Vostok 1: Difference between revisions

Vostok 1

Mission Insignia
File:Vostok1patch.png
Mission Statistics
Mission Name:	Vostok 1
Call Sign:	Кедр (Kedr - Siberian Pine)
Number of Crew Members:	1
Launch:	April 12, 1961 06:07 UTC Baikonur LC1 45° 36' N - 63° 18' E
Landing:	April 12, 1961 07:55 UTC 51° N, 46° E
Duration:	1 hour, 48 minutes
Number of Orbits:	1
Orbital Path
Восток

Vostok 1 was the first manned space mission. Launched on April 12, 1961, Vostok 1 took Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space, the first time anyone had ever journeyed beyond the Earth's atmosphere and the first time anyone went into orbit.

Crew

• Yuri Gagarin

Mission Parameters

• Mass: 4725 kg
• Perigee: 169 km
• Apogee: 315 km
• Inclination: 65.0°
• Period: 89.3 minutes

Mission Highlights

Gagarin orbited the Earth once, in 108 minutes, and returned unharmed, ejecting from the Vostok capsule 7 km above the ground and parachuting separately to the ground (the capsule's parachute landing was too rough for cosmonauts to risk).

Ground controllers did not know if a stable orbit had been achieved until 25-minutes after launch.

The spacecraft attitude control was run by an automated system and the pilots flight controls were locked out to prevent Gagarin from taking manual control. Codes to unlock the controls were placed in an onboard envelope, for Gagarin's use, in case of an emergency.

After retrofire, the Vostok service module unexpectedly remained attached to the reentry module by a bundle of wires. The two halves of the craft were suppose to separate ten seconds after retrofire. But they did not separate until 10 minutes after retrofire, when the wire bundle finally burned through. The spacecraft had gone through wild gyrations at the beginning of reentry, before the wires burned through and the reentry module settled into the proper reentry attitude.

The FAI rules in 1961, required that a pilot must land with the spacecraft to be considered an offical spaceflight for the FAI record books. At the time, the Soviet Union insisted that Gagarin had landed with the Vostok and the FAI certified the flight. Years later, it was revealed that Gagarin had ejected and landed separately from the Vostok.

The re-entry capsule is now on display at the RKK Energia Museum in Kaluga.

Vostok (Восток) is Russian for East.

Mission Timeline

• 06:07 UTC - Launch occurs from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, (45° 36' N - 63° 18' E) in the Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. At ignition and liftoff, Korolov radios, "Preliminary stage..... intermediate..... main..... LIFT-OFF! We wish you a good flight. Everything is all right." Gagarin replies, "Poyekhali! (Off we go!)"

• 06:09 UTC - Two minutes into the flight and the four booster sections of the Vostok rocket have used up the last of their propellant, they shut down and drop away from the core vehicle.

• 06:10 UTC - The payload shroud covering Vostok 1 is released, this uncovers the spacecraft windows.

• 06:12 UTC - Five minutes into the flight and the Vostok rocket core stage has used up its propellant, shuts down and falls away from the Vostok spacecraft and the final rocket stage. The final rocket stage ignites to continue the journey to orbit.

• 06:13 UTC - The rocket is still firing, pushing Vostok 1 toward orbit. Gagarin reports, " .. the flight is continuing well. I can see the earth. The visibility is good. ... I almost see everything. There's a certain amount of space under cumulus cloud cover. I continue the flight, everything is good."

• 06:14 UTC - The rocket continues to fire, starting to pass over central Russia now. Gagarin reports, "All is working very well. All systems are working. Let's keep going!"

• 06:15 UTC - Three minutes into the burn of the final rocket stage and Gagarin reports, "Zarya-1, Zarya-1, I can't hear you very well. I feel fine. I'm in good spirits. I'm continuing the flight....." Vostok 1 is moving further downrange from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. He is reporting back to "Zarya-1" (the Baikonur ground station) and must be starting to move out of radio range of that station.

• 06:17 UTC - The Vostok rocket final stage shuts down, ten seconds later the spacecraft separates and Vostok 1 reaches orbit. Gagarin reports, "The craft is operating normally. I can see Earth in the view port of the Vzor. Everything is proceeding as planned". Vostok 1 passes over Russia and moves on over Siberia.

• 06:21 UTC - Vostok 1 passes over the Kamchatka peninsula and out over the North Pacific Ocean. Gagarin radios, "...the lights are on on the descent mode monitor. I'm feeling fine, and I'm in good spirits. Cockpit parameters: pressure 1; humidity 65; temperature 20; pressure in the compartment 1; first automatic 155; second automatic 155; pressure in the retro-rocket system 320 atmospheres...."

• 06:25 UTC - As Vostok 1 begins its diagonal crossing of the Pacific Ocean from Kamchatka peninsula to the southern tip of South America, Gagarin asks, "What can you tell me about the flight? What can you tell me?". He is requesting information about his orbital parameters. The ground station at Khabarovsk reports back, "There are no instructions from No. 20 (Korolev), and the flight is proceeding normally"

• 06:31 UTC - Gagarin transmits to the Khabarovsk ground station, "I feel splendid, very well, very well, very well. Give me some results on the flight!". Vostok 1 is nearing the VHF radio horizon for Khabarovsk and they respond, "Repeat. I can't hear you very well". Gararin transmits again, "I feel very good. Give me your data on the flight!" Vostok 1 passes out of VHF range of the Khabarovsk ground station and contact is lost.

• 06:37 UTC - Vostok 1 continues on its journey as the sun sets over the North Pacific. Gagarin crosses into night, northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. Out of VHF range with ground stations, communications must now take place via HF radio.

• 06:48 UTC - Vostok 1 crosses the equator at about 170° West, traveling in a south-west direction and begins crossing the South Pacific. Gagarin transmits over HF radio, "I am transmitting the regular report message: 9 hours 48 minutes (Moscow Time), the flight is proceeding successfully. Spusk-1 is operating normally. The mobile index of the descent mode monitor is moving. Pressure in the cockpit is 1; humidity 65; temperature 20; pressure in the compartment 1.2 .... Manual 150; First automatic 155; second automatic 155; retro rocket system tanks 320 atmospheres. I feel fine...".

• 06:53 UTC - The Khabarovsk ground station sends Gagarin this message via HF radio, "By order of No.33 (Kamanin) the transmitters have been switched on, and we are transmitting this: the flight is proceeding as planned and the orbit is as calculated." They are telling Gagarin that Vostok 1 is in a stable orbit. He acknowledges the message.

• 06:57 UTC - Vostok 1 is over the South Pacific between New Zealand and Chile when Gagarin sends this message, "....I'm continuing the flight, and I'm over America. I transmitted the telegraph signal "ON".

• 07:00 UTC - Vostok 1 crosses the Straits of Magellan at the tip of South America.

• 07:10 UTC - Passing over the South Atlantic, the Sun rises and Vostok 1 is in daylight again. The automated control system begins to orient Vostok 1 for retrofire. The automated orientation system consisted of two redundant systems: an automatic/solar orientation system and a manual/visual orientation system. Either system could operate two redundant cold nitrogen gas thruster systems, each with 10 kg of gas.

• 07:13 UTC - Moscow picks up this partial message from Gagarin, "I read you well. The flight is going...".

• 07:25 UTC - Vostok 1 is in retrofire attitude. The retros fired for about 42-seconds as the spacecraft neared Angola on the west coast of Africa. Vostok 1 is 8,000 km from its landing point in Russia.

• 07:25 - 07:35 UTC - Ten seconds after retrofire, commands are sent to separate the Vostok service module from the reentry module. One bundle of wires fails to release and the two sections of the spacecraft remain attached for another 10 minutes. The two halves of the spacecraft begin reentry and go through wild gyrations as it crosses over central Africa. Finally, as the spacecraft is nearing Egypt, the wire bundle burns through and releases the Reentry Vehicle. It automatically settles into the proper reentry attitude.

• 07:37 - 07:55 UTC - Reentry continues over Egypt and out over the Mediterranean, near the west coast of Cyprus and then central Turkey. Finally over the Black Sea the Vostok 1 continues to slow down. Continuing to drop lower, Vostok 1 crosses back into the Soviet Union on the Black Sea coast near Krasnodar.

• 07:55 UTC - Vostok 1 is still 7 km from the ground. Gagarin ejects from Vostok 1 and both he and the spacecraft land via parachute in the Saratov region at 51° N - 46° E, 1 hour and 48 minutes after liftoff. Two schoolgirls witness the Vostok landing and described the scene, "It was a huge ball, about two or three metres high. It fell, then it bounced and then it fell again. There was a huge hole where it hit the first time."

Previous Mission: Vostok 1 was the first manned space mission.

Vostok programme

Next Mission: Vostok 2

References

• Vostok 1 - Encyclopedia Astronautica
• Was Gagarin's Flight a near disaster? - Seds Spaceviews
• FAI Sporting Code - Section 8 - Astronautics
• An analysis of the flight of Vostok (1) - Sven Grahn