Soyuz 4 & 5 - Mission Diary

Soviet reports account for mission events in terms of Moscow Time, which was three hours ahead of GMT during the mission. Baikonur cosmodrome and the spacecraft landing zones were four hours ahead, thus the Soyuz 4 lift off occurred at 11:30 am local time.

Date & Time (GMT)

Event

1969 Jan 14

07:30

Soyuz 4 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 161 x 215 kilometre orbit at 51.7 degrees inclination with cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov aboard

1969 Jan 14

13:35

Soyuz 4 changes orbit to 205 x 223 kilometres

1969 Jan 14

15:16

Soyuz 4 makes final contact for the day with mission control, via land-based tracking station at Yevpatoriya in the Crimea

1969 Jan 14

17:00

Vladimir Shatalov starts rest period

1969 Jan 15

01:12

Soyuz 4 re-enters range of Soviet tracking stations and contacts mission control via Ussuryisk and Petropavlosk in the Soviet far east

1969 Jan 15

07:05

Soyuz 5 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into approx 180 x 215 kilometre orbit at 51.7 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Boris Volynov, Alexei Yeliseyev and Yevgeny Khrunov aboard

1969 Jan 15

14:30

Soyuz 5 changes orbit to 210 x 233 kilometres

1969 Jan 15

14:55

Approx time - Spacecraft make final contact for the day with mission control, via tracking station at Yevpatoriya in the Crimea

1969 Jan 15

17:00

Both crews start rest period

1969 Jan 16

00:50

Approx time - Spacecraft re-enter range of Soviet tracking stations and contact mission control via Ussuryisk and Petropavlosk in the Soviet far east

1969 Jan 16

05:15

Approx time - Soyuz 4 makes minor orbit correction to prepare for rendezvous approach to Soyuz 5

1969 Jan 16

07:37

Soyuz 4 commences automatically-controlled approach to Soyuz 5

1969 Jan 16

08:20

Soyuz 4 docks with Soyuz 5

1969 Jan 16

09:25

Approx time - Yeliseyev starts space walk from Soyuz 4 to Soyuz 5

1969 Jan 16

09:55

Approx time - Khrunov starts space walk from Soyuz 4 to Soyuz 5

1969 Jan 16

10:30

Approx time - both drew members are inside Soyuz 5

1969 Jan 16

12:55

Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 separate from each other - Soyuz 5 then fires its thrusters and moves away from Soyuz 4

1969 Jan 16

14:33

Spacecraft make final contact for the day with mission control, via tracking station at Yevpatoriya in the Crimea

1969 Jan 17

00:33

Spacecraft re-enter range of Soviet tracking stations and contact mission control via Ussuryisk and Petropavlosk in the Soviet far east

1969 Jan 17

06:11

Soyuz 4 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry

1969 Jan 17

06:53

Soyuz 4 soft lands 40 kilometres north west of Karaganda, Khazakstan

1969 Jan 17

14:13

Approx time - Soyuz 5 makes final contact for the day with mission control, via tracking station at Yevpatoriya in the Crimea

1969 Jan 17

00:11

Soyuz 5 re-enters range of Soviet tracking stations and contacts mission control via Ussuryisk and Petropavlosk in the Soviet far east

1969 Jan 17

05:50

Approx time - originally planned retro-fire for Soyuz 5, postponed because of weather conditions on the ground

1969 Jan 17

07:26

Soyuz 5 fires its manoeuvring engine to initiate re-entry

1969 Jan 17

08:08

Soyuz 5 soft lands 200 km south west of Kustanai, Khazakstan

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