Space History for March 16

[CalliArcale]

It's been a while since I've posted a space history bit, so here goes. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br /><b><i>Birthday of Vladimir Komorov</i></b><br /><br />Vladimir Komorov was born March 16, 1927. He was one of the first Soviet cosmonauts, though obviously not the first to actually fly into space. He was first assigned as the backup crew of Vostok 4, then as the prime crew of Vostok 7. However, Vostok 7 was cancelled. It would have been the first of several follow-on Vostok missions, this one targetted at the lower Van Allen Belts to make radiological-biological studies. But the Soviets had a different plan for Komorov. To best the upcoming American Gemini flights, the Vostok module was redesigned to carry three crew, and was renamed Voskhod. Komorov commanded the flight of Voskhod 1 on October 12, 1962. His crewmates were a scientist named Konstantin Feoktistov and a physician named Boris Yegorov. Thus, in addition to being the first multi-crew flight, it was also the first flight to carry scientists. Some safety concessions were made, however; Vostok was never meant to manage such a large crew, and the Voskhod modifications had included the deletion of all means for a launch abort. The crew couldn't even wear pressure suits. But the mission was a resounding success anyway. The same could not be said of Komorov's next flight, unfortunately. On April 23, 1967, he became the first person to die during. Komorov was the sole crew of Soyuz 1, testing out the radical new modular spacecraft. Before the flight, he had argued successfully for a rendezvous and docking between Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 2. So while three cosmonauts were getting ready for Soyuz 2, Komorov launched aboard Soyuz 1 on April 23. The plan was to launch Soyuz 2 into a favorable orbit for rendezvous once Soyuz 1 was ready. Soyuz 1 was never ready; serious problems cropped up immediately after orbit insertion. One solar array refused to deploy, cutting power output in half. Ma <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[bobw]

It is kind of funny to remember that back then our space news came first on TV, then the newspapers, and finally the big spread in Life magazine that we all waited for. It was such a small part of the data compared with today's mars rovers where we get it raw and all of it and with the shuttle flights where we get to look through the cargo bay cameras while the astronauts sleep. <br /><br />Thanks for the trip down memory lane <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[arobie]

Thanks CalliArcale!<br /><br />I'm sorry for that Cosmonaut. I had not heard his story before. He was definitely brave. God Bless.<br /><br />I had heard about Neil Armstrong and David Scott's stuck thruster incident. I didn't know that it was on the same mission as our first rendevous and docking mission. That's interesting. I'm glad they were able to pull out of it. Phew!<br /><br />

 

[najab]

><i>I didn't know that it was on the same mission as our first rendevous and docking mission.</i><p>First docking, but not the first rendezvous.</p>

 

[arobie]

Which was the first rendevous?

 

[omegamogo]

I heard of Komorov before, but I don't remember reading a lot about him. So thanks for the info Calli.<br /><br />Rest in peace, Komorov.You are the first among many of the heroes that died for the good of mankind and the advancement of space technology.<br />However, the poor man would be turning in his grave (Urn?) if he saw how the Russian space program is doing now.

 

[najab]

><i>Which was the first rendevous?</i><p>Gemini 6 was supposed to be the first docking mission, but the Agena target vehicle failed to reach orbit. They decided that instead of waiting for a new Agena, Gemini 6 and 7 would rendezvous instead. So the first US rendezvous was Gemini 6/7.</p>

 

[omegamogo]

Arobie, (Long time no see BTW <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />)<br /> According to this the first space rendezvous was on December 15, 1965, when Gemini 6 and 7 came within 30cm of each other.<br /><br />Edit: NajaB got the info before I did <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br />

 

[arobie]

Thanks Najab and Omegamogo. Very cool. <br /><br />Now it's coming back to me, Lovell talked about this mission a little in his book, <i>Lost Moon</i>.