Vostok 2
Vostok 2 was a manned space flight of soviet Wostokprogramms. The cosmonaut German Titov Stepanovich orbited the Earth for more than 25 hours. It was the second and by then the longest space flight. Titov still holds the record as the youngest -body aircraft at the time of the space flight.
Crew
- German Stepanovich Titov, ( first flight )
Backup crew
- Andrian Grigoryevich Nikolayev
Support team
- Grigori Grigoryevich Neljubow
Preparation
After the successful flight of Yuri Gagarin became the second Vostok flight over a longer period should be. At issue was whether one should plan only three or equal to 18 orbits. Finally sat Sergei Korolev, the chief designer of the Soviet missile program, by, and the longer flight was planned.
As a pilot German Titov was nominated, the one replacement for Yuri Gagarin was at Vostok. Replacement pilot for Titov was Andrian Nikolayev, who can therefore make hopes for the next Vostok flight itself.
History of the flight
Vostok 2 was launched on August 6, 1961 at 6:00 clock world time from the Baikonur launch site and reached after a few minutes the orbit.
This new space flight was announced almost two hours after the start of Radio Moscow, where the radio frequencies were reported. Shortly after the start Titov had spoken by radio with the leader Nikita Khrushchev. As Titov North America crossed, he sent a greeting message to the American people.
In contrast to Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1 Titov took over the control of the spacecraft at times itself through the porthole of the spaceship, he recorded about 10 minutes of film. After several hours, symptoms of hitherto unknown space sickness became noticeable: It was Titov dizzy, and he vomited. Nevertheless, he managed to sleep for several hours.
As with Vostok 1 re-entry was not entirely without problems, because the orbital module is not completely separated from the return capsule. Only after some compounds were burns up to Vostok 2 was in a stable position. Titov catapulted himself with the ejection seat from the return capsule and landed by parachute at Krasny Kut in Saratov Oblast.
Importance
Although the flight of Vostok 2 proved that man could survive for several hours in zero gravity, but was Titov space sickness an inexplicable barrier to further spaceflights.
The lead over the USA was further expanded. The American Mercury program was recorded at this time not a single orbital flight, and until almost two years later, Mercury Atlas 9 over 24 hours remain in space. The image of both the Soviet Union was immense.
Titov was only 25 years old at the flight of Vostok 2 and still holds the record as the youngest astronaut at the time of the space flight.