Each of the two piloted missions in the Voskhod series was preceded by a test flight to check-out elements of the spacecraft design but with varying degrees of success. Voskhod 1 was preceded by a mission called Cosmos 47, using the generic programme name that covered most of the Soviet Union's unpiloted satellites.
Further Voskhod missions were planned for 1966 and beyond, but they were cancelled in order that work could be concentrated on developing and building Soyuz. A Voskhod spacecraft re-fitted to carry two dogs took them on a flight which carried them into the lower layers of the van Allen radiation belts which surround the Earth. This was the Cosmos 110 mission of 1966. Another Voskhod objective, a two-week stay in orbit, was eventually achieved by Soyuz 9 in 1970.
The following diary records all significant events in the Voskhod programme.
Date (UTC) |
Time (UTC) |
Event (UTC) |
1960 Jan 11 |
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USSR Government establishes a Cosmonaut Training Centre |
1960 Mar 1 |
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The Soviet Union first group of 20 space flight trainees reports to the Cosmonaut Training Centre |
1964 Oct 6 |
07:12 |
Cosmos 47 launched from the Baikonur by Voskhod/Soyuz rocket into 174 x 383 kilometre orbit at 64.6 degrees inclination - it is a test mission prior to the orbiting of Voskhod 1 |
1964 Oct 7 |
07:30 |
Cosmos 47 lands |
1964 Oct 12 |
07:30 |
Voskhod 1 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Voskhod/Soyuz rocket into 177 x 377 kilometre orbit at 64.9 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov and Boris Yegorov aboard |
1964 Oct 13 |
07:47 |
Voskhod 1 lands 312 kilometres north-east of Kustanai |
1965 Feb 22 |
07:40 |
Cosmos 57 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Voskhod/Soyuz rocket into 165 x 427 kilometre orbit at 64.7 degrees inclination - it is a test mission prior to the orbiting of Voskhod 2 and carries two dummy cosmonauts |
1965 Feb 22 |
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A test of Cosmos 57 inflatable airlock is successful |
1965 Feb 22 |
09:00 |
Approx time - an unauthorised radio signal from a tracking station interferes with a legitimate transmission and causes Cosmos 57 to execute the wrong command - the retro-rocket fires prematurely and in the wrong direction, standing the spacecraft in orbit |
1965 Feb 22 |
10:40 |
Approx time - a self-destruct explosive charge is fired on radio command from the ground destroying Cosmos 57 totally |
1965 Mar 18 |
07:00 |
Voskhod 2 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Voskhod/Soyuz rocket into 167 x 475 kilometre orbit at 64.8 degrees inclination with cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyaev aboard |
1965 Mar 18 |
08:34 |
Alexei Leonov opens the outer hatch of Voskhod 2 airlock and becomes the first human to float free in space - the airlock is a 'soft' tube on the outside of the spacecraft, with the walls inflated with a small amount of air |
1965 Mar 18 |
08:55 |
Approx time - after spending 12 minutes 'walking' in space outside Voskhod 2, drifting up to 5 metres from the spacecraft at the end of a tether, Leonov has some difficulty re-entering Voskhod because of unanticipated inflation of his spacesuit - in spite of this he succeds and closes the airlock hatch |
1965 Mar 19 |
07:00 |
Approx time - Voskhod 2 retro rocket fails to fire |
1965 Mar 19 |
08:35 |
One orbit later than the planned re-entry, Voskhod 2 reserve retro rocket fires and initiates re-entry |
1965 Mar 19 |
09:02 |
Voskhod 2 lands in the Ural Mountains, near the town of Perm which is nearly 1000 kilometres north of the originally planned landing site - the crew has to wait nearly 24 hours before being rescued |
1966 Jan 14 |
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Sergei Korolyov dies while undergoing surgery, he is aged 59 - his funeral is held in Moscow and his ashes are interred in the wall of the Kremlin |
1966 Feb 22 |
20:09 |
Cosmos 110, a Voskhod spacecraft, launched from the Baikonur by Voskhod/Soyuz rocket into 190 x 882 kilometre orbit at 51.9 degrees inclination carrying the dogs Veterok and Ugolyok |
1966 Mar 16 |
14:09 |
Cosmos 110 lands, the dogs are safe and the main effects of the flight are lack of co-ordination in their movements after landing, and a loss of calcium in their bones - readings from onboard the spacecraft show that there was no dangerous radiation detected at the near-900 kilometre apogee of the rbit |
In the case of Voskhod 2, Cosmos 57 was used to conduct tests of the inflatable airlock to be used by Alexei Leonov on his world first - a spacewalk from Voskhod 2.