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astronautix.com Voskhod

Interior of Voskhod
Interior of Voskhod
Interior of Voskhod 1

Credit: © Mark Wade. 45,763 bytes. 582 x 363 pixels.


Program: Voskhod. Objective: Manned. Type: Spacecraft.

The Voskhods were adaptations of the single place Vostok spacecraft meant to conduct flights with up to three crew and for space walks in advance of US Gemini program. Work on the 3KV and 3KD versions of the basic Vostok spacecraft began with the decree issued on 13 April 1964. In order to accommodate more than one crew, the seats were mounted perpendicular to the Vostok ejection seat position, so the crew had to crane their necks to read instruments, still mounted in their original orientation. The Elburs soft landing system replaced the ejection seat and allowed the crew to stay in the capsule. It consisted of probes that dangled from the parachute lines. Contact with the earth triggered a solid rocket engine in the parachute which resulted in a zero velocity landing.

The airlock of the two-crew 3KD version weighed 250 kg and was 700 mm in diameter and 770 mm high when stowed for launch. When inflated in orbit, it was 2.5 m long, with an internal diameter of 1.0 m and external diameter of 1.2 m.

The heavier Voskhods were launched by the 11A57 launch vehicle with a much larger third stage than that used for the Vostoks. This allowed installation of a backup solid propellant retrorocket package on the nose of the spacecraft. Major Events: .


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Last update 12 March 2001.
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© Mark Wade, 2001 .