Aug 12 1962
From The Space Library
Lt. Col. Pavel R. Popovich, piloting VOSTOK IV spacecraft, was launched into orbit (157-mi. apogee, 112-mi. perigee) at 11:02 AM Moscow time by U.S.S.R. Within about an hour, Cosmonaut Popovich made radio contact with Cosmonaut Nikolayev, traveling in nearly the same orbit in VOSTOK III launched the previous day. Nikolayev reported shortly thereafter that he had sighted VOSTOK IV, and within three hours after VOSTOK IV's launch the two spacecraft had completed two orbits of the earth in adjacent flight. Moscow radio announced that objective of orbiting the two spaceships close to each other was "to obtain experimental data on the possibility of establishing contacts between the two ships, coordinating the actions of the pilot-cosmonauts and to check the influence of identical conditions of space flight on human beings." Tracking by Sohio Research Center (Cleveland, Ohio) placed the two spacecraft at 75 miles apart during VOSTOK III's twenty-second orbit and VOSTOK IV's sixth orbit, and at 385 miles during later orbital passes. This was the first launching of two manned space flights within a 24-hour period.
Cosmonaut Andrian G. Nikolayev, pilot of VOSTOK III, broke three records when he entered his eighteen orbit of the earth at 5:49 AM Moscow time, completing 25 hours and 19 minutes of flight time in space and more than 440,000 miles distance. Previous records—number of orbits, time aloft, and distance covered—had been set by second Soviet cosmonaut, Maj. Gherman S. Titov, August 6-7, 1961.
By 10:00 PM Moscow time, Nikolayev had completed 24 orbits of the earth (602,370 mi.) and Popovich bad completed 8 orbits (186,300 mi.). Tass reported orbital data of VOSTOK III: apogee, 141.3 mi.; perigee, 109.7 mi.; period, 88.2 min.; inclination, 64.59 degrees to Equator; VOSTOK IV: apogee, 145.8 mi.; perigee, 110.5 mi.; period, 88.3 min.; inclination, 64.57 degrees to Equator. Both spacecraft remained in orbit throughout the night.
TV pictures of Soviet Cosmonauts Nikolayev and Popovich orbiting the earth in spacecraft VOSTOK III and IV were viewed by the public in Russia, Western Europe, England, and the U.S. The pictures were put on videotape or kinescope film during London broadcast for TV viewing in America.
Second birthday of ECHO passive communication "balloon" satellite. Since launch, the mylar balloon had orbited the earth 9,000 times and traveled 277,257,677.67 miles; it had been used for approximately 150 communication experiments. ECHO proved that inflatable structures would survive for long periods in space, despite sensitivity to aerodynamic drag and solar radiation. Initial orbit was 1,049-mi. apogee and 945-mi. perigee; before first birthday, orbit was 1,350-mi. apogee and 580-mi. perigee; solar pressures caused orbit to become nearly circular again; then, on second birthday, orbit was 1,175-mi. apogee and 704-mi. perigee.
NASA Ames Research Center said that its high-altitude, radiation-research balloon with cargo of four hamsters and two monkeys had been lost in a storm over Manitoba. The balloon was last seen nearing the end of its 1,900-mi. flight as it entered a storm over God's Lake, in northeastern Manitoba. This was the third in Ames' series of balloon flights and the first loss of payload.
Five NASA scientists, led by Ozro M. Coverington of GSFC, arrived in Australia to inspect proposed sites for new tracking stations.
Four German scientists, including Eugen Saenger, former director of Stuttgart Institute of Physics, West Germany, were reportedly employed by Egyptian government to direct Egypt's new rocket design and development program.
Reported that Soviet technicians "probably have their craft in preparation" for a flight toward Venus within the next two weeks.
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