Soyuz 5
Soyuz 5 — Boris Volynov, Aleksei Yeliseyev and Yevgeny Khrunov (January 1969) docked with Soyuz 4; two of the crew transferred by spacewalk, and Volynov survived a violent re-entry when his craft came down nose-first.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- OKB-1 (USSR)
- Launched
- January 15, 1969
- Status
- Completed
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 1.01 AU
- Distance from Earth
- 12,548 km
- Distance from Venus
- 0.563 AU
Mission
Soyuz 5 was the passive partner in the first crewed docking — and the setting for one of the most harrowing survivals in spaceflight. Boris Volynov, Aleksei Yeliseyev and Yevgeny Khrunov launched on 15 January 1969 and docked with Vladimir Shatalov's Soyuz 4 the next day. Then Yeliseyev and Khrunov did something no one had done: they spacewalked from one crewed craft to another, leaving Volynov alone aboard Soyuz 5 for the trip home. That return nearly killed him. The service module failed to separate, and Soyuz 5 began its descent the wrong way round — the heavy heat shield facing backwards, the crew hatch taking the brunt of re-entry. As the capsule burned and the struts finally gave way, it whipped around just in time; the parachute lines tangled, the landing rockets underperformed, and Volynov hit the ground so hard he broke several teeth. He survived, and flew again. Together, Soyuz 4 and 5 had achieved the docking and crew transfer the Soviet programme was counting on.
- 1969Soyuz 5 launchesLaunch
Volynov, Yeliseyev and Khrunov fly up to rendezvous with Soyuz 4.
- 1969Docking and a spacewalk transferMilestone
Soyuz 5 docks with Soyuz 4; Yeliseyev and Khrunov spacewalk across, leaving Volynov alone for re-entry.
- 1969Volynov's harrowing returnMission end
The service module fails to separate and the craft re-enters nose-first; Volynov survives a brutal landing.
Images
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