and without spacesuits, the trio faced certain death in case of even a small air leak, let alone a launch failure.

Article, photography and design by Anatoly Zak; Editor: Alain Chabot

Above: The de-facto founder of the Soviet space program Sergei Korolev (left) and the crew of Voskhod: Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov and Boris Yegorov on the launch pad in Tyuratam before their launch. Credit: RKK Energia

Voskhod, second series of manned Soviet spacecraft. Following the triumph of the Vostok launchings that had put the first human in space, the Soviets adapted the Vostok so it could carry more than one crew member. On October 12, 1964, Voskhod 1 carried three cosmonauts—commander Vladimir Komarov, engineer Konstantin Feoktistov, and doctor Boris Yegorov—into Earth orbit.

The Voskhod was 950 kg (2,100 pounds) heavier than Vostok and featured many technical improvements. However, it was not larger than the Vostok spacecraft, so, in order to accommodate the Voskhod 1 crew, no space suits were worn in flight. Reentry procedures were also modified for the Voskhod flight. The pilots of the Vostok series had to parachute from their spacecraft, but the Voskhod cosmonauts remained in their ship, making a hard-surface landing that involved the use of drogues (special parachutes) and retrorockets.

Voskhod 1 was the first space mission to yield significant biomedical data. Yegorov was a physiologist and was assigned to monitor the physical condition of his fellow crew members. He measured their blood pressure, took blood samples, recorded brain waves, and tested muscle coordination.

Voskhod 1 cosmonauts (left to right) commander Vladimir Komarov, doctor Boris Yegorov, and engineer Konstantin Feoktistov on their way to the launchpad, October 12, 1964. Because of the cramped dimensions of the spacecraft, they wore no space suits.
image: NASA

Voskhod 2, launched on March 18, 1965, with commander Pavel Belyayev and pilot Aleksey Leonov, continued the early pattern of Soviet space firsts. On the day of the launch, Leonov exited the Voskhod spacecraft through an airlock and performed the first space walk, maneuvering in space for 10 minutes. Voskhod 2 spent 27 hours in orbit before returning to Earth.

Courtesy Britannica 17.10.21

The Voskhod spacecraft was, essentially, a Vostok spacecraft that had a backup solid fuel retrorocket added to the top of the descent module. The ejection seat was removed for more space and two or three crew couches were added to the interior at a 90° angle to that of the Vostok crew position. There was no provision for crew escape in the event of a launch or landing emergency.

Lack of space meant that the three crew members of Voskhod 1 did not wear space suits. Both crew members wore spacesuits on the Voskhod 2 mission, as it involved an EVA and used an inflatable airlock. This allowed cosmonaut Alexei Leonov to exit and re-enter the craft. It was needed because the vehicle's electrical and environmental systems were air-cooled, and complete capsule depressurization would lead to overheating. The airlock weighed 250 kg (550 lb), was 70 cm (28 in) in diameter, 77 cm (30 in) high when collapsed for launch. When extended in orbit, it was 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long, had an internal diameter of 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and an external diameter of 1.2 m (3.9 ft). The second crew member wore a spacesuit as a precaution against accidental descent module depressurization. The airlock was jettisoned after use.

The lack of ejection seats meant that the Voskhod crew would return to Earth inside their spacecraft, unlike the Vostok cosmonauts who ejected and parachuted down separately. Because of this, a new landing system was developed, which added a small solid-fuel rocket to the parachute lines. It fired as the descent module neared touchdown, providing a softer landing.

A backup solid-fueled retrorocket was added to the top of the descent module in the event that the main retrorocket failed. This had not been necessary on Vostok as the orbit was low enough that the spacecraft's orbit would decay in ten days if the retrorocket failed, there being enough onboard consumables to sustain the cosmonaut that long. In any case, the Blok E equipped R-7 booster lacked sufficient lift capacity for a backup retrorocket. Since Voskhod was well below the maximum lift capacity of the larger Blok I equipped R-7, it would be put into a quite high orbit and not decay in ten days.

Voskhod utilized the 11A57 booster, essentially the Molniya 8K78L with the Blok L stage removed to create a medium-lift LEO launcher, and later the launch vehicle for the Soyuz program.

The spacecraft notably lacked any launch escape system, meaning that the crew would not survive a booster failure that occurred in the first 2.5 minutes of launch (after payload shroud jettison, the descent module could simply be detached). Although work had begun on an LES in 1962, it was not ready yet and so the engineers and cosmonauts simply had to gamble that the booster functioned properly during ascent, as by 1964, the R-7's success rate was improving but still not perfect.

Vostok 3KV (1964)
Also known as Voskhod. Adaptation of the Vostok spacecraft for three cosmonauts. This version flew twice, on 6 October 1964 un-crewed (as Kosmos 47) and on 12 October 1964 crewed as Voskhod 1.

Courtesy: Wikipedia 17.10.21

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