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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 2554.PDF
756 FLIGHT International, 7 November 1968 The launch of Soyuz 3 was televised by Moscow Radio. Assessment of the size of the vehicle is difficult since the rocket is believed to have lifted from a sunken pad, and the lower section of the first stage was then obscured by smoke. The vehicle must, however, be at least as large as Saturn I. The relatively casual wear favoured by Russian astronauts was again demonstrated by Beregovoi (see picture below), who sported lightweight blue over- alls and a soft helmet. This was apparently retained even for launch and landing Spaceflight SOYUZ 3: PRELUDE TO THE SPACE STATION WHILE RUSSIA continued to observe official silence aboutthe exact purpose of the Soyuz 3 flight, all the indica-tions are that the main purpose of the mission (the first Soviet manned flight since that of Soyuz 1 in April last year) was the development of techniques for use, at least initially, with manned space stations. Soyuz 3 was launched from the space centre at Baykonour at O834GMT on October 26. Flown by Col Georgy Beregovoi, the spacecraft made 64 Earth orbits before landing near Karaganda, a town about 350 miles ENE of Baykonour, at O725GMT on October 30. The landing was apparently accurate, for a recovery helicopter was soon at hand to fly the astronaut back to base. The main objective of the flight, apart from the qualification of the parachute system, was an approach and rendezvous (and possibly docking) with an unmanned target vehicle, the Soyuz 2 spacecraft, which had been launched on October 25. The initial orbit for this satellite was 115/139.2 miles at an inclination of 51.7°, while that of Soyuz 3 was 127.4/139.8 miles with an inclination of 51.67°. Soyuz 3 was manoeuvred to within 600ft of the target vehicle using both automatic and manual tracking. There are no indications that the two spacecraft actually docked, although Soyuz 2 is believed to have had a docking collar, but Soviet reports claim that all the scheduled manoeuvres were successfully completed. Two rendezvous exercises were completed, after which the orbit characteristics were given as:— Soyuz 2, 112.4/143.5 miles, and 51.7° inclination; Soyuz 3, 111/156.5 miles, 51.7° inclination. Following the rendezvous, Soyuz 2 was returned to Earth at 0751 GMT on October 28. A parachute system, together with retro-rockets, was used to lessen the landing shock. Several TV sessions were held by Col Beregovoi using a small hand-held camera. These showed fairly clearly the layout of the instrument compartment, also used for rest periods. This was one of two habitable units of Soyuz 3, the other being the command module. The instrument compart- ment appeared to consist of a cylinder, large enough for the astronaut to stand upright, and equipped with switching and control panels. Among the displays was a map or globe of the world, upon which the position of the spacecraft was represented by a moving point of light. This was sychronised with computing and tracking equipment at the launch centre, and allowed instant identification of the area visible at any given time through any of the four windows. y At one end of the compartment was an airlock, presumably communicating with the command module. The internal pressure of the compartment was stated to be 780mm mercury, much greater than might have been expected from structural and biological considerations. •;. Preparations for landing were begun over Africa, apparently on the 61st orbit, when retro-thrust was applied for 145sec (by comparison, the main engine on Apollo 7 fired for 11 sec). The main engine was then jettisoned (together with, possibly, the instrument compartment). The spacecraft was lowered to Earth by parachute and, as with Soyuz 2, retro-rockets were fired to lessen the landing impact. Soviet Press and radio have been at pains to promote the impression that the immediate application of Soyuz 3 data will be for space stations in Earth orbit, rather than for manned missions to the Moon (though the possibility of lunar flights at a later date was not discounted). For example, Leonid Sedov, who was director of Russia's space programme at the time of the Sputnik 1 launch in 1957, stated that Soyuz 3 was "part of a programme to develop operations around the Earth. He added that the spacecraft was large enough to carry three or four astronauts, although only one had been needed on the Soyuz 3 flight (a further indication of the experimental nature of the flight). He added that "In the immediate future the pro- gramme does not include the landing of men on the Moons surface." Col Beregovoi is, at 47, the oldest active astronaut (Russian or American) and Soyuz 3 was his first space mission. He flew as a fighter pilot during World War 2, and was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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