Jul 26

Space Rocket History #22 – The Vanguard Six

When the 20 Cosmonaut candidates were asked to anonymously vote for which candidate they would like to see fly first, all but three chose Gagarin.  The consensus was, Gagarin was very focused, and demanding of himself and others when necessary.

Gagarin_in_Sweden

Gagarin

436px-German_Titov

Titov

Andrian_Nikolaev

Nikolaev

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Popovic

Bykovsky

Bykovsky

Treshkova

Tereshkova

Tereshkova & Nikolaev

Tereshkova & Nikolaev

Jul 18

Space Rocket History #21 – Cry Havoc and Launch the Dogs of Vostok!

For the Soviet Union, 1960 was a mixed bag of success and failure as it struggled for new achievements in space exploration.  The main driving force was to be the first nation to launch a man into space.  An achievement their adversary, the United States, also desperately wanted.

vostok on test stand at factory

Vostok on Test Stand

vostok_flight_plan

Vostok Flight Plan

From Space

Belka and Strelka

Belka and Strelka

Vostok With Third Stage

Vostok With Third Stage

Vostok Dog Capsule

Vostok Dog Capsule

Card From Dog Capsule

Card From Dog Capsule

Korable-Sputnik 1

Strelka With Pups

Strelka With Pups

Jun 27

Space Rocket History #18 – Luna 2 and 3

While the Mercury 7 were fulfilling their roles as symbols of space exploration, Korolev once again was offering the real thing. He now prepared to undertake the most demanding mission yet. The mission that would accomplish the next step in Korolev’s program of lunar exploration. He would attempt to photograph the far side of the moon.

Luna_2_Soviet_moon_probe

Luna 2

Luna2Attached to Rocket

Luna 2 Attached to Rocket

Luna_3_moon

Far Side of the Moon Photographed by Luna 3

Lunik_3

Luna 3

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Luna 3 Stamp

Jun 06

Space Rocket History #15 – Sputnik 3 & Luna 1

The launch vehicle for the Luna E-1 series was a modified R7 named Vostok.  The Vostok had three stages.  The first and second stage were the standard R-7 which we covered in Episode 9.  A 5.1 meter long by 2.4 meter diameter third stage was added to the top of the R-7.  The third stage weighed 1472 kg and was capable of delivering 54.5 kiloNewtons or 12,252 lbs of thrust.  This was the probes booster stage that gave it enough speed to escape Earth’s gravity.

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Sputnik 3

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R-7

Luna_1_1

Luna 1

Vostok - 8K72K

Vostok