3.5 Entering the Age of Space Flight
153
After the success of the first manned space flight of the Soviet Union, Korolev
began to work out a new space technology development plan, Vostok-ZH Program
and Soyuz Complex Program, to further carry out the technical tests of spacecraft
orbit maneuver, rendezvous and docking, space walk and on-orbit propellant filling,
and finally achieve the manned landing on the Moon. Nevertheless, considering the
complexity of technology, the long-term nature of the task and the political pressure,
the Soviet government abandoned the two programs and replaced them with a shortterm transitional mission, Voskhod Program (Bocx´ od). The goals of the Voskhod
Program are to take the lead in carrying more than two astronauts on orbit before
the United States and to carry out space walk and continuously on-orbit flight for
2 weeks.
On October 12, 1964, the Voskhod-1 spacecraft carrying with the three-member
crew, including an engineer Konstantin Feoktistov, an astronaut Vladimir Komarov
and a medicine doctor Boris Yegorov, was launched into orbit, and safely returned to
the ground after flying in the orbit for 24 h, which first achieved the multi-member
crew flying in the orbit. On March 18, 1965, the Voskhod-2 carrying with two astronauts Pavel Belayev and Aleksei Leonov was launched into orbit. After the spacecraft
was put into its orbit for 1.5 h, Leonov started to make the first spacewalk for human
beings and the duration of extravehicular walk reached 12 min. On the structural
shape, the Voskhod-2 apparently different from the Voskhod-1 is to add a spacewalk exit channel. The Soviet Union had ever intended to launch the Voskhod-3 in
the spring of 1966, to test the in-orbit flight for 20 days. However, the mission was
eventually canceled because the United States had achieved the test goal before the
launch time planned by the USSR. Unfortunately, on January 14, 1966, Korolev died
from a botched hemorrhoid operation in Moscow at the age of 59, which is a huge
loss for the following development of the Soviet aerospace industry.
3.5.3.2 The American Project Mercury and Gemini Program
In the middle and late 1950s, studies on aeronautics and space science in the United
States were conducted under the auspices of some military agencies, mainly including
the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), the
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) and
the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). In the wake of Sputnik-1
in October 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded to the Soviet challenge
and to public concern and excitement by reorganizing the American space effort. A
key step was to create a new government agency to conduct civilian space exploration.
In April 1958, President Eisenhower sent a draft law to the Congress that called for
a civilian National Aeronautics and Space Agency based on the existing NACA to
oversee the U.S. space program. In July of the same year, he signed into law legislation creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and one
month later, appointed T. Keith Glennan as NASA’s first administrator. When NASA
formally started operations on October 1, 1958, the agency and its administrator had
broad authority to select goals and implement programs of space exploration. As a
153
After the success of the first manned space flight of the Soviet Union, Korolev
began to work out a new space technology development plan, Vostok-ZH Program
and Soyuz Complex Program, to further carry out the technical tests of spacecraft
orbit maneuver, rendezvous and docking, space walk and on-orbit propellant filling,
and finally achieve the manned landing on the Moon. Nevertheless, considering the
complexity of technology, the long-term nature of the task and the political pressure,
the Soviet government abandoned the two programs and replaced them with a shortterm transitional mission, Voskhod Program (Bocx´ od). The goals of the Voskhod
Program are to take the lead in carrying more than two astronauts on orbit before
the United States and to carry out space walk and continuously on-orbit flight for
2 weeks.
On October 12, 1964, the Voskhod-1 spacecraft carrying with the three-member
crew, including an engineer Konstantin Feoktistov, an astronaut Vladimir Komarov
and a medicine doctor Boris Yegorov, was launched into orbit, and safely returned to
the ground after flying in the orbit for 24 h, which first achieved the multi-member
crew flying in the orbit. On March 18, 1965, the Voskhod-2 carrying with two astronauts Pavel Belayev and Aleksei Leonov was launched into orbit. After the spacecraft
was put into its orbit for 1.5 h, Leonov started to make the first spacewalk for human
beings and the duration of extravehicular walk reached 12 min. On the structural
shape, the Voskhod-2 apparently different from the Voskhod-1 is to add a spacewalk exit channel. The Soviet Union had ever intended to launch the Voskhod-3 in
the spring of 1966, to test the in-orbit flight for 20 days. However, the mission was
eventually canceled because the United States had achieved the test goal before the
launch time planned by the USSR. Unfortunately, on January 14, 1966, Korolev died
from a botched hemorrhoid operation in Moscow at the age of 59, which is a huge
loss for the following development of the Soviet aerospace industry.
3.5.3.2 The American Project Mercury and Gemini Program
In the middle and late 1950s, studies on aeronautics and space science in the United
States were conducted under the auspices of some military agencies, mainly including
the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), the
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) and
the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). In the wake of Sputnik-1
in October 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded to the Soviet challenge
and to public concern and excitement by reorganizing the American space effort. A
key step was to create a new government agency to conduct civilian space exploration.
In April 1958, President Eisenhower sent a draft law to the Congress that called for
a civilian National Aeronautics and Space Agency based on the existing NACA to
oversee the U.S. space program. In July of the same year, he signed into law legislation creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and one
month later, appointed T. Keith Glennan as NASA’s first administrator. When NASA
formally started operations on October 1, 1958, the agency and its administrator had
broad authority to select goals and implement programs of space exploration. As a