III.

Missions

A single unpiloted Voskhod mission, called Kosmos 47, preceded Voskhod 1. Kosmos 47 launched on October 6, 1964, to test the modifications made to the Vostok capsule. It landed safely the next day.

Voskhod 1 left Earth on October 12, 1964, carrying commander Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov (the engineer who oversaw Vostok's conversion into Voskhod), and physician Boris Yegerov. The mission marked the first flight of a multi-person spacecraft and the first time an engineer or a physician were sent into orbit. Voskhod 1 was so small that Komarov, Feoktistov, and Yegerov could not wear bulky pressurized space suits to protect them if the capsule lost pressure. Because of the cramped conditions and limited time, the cosmonauts could only perform a few medical experiments. The capsule came back to Earth on October 13, 1964. Some sources state that Voskhod 1 was called back early because Khrushchev fell from power. Yegerov and Feoktistov reportedly became ill during the mission due to the physiological effects of space flight (see Aerospace Medicine: Space Medicine).

The goal of Voskhod 2 was to beat the United States in performing the first spacewalk. An unpiloted test flight, Kosmos 57, preceded Voskhod 2. Kosmos 57 reached orbit on February 22, 1965, and deployed its Volga airlock. However, something went wrong and the airlock exploded. Nevertheless, Voskhod 2 was launched on schedule on March 18, 1965, because the United States had scheduled the first Gemini spacewalk to occur within months. Voskhod 2 carried cosmonauts Pavel Belyayev and Alexei Leonov.

The Voskhod 2 Volga airlock inflated normally and Leonov entered the airlock, then stepped out into open space. The USSR claimed that Leonov's 24-minute spacewalk went well, but it is now known that he nearly died. His suit became stiff and he found it almost impossible to control his movements. Leonov overheated, then became stuck sideways in the Volga airlock. He only freed himself after releasing some of the air from his suit so he could bend—a dangerous, desperate measure. Trouble struck again during the return to Earth. A sensor failed, forcing Voskhod 2 to remain aloft for another orbit while Belyayev prepared for manual reentry. He landed 1000 km (600 mi) off course in snowy Siberia, where the cosmonauts had to wait overnight for rescue and were menaced by a bear. The 26-hour, 2-minute flight marked the end of the perilous Voskhod program.