Operator | Soviet space program | ||||
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COSPAR ID | 1965-022A | ||||
SATCAT № | 1274 | ||||
Mission duration | 1 day, 2 hours, 2 minutes, 17 seconds | ||||
Orbits completed | 17 | ||||
Spacecraft properties | |||||
Spacecraft | Voskhod-3KD No.4 | ||||
Manufacturer | Experimenatl Design Bureau OKB-1 | ||||
Launch mass | 5,682 kilograms (12,527 lb) | ||||
Crew | |||||
Crew size | 2 | ||||
Members |
Pavel Belyayev Alexey Leonov |
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Callsign | Алмаз (Almaz – "Diamond") | ||||
EVAs | 1 | ||||
EVA duration | 12 minutes, 9 seconds | ||||
Start of mission | |||||
Launch date | March 18, 1965, 07:00:00 | UTC||||
Rocket | Voskhod 11A57 | ||||
Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 | ||||
End of mission | |||||
Landing date | March 19, 1965, 09:02:17 | UTC||||
Landing site | 59°34′N 55°28′E / 59.567°N 55.467°E | ||||
Orbital parameters | |||||
Reference system | Geocentric | ||||
Regime | Low Earth | ||||
Perigee | 167 kilometres (104 mi) | ||||
Apogee | 475 kilometres (295 mi) | ||||
Inclination | 64.8 degrees | ||||
Period | 90.9 min | ||||
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Voskhod 2 (Russian: Восход-2)(English: Sunrise-2) was a Soviet manned space mission in March 1965. The Vostok-based Voskhod 3KD spacecraft with two crew members on board, Pavel Belyayev and Alexey Leonov, was equipped with an inflatable airlock. It established another milestone in space exploration when Alexey Leonov became the first person to leave the spacecraft in a specialized spacesuit to conduct a 12 minute "spacewalk".
Liftoff took place at 11:00 AM on the morning of 18 March. As with Voskhod 1, a launch abort was not possible during the first few minutes, until the payload shroud jettisoned around the 2-1/2 minute mark.
The Voskhod 3KD spacecraft had an inflatable airlock extended in orbit. Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov donned a space suit and left the spacecraft while the other cosmonaut of the two-man crew, Pavel Belyayev, remained inside. Leonov began his spacewalk 90 minutes into the mission at the end of the first orbit. Cosmonaut Leonov's spacewalk lasted 12 minutes and 9 seconds (08:34:51–08:47:00hrs UTC), beginning over north-central Africa (northern Sudan/southern Egypt), and ending over eastern Siberia.
The Voskhod 2 spacecraft was a Vostok spacecraft with a backup, solid fuel retrorocket, attached atop the descent module. The ejection seat was removed and two seats were added, (at a 90-degree angle relative to the Vostok crew seats position). An inflatable exterior airlock was also added to the descent module opposite the entry hatch. After use, the airlock was jettisoned. There was no provision for crew escape in the event of a launch or landing emergency. A solid fuel braking rocket was also added to the parachute lines to provide for a softer landing at touchdown. This was necessary because, unlike the Vostok, the crew landed with the Voskhod descent module.