III.

Early Missions

Soyuz spacecraft did not perform well during the first five years of operation. The first three unpiloted Soyuz test flights failed. Under pressure to win the space race against the United States, the Soviets launched the fourth spacecraft, Soyuz 1, carrying cosmonaut Vladimir M. Komarov into orbit on April 23, 1967. Komarov was to dock his craft with Soyuz 2 but Soyuz 1 malfunctioned, and Komarov attempted to return to Earth. He perished when the parachute on his descent module failed to open after reentry. He was the first person to die in spaceflight.

In October 1968, cosmonaut G. T. Beregevoi attempted to dock his spacecraft Soyuz 3 with the unpiloted Soyuz 2 but failed. In January 1969, Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5—both human-piloted—docked, two cosmonauts transferred from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4, and the two spacecraft then separated and returned to Earth. The dual flight was intended as a rehearsal for part of the planned Soviet human-piloted mission to the Moon. In July 1969, however, after the United States Apollo 11 lunar module landed on the Moon, the Soviets shifted the mission of Soyuz spacecraft from lunar landings to serving the space stations.

Soyuz 6, Soyuz 7, and Soyuz 8 flew together in October 1969. The launching of three spacecraft in three days and their simultaneous maintenance in orbit were notable accomplishments for the Soviet Union. Although Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 failed to dock with each other as planned, the cosmonauts of Soyuz 6 succeeded in testing equipment for future space stations. In June 1970 the 17-day Soyuz 9 mission helped prepare Soviet cosmonauts for long stays on space stations and included the first long-term scientific work performed by crew members during spaceflight. In addition, the cosmonauts thoroughly tested all mechanical systems of the craft and took numerous photos of Earth.