USSR launched Voskhod 1 on this day in 1964; read about 1st spacecraft with no spacesuits

Soviet Union’s Voskhod 1 spacecraft achieved a number of ‘firsts’ in the history of crewed spaceflight on this day, i.e., October 12, in 1964. From being the first space flight to carry more than one crewman into orbit to being the first flight without the use of spacesuits, the spacecraft was also the first to carry either engineer or physician into outer space. The Voskhod spacecraft was a vehicle used by the Soviet Union during the cold war space race to carry crews up to three cosmonauts. 

(Image: ExplorersClub/Twitter) 

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Voskhod, which means ‘sunrise’ in Russian, archived major milestones with flight, however, it only flew two missions. The spacecraft brought the first multi-person crew into space and even helped carry out the first spacewalk in history. USSR’s Voskhod programme was the country’s second human spaceflight project, following the earlier successes of the Vostok programme, which ran from 1960 to 1963 and took single-person crews into orbit. 

On October 12, 1964, Voskhod 1 carried three cosmonauts, including Vladimir Komarov, engineer Konstantin Feoktistov, and doctor Boris Yegorov, into Earth orbit. The spacecraft was 950kg and in order to accommodate the Voskhod 1 crew, no spacesuits were worn in flight. It was the first space mission to yield significant biomedical data and Yegorov, who was a physiologist, was assigned to monitor the physical condition of his fellow crew members. Yegorov measured his crew members blood pressure. He took blood samples, recorded brain waves and even tested muscle coordination. 

(Image: @FXMC1957/Twitter) 

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USSR’s risky race into space 

The Voskhod spacecraft had a backup solid-fuel retrorocket place onto the top of the descent module. In a bid to fit the three crew members, the ejection seat was removed and three crew couches were added to the interior at a 90-degree angle. Due to the cramped conditions, the cosmonauts also had to go on a diet to fit in the couches. 

Additionally, a solid-fuel braking rocket was also added to the space capsule's parachute lines to provide for a softer landing at touchdown. The spacecraft also did not have launch escape system, which meant that the mission could not be aborted until three minutes after liftoff when the payload shroud was jettisoned and so a low-altitude booster accident would have also meant the loss of the crew. Further, as the cosmonauts rode the gantry elevator to the top of the launch vehicle, they could look across the steppe which was strewn with debris from previous failed R-7 launches, a grim reminder of what could potentially happen on their flight.

(Image: @AboutHistory/Twitter) 

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