Vostok 3

Key facts

Mission & specifications

Mission

Vostok 3 opened a new kind of spaceflight: two crews aloft at once. Andriyan Nikolayev launched on 11 August 1962 and, a day later, Vostok 4 followed him into orbit — the first time two crewed spacecraft flew at the same time. The launches were timed so precisely that the two capsules came within about 6.5 km of each other at the start, close enough for the cosmonauts to glimpse each other's craft and to talk directly by radio. It was not a true rendezvous — neither craft could manoeuvre, and they soon drifted apart — but presented to the world it looked like formation flying in space, a propaganda coup at the height of the space race. Nikolayev stayed up for nearly four days, testing how the body held up over a long flight, and was the first person to unstrap and float freely in his cabin. He landed on 15 August after 64 orbits.

1. 1962Vostok 3 launchesLaunch

   Andriyan Nikolayev goes up a day before Vostok 4 — the start of the first two-craft flight.

2. 1962Two crews in orbit at onceMilestone

   Vostok 4 joins him; the capsules pass within ~6.5 km and the cosmonauts talk ship-to-ship.

3. 1962Landing after 64 orbitsMission end

   Nikolayev returns after nearly four days, having floated freely in his cabin for the first time.

Images

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