Tag: Valentina Tereshkova

Soviet’s Voskhod Launch was ‘Undoubtedly a Greater Risk’

Soviet’s Voskhod Launch was ‘Undoubtedly a Greater Risk’

In the autumn of 1964, the Soviet Union achieved another space spectacular with the flight of the first multi-person spacecraft. On board was a pilot cosmonaut and the first civilians to fly in space – a physician and an engineer. Russia’s stated confidence in the reliability of their technology noted that there was no need for pressure suits. However, in the years since the fall of the Soviet regime, Russian space experts confirmed the mission was primarily for propaganda and included significant risks.

Soviet ‘Cosmic Spectacular’ Included First Woman in Space

Soviet ‘Cosmic Spectacular’ Included First Woman in Space

In June 1963, 60 years ago, the Soviet Union performed another “spectacular” in the cosmos, eclipsing American achievements in space. As was the case 10 months earlier, two Vostok spacecraft orbited the Earth with one establishing a new human spaceflight endurance record. Aboard the second capsule was the first woman to travel in space. Her time in orbit was more than all six U.S. human flights combined.

Soviet ‘Star Brothers’ Orbit as Part of First Joint Space Flight

Soviet ‘Star Brothers’ Orbit as Part of First Joint Space Flight

In the summer of 1962, the Soviet Union stunned the world once again with a space spectacular in which two cosmonauts quadrupled the duration of a mission a year earlier while simultaneously orbiting two crewed spacecraft. The achievement appeared to extend the lead of America’s Cold War rival in the “Space Race.”