Voskhod 1/Ruby
October 12, 1964 2:30am
Crew: Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov, Boris Yegorov
Orbits: 16
Duration: 1 day, 17 minutes, 3 seconds
For the first time, more than one person would be aboard a spacecraft. Vladimir Komarov was a military pilot. Konstantin Feoktistov was an engineer, one of Korolev’s designers. Boris Yegorov was a doctor who managed to leverage his political connection to get a seat on the flight.
It was going to be a risky flight. The cosmonauts had to go on a strict diet to fit in the spacecraft, and even then, there wasn’t enough room for them to wear pressure suits. And because the Voskhod had no emergency escape system, they would be killed if anything went wrong in the first three minutes of the flight.
But the launch went well, and Voskhod reached orbit safely. The Soviets wanted to see how well the three cosmonauts would be able to work together. The crew conducted a series of experiments and landed safely, a day after their launch.
During their flight, they spoke by radio with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Just after that, Khrushchev was removed from office.
By squeezing three cosmonauts into the tiny spacecraft, the Soviets set a record that the Americans wouldn’t match until the launch of Apollo 7 four years later.
Voshkod
The second Soviet spacecraft, Voshkod made its debut in 1964. It was similar to the Vostok in that it was divided into a descent module and an instrument module. The Soviets replaced Vostok’s ejection seat with couches for up to three cosmonauts. Without the ejection seat, the cosmonauts would have to stay aboard during landing. A small, solid-fuel rocket fired just before landing to cushion the impact.