Vostok 3/Sokol (Falcon)
August 11, 1962 12:24am
Crew: Andriyan Nikolayev
Orbits: 64
Duration: 3 days, 22 hours, 28 minute
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Vostok 4/Berkut (Golden Eagle)
August 12, 1962 12:02am
Crew: Pavel Popovich
Orbits: 48
Duration: 2 days, 22 hours, 56 minutes
In the wake of Vostok-2, Sergei Korolev pushed hard to extend Soviet dominance in space. The plan was to send two spacecraft into orbit at the same time in November of 1961. The Soviets were concerned about the space sickness that Titov had experienced. Korolev wanted a three-day mission but was met with resistance from the cosmonauts, and their boss, Nikolai Kamanin, who worried the longer flights would be hazardous to their health. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev eventually approved the three-day plan.
The launch schedule was thrown into disarray when an R-7 booster carrying a Zenit photo-reconnaissance satellite exploded after launch. A second Zenit launch in April also had problems. A third Zenit launch in June failed spectacularly when the booster failed, crashing near the pad and causing damage that took more than a month to repair. And the U.S. Starfish Prime test on July 9 exploded a nuclear bomb at high-altitude released high levels of radiation and disabled several satellites, making it unsafe for a manned flight for another month. The Soviets finally ironed out their problems with the R-7 and Zenit with a successful launch on July 28th.
Nikolayev was launched on the morning of August 11th, and Popovich was launched a day later. The two spacecraft flew within four miles of each other, and the cosmonauts were able to establish radio contact, but there was no attempt at an actual rendezvous. The Vostok was not capable of making significant orbital maneuvers.
Both cosmonauts were allowed to unstrap themselves for an hour at a time, floating freely in the microgravity conditions while sensors and video cameras monitored their actions. It quickly became clear that the longer duration flights did not affect their health.
Both spacecraft returned safely, landing seven minutes and 120 miles apart. The Soviets had now flown two manned spacecraft at the same time and for longer durations, a feat the United States wouldn’t be able to match for another three years.