Voskhod 1

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  00904 / 64065A Launch date - time  12 Oct 1964 - 07:30:01 UT Launch site  Baikonur, LC1 Launch vehicle  Voskhod 11A57 (s/n°: R15000-04) Payload  Voskhod 3KV nº: 3 Size (m)  6 long? - 2.44 dia Mass (kg)  5321 kg Flight Crew  Komarov, Vladimir (CDR) Feoktistov, Konstantin (FE) Yegorov, Boris (CR) Call Sign  Rubin (Ruby ) Backup crew  Volynov B., Katys G., Lazarev Earth orbit on Oct 12.7:    - Perigee / Apogee  177 x 377 km    - Eccentricity  0.005    - Inclination  64.90°    - Period  90.04 min Landing date - time  13 Oct 1964 - 07:47:04 UT Landing location  312 km NE of Kustanay (Kazakhstan) 52°2' N, 68°8' E Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  1d 00h 17min Nbr orbits  16 Distance  669.8 thousand

Crew

Mission details:

Voskhod 1 in assembly. - Credit: RKK Energia.

Voskhod in assembly. - Credit: RKK Energia.

The founder of the Soviet space program Sergei Korolev (left) and the crew of Voskhod: Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov and Boris Yegorov on the launch pad in Tyuratam before their launch. Credit: RKK Energia

• First multiman spaceflight. First time spacecraft with 3 crewmembers. Potentially dangerous modification of Vostok to upstage American Gemini flights; no spacesuits, ejection seats, or escape tower. One concession was backup solid retrorocket package mounted on nose of spacecraft. Seats mounted perpendicular to Vostok ejection seat position, so crew had to crane their necks to read instruments, still mounted in their original orientation. Tested the new multi-seat space ship; investigated the in-flight work potential and co-operation of a group of cosmonauts consisting of specialists in different branches of science and technology; conducted scientific physico-technical and medico-biological research.
• On October 12, 1964, Voskhod successfully entered orbit with the world′s first space crew. Despite sensational headlines around the world, among themselves Soviet space industry insiders dubbed the whole mission a "space circus".
• Land recovery made possible by rocket package suspended above capsule in parachute lines, which ignited just prior to impact in order to cushion landing. After a 24-hour orbital Russian roulette, the Voskhod trio successfully landed totally unaware that the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev who had phoned them onboard just hours earlier had now disappeared and been replaced by Leonid Brezhnev after a Kremlin coup ending a crucial era in Russian history. Recovered October 13, 1964 7:47 GMT.
• Huge controversy between military, that wanted all-pilot crew, and Korolev, who wanted to start sending engineers, doctors, even journalists and poets into space. Feoktistov, lead designer of Vostok and Soyuz, showed his faith in design by getting a seat aboard, becoming the only spacecraft designer ever to fly in space. Yegorov, the medical doctor, managed to get a seat through his father′s connections in the Politburo. Khrushchev was removed from power while the crew was in flight - it was perhaps supposed to go longer, but ground control cryptically informed the crew that ′there is more in heaven on earth than is dreamt of in your philosophy...′ and ordered them back.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Voronez

Landing cancel Donezk

FDC Moscou, signed by crew: Komarov, Feoktistov & Yegorov.

Hononary stamps and cancel of Pologne.