Soyuz 4
Encyclopedia
Soyuz 4 was launched on January 14, 1969. On board the Soyuz 7K-OK
spacecraft was cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov
on his first flight. The aim of the mission was to dock with Soyuz 5
, transfer two crew members from that spacecraft, and return to Earth. The previous three Soyuz
flights were also dock attempts but all had failed for various reasons.
The radio call sign
of the crew was , while Soyuz 5
was . This referred to the trans-Siberian railway project called the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which was under construction at the time. The mission presumably served as encouragement to the workers on that project.
would do the same in March of the same year). The two craft possessed only a primitive probe (Soyuz 4) and drogue (Soyuz 5) docking assembly. A connecting tunnel for the docking mechanism had not yet been developed, which prevented a simple internal transfer between the craft. This required the two transferring cosmonauts to spacewalk from one vehicle to the other. Aboard Soyuz 5, Yevgeny Khrunov
and Aleksei Yeliseyev
immediately began preparing for their EVA
. Boris Volynov
, who would remain aboard Soyuz 5, filmed them donning their Yastreb
space suit
s.
On their 35th revolution of Earth, the two cosmonauts exited the spacecraft for the second Soviet spacewalk. One of Khrunov's lines became tangled and he accidentally closed the tumbler of his suit ventilator. This distracted Yeliseyev who did not set up the movie camera
on the orbital module before exiting the spacecraft. As such, there is no film of the historic EVA, only a poor video transmission.
One hour later, the two were greeted by Shatalov after the repressurisation of the Soyuz 4 orbital module, which also acted as an airlock. Soyuz 4 and 5 separated after 4 hours and 35 minutes docked together. Soyuz 4 re-entered the atmosphere and landed 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) southwest of Karaganda
on January 17, 1969.
The mission proved it was possible to perform the activities that would be needed on a Soviet lunar landing. The Russian plan called for a lone cosmonaut to land on the moon, return to lunar orbit, then make a spacewalk back from the landing craft to orbiting spacecraft after docking. This was because there was no internal tunnel between the two craft as found on the American Apollo CSM
and LM
.
The crew were to meet Leonid Brezhnev
during a lavish ceremony at the Kremlin, but this was ruined by an attempted assassination of the Soviet leader. A man shot eight times at the motorcade but aimed at the car containing Georgi Beregovoi
, Alexei Leonov, Andrian Nikolayev
, and Valentina Tereshkova
. They were unharmed but Brezhnev's car was forced to speed away past the waiting Soyuz 4/5 crews on the podium.
crew was assembled and began functioning." The mission rehearsed elements of the Soviet piloted lunar mission plan. Moscow TV carried the cosmonauts’ EVA preparations live. Khrunov and Yeliseyev put on their Yastreb ("hawk") suits in the Soyuz 5 orbital module with aid from Commander Boris Volynov.
Yastreb suit design commenced in 1965, shortly after Alexei Leonov’s difficult EVA. Leonov served as consultant for the design process, which was completed during 1966. Suit fabrication and testing occurred in 1967, but the fatal Soyuz 1 accident in April of that year and docking difficulties on the joint Soyuz 2
-Soyuz 3
mission delayed its use in space until Soyuz 4-Soyuz 5.
To prevent the suit ballooning, Yastreb featured a pulley-and-cable articulation system. Wide metal rings around the gray nylon canvas undersuit's upper arms served as anchors for the upper body articulation system. Yastreb had a regenerative life support system in a rectangular white metal box placed on the chest and abdomen to facilitate movement through Soyuz hatchways.
Volynov checked out Khrunov and Yeliseyev’s life support and communications systems before returning to the descent module, sealing the hatch, and depressurizing the orbital module. Khrunov went out first, transferring to the Soyuz 4 orbital module while the docked spacecraft were out of radio contact with the Soviet Union over South America. Yeliseyev transferred while the spacecraft were over the Soviet Union. They closed the Soyuz 4 orbital module hatch behind them, then Soyuz 4 Commander Vladimir Shatalov repressurized the orbital module and entered to help Khrunov and Yeliseyev get out of their suits. The spacewalkers delivered newspapers, letters, and telegrams printed after Shatalov lifted off to help prove that the transfer took place.
Soyuz 7K-OK
The manned Soyuz spacecraft can be classified into design generations. Soyuz 1 through Soyuz 11 were first-generation vehicles, carrying a crew of up to three without spacesuits and distinguished from those following by their bent solar panels and their use of the Igla automatic docking navigation...
spacecraft was cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov
Vladimir Shatalov
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov is a former Soviet cosmonaut who flew three space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 4, Soyuz 8, and Soyuz 10....
on his first flight. The aim of the mission was to dock with Soyuz 5
Soyuz 5
Soyuz 5 was a Soyuz mission using the Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union on January 15, 1969, which docked with Soyuz 4 in orbit...
, transfer two crew members from that spacecraft, and return to Earth. The previous three Soyuz
Soyuz programme
The Soyuz programme is a human spaceflight programme that was initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, originally part of a Moon landing project intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon...
flights were also dock attempts but all had failed for various reasons.
The radio call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
of the crew was , while Soyuz 5
Soyuz 5
Soyuz 5 was a Soyuz mission using the Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union on January 15, 1969, which docked with Soyuz 4 in orbit...
was . This referred to the trans-Siberian railway project called the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which was under construction at the time. The mission presumably served as encouragement to the workers on that project.
Crew
Backup Crew
Reserve Crew
Mission parameters
- Mass: 6625 kg (14,605.6 lb)
- Perigee: 213 km (132.4 mi)
- Apogee: 224 km (139.2 mi)
- Inclination: 51.7°
- Period: 88.8 min
Space walk
- Yeliseyev and Khrunov - EVA 1
- EVA 1 start: January 16, 1969, 12:43:00 UTC
- EVA 1 end: January 16, 13:15 UTC
- Duration: 37 minutes
Mission highlights
The two spacecraft docked on January 16, the first time two manned spacecraft had docked (Apollo 9Apollo 9
Apollo 9, the third manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first flight of the Command/Service Module with the Lunar Module...
would do the same in March of the same year). The two craft possessed only a primitive probe (Soyuz 4) and drogue (Soyuz 5) docking assembly. A connecting tunnel for the docking mechanism had not yet been developed, which prevented a simple internal transfer between the craft. This required the two transferring cosmonauts to spacewalk from one vehicle to the other. Aboard Soyuz 5, Yevgeny Khrunov
Yevgeny Khrunov
Yevgeni Vassilyevich Khrunov was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the Soyuz 5/Soyuz 4 mission.He was born in Prudy.Yevgeni Khrunov was a colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union and Kandidat of Technical Sciences ....
and Aleksei Yeliseyev
Aleksei Yeliseyev
Aleksei Stanislavovich Yeliseyev is a retired Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three missions in the Soyuz programme as a flight engineer: Soyuz 5, Soyuz 8, and Soyuz 10....
immediately began preparing for their EVA
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
. Boris Volynov
Boris Volynov
Boris Valentinovich Volynov is a Soviet cosmonaut who flew two space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 5, and Soyuz 21. He was the first Jewish cosmonaut.-Biography:...
, who would remain aboard Soyuz 5, filmed them donning their Yastreb
Yastreb
Yastreb is a Russian space suit that was specially developed for early Soyuz space vehicle missions and for EVA. This model of space suit allowed the cosmonaut to spacewalk from the orbital module of Soyuz....
space suit
Space suit
A space suit is a garment worn to keep an astronaut alive in the harsh environment of outer space. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, and are necessary for extra-vehicular activity , work done outside spacecraft...
s.
On their 35th revolution of Earth, the two cosmonauts exited the spacecraft for the second Soviet spacewalk. One of Khrunov's lines became tangled and he accidentally closed the tumbler of his suit ventilator. This distracted Yeliseyev who did not set up the movie camera
Movie camera
The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film which was very popular for private use in the last century until its successor, the video camera, replaced it...
on the orbital module before exiting the spacecraft. As such, there is no film of the historic EVA, only a poor video transmission.
One hour later, the two were greeted by Shatalov after the repressurisation of the Soyuz 4 orbital module, which also acted as an airlock. Soyuz 4 and 5 separated after 4 hours and 35 minutes docked together. Soyuz 4 re-entered the atmosphere and landed 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) southwest of Karaganda
Karaganda
Karagandy , more commonly known by its Russian name Karaganda, , is the capital of Karagandy Province in Kazakhstan. It is the fourth most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty , Astana and Shymkent, with a population of 471,800 . In the 1940s up to 70% of the city's inhabitants were ethnic...
on January 17, 1969.
The mission proved it was possible to perform the activities that would be needed on a Soviet lunar landing. The Russian plan called for a lone cosmonaut to land on the moon, return to lunar orbit, then make a spacewalk back from the landing craft to orbiting spacecraft after docking. This was because there was no internal tunnel between the two craft as found on the American Apollo CSM
Apollo Command/Service Module
The Command/Service Module was one of two spacecraft, along with the Lunar Module, used for the United States Apollo program which landed astronauts on the Moon. It was built for NASA by North American Aviation...
and LM
Apollo Lunar Module
The Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman to carry a crew of two from lunar orbit to the surface and back...
.
The crew were to meet Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
during a lavish ceremony at the Kremlin, but this was ruined by an attempted assassination of the Soviet leader. A man shot eight times at the motorcade but aimed at the car containing Georgi Beregovoi
Georgi Beregovoi
Georgy Timofeyevich Beregovoy was a Soviet cosmonaut who commanded the space mission Soyuz 3 in 1968. At the time of his flight, Beregovoy was 47 years of age: he was the oldest human to go into space , three months and three days older than the second earliest-born astronaut, American John...
, Alexei Leonov, Andrian Nikolayev
Andrian Nikolayev
Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev , was a Soviet cosmonaut. He was an ethnic Chuvash.- History :...
, and Valentina Tereshkova
Valentina Tereshkova
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a retired Soviet cosmonaut, and was the first woman in space. She was selected out of more than four hundred applicants, and then out of five finalists, to pilot Vostok 6 on the 16 June, 1963, becoming both the first woman and the first civilian to fly in...
. They were unharmed but Brezhnev's car was forced to speed away past the waiting Soyuz 4/5 crews on the podium.
EVA details
The docking mission had EVA objectives similar to those planned for Apollo 9. Soyuz 4 launched first, and was the active vehicle in the docking with Soyuz 5. The news agency TASS stated that: "there was a mutual mechanical coupling of the ships . . . and their electrical circuits were connected. Thus, the world’s first experimental cosmic station with four compartments for thecrew was assembled and began functioning." The mission rehearsed elements of the Soviet piloted lunar mission plan. Moscow TV carried the cosmonauts’ EVA preparations live. Khrunov and Yeliseyev put on their Yastreb ("hawk") suits in the Soyuz 5 orbital module with aid from Commander Boris Volynov.
Yastreb suit design commenced in 1965, shortly after Alexei Leonov’s difficult EVA. Leonov served as consultant for the design process, which was completed during 1966. Suit fabrication and testing occurred in 1967, but the fatal Soyuz 1 accident in April of that year and docking difficulties on the joint Soyuz 2
Soyuz 2
Soyuz 2 was an unpiloted spacecraft in the Soyuz family intended to perform a docking maneuver with Soyuz 3. Although the two craft approached closely, the docking did not take place.-Other uses of name:...
-Soyuz 3
Soyuz 3
Soyuz 3 was a spaceflight mission launched by the Soviet Union on October 26, 1968. For four consecutive days, Commander Georgy Beregovoy piloted the Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft through eighty-one orbits of Earth.-Crew:-Backup crew:...
mission delayed its use in space until Soyuz 4-Soyuz 5.
To prevent the suit ballooning, Yastreb featured a pulley-and-cable articulation system. Wide metal rings around the gray nylon canvas undersuit's upper arms served as anchors for the upper body articulation system. Yastreb had a regenerative life support system in a rectangular white metal box placed on the chest and abdomen to facilitate movement through Soyuz hatchways.
Volynov checked out Khrunov and Yeliseyev’s life support and communications systems before returning to the descent module, sealing the hatch, and depressurizing the orbital module. Khrunov went out first, transferring to the Soyuz 4 orbital module while the docked spacecraft were out of radio contact with the Soviet Union over South America. Yeliseyev transferred while the spacecraft were over the Soviet Union. They closed the Soyuz 4 orbital module hatch behind them, then Soyuz 4 Commander Vladimir Shatalov repressurized the orbital module and entered to help Khrunov and Yeliseyev get out of their suits. The spacewalkers delivered newspapers, letters, and telegrams printed after Shatalov lifted off to help prove that the transfer took place.