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Soyuz s/n 5/6

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Zond 5 turtles. Credit: RKK Energia

Launched: Summer 1967. Number crew: 4 .

• Soyuz schedule has been delayed again - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Demin, Gagarin, Mishin, Tereshkova, Tyulin. Program: Soyuz. Flight: Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2A, Soyuz s/n 3/4, Soyuz s/n 5/6. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-OK.

  Soyuz s/n 1 and 2 will be flown unpiloted by October 1966 Manned flights aboard Soyuz s/n 3, 4, 5, 6 will not take place until the first quarter of 1967. Later Mishin tours the cosmonaut training centre - the first time in his life he has visited the place. Mishin admires the new construction from Demin's balcony on the 11th floor of cosmonaut dormitory, then goes to Tereshkova's apartment on the seventh floor, and then Gagarin's apartment. Mishin insists on drinking a toast of cognac on each visit. Tyulin reveals this is a peace mission - they want to normalize relations and get on with cosmonaut training. At Fedosiya the auxiliary parachute of a Soyuz capsule failed to open during a drop test. Kamanin believes that the Soyuz parachute system is even worse than that of Vostok. His overall impression of the Soyuz is poor: the entire spacecraft looks unimpressive. The small dimensions of hatch, antiquated communication equipment, and inadequate emergency recovery systems are only the most noticeable of many discrepancies. If the automatic docking system does not function, then the entire Soviet space program will collapse in failure.

• Cosmonaut civilian program training groups - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Dobrovolsky, Gagarin, Gorbatko, Khrunov, Kolodin, Komarov, Leonov, Nikolayev, Shatalov, Volynov, Voronov, Zholobov. Program: Soyuz, Lunar L1, Lunar L3. Flight: Soviet Lunar Landing, Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2A, Soyuz 7K-L1 mission 1, Soyuz 7K-L1 mission 2, Soyuz 7K-L1 mission 3, Soyuz s/n 3/4, Soyuz s/n 5/6, Voskhod 3. Spacecraft: LK, Soyuz 7K-L1, Soyuz 7K-LOK, Soyuz 7K-OK.

  Kamanin organises the cosmonauts into the following training groups:

  • Soyuz 7K-OK: Gagarin, Komarov, Nikolayev, Bykovsky, Khrunov, Gorbatko, Voronov, Kolodin
  • L1: Volynov, Dobrovolskiy, Voronov, Kolodin, Zholobov, Komarov, Bykovskiy
  • L3: Leonov, Gorbatko, Khrunov, Gagarin, Nikolayev, Shatalov

  Rudenko agrees with Kamanin's plan, except he urges him to assign more cosmonauts to the Soyuz 7K-OK group, and include OKB-1 cosmonauts in the 7K-OK, L1, and L3 groups, and Academy of Science cosmonauts in the L1 and L3 groups.

  These cosmonaut assignments were in constant flux, and many cosmonauts were assigned to train for more than one program - resulting in multiple claims in later years that 'I was being trained for the first moon flight'.

• Cosmonaut military program training groups - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Artyukhin, Belousov, Belyayev, Beregovoi, Demin, Filipchenko, Gubarev, Gulyayev, Kolesnikov, Kuklin, Lazarev, Matinchenko, Popovich, Shatalov, Shonin, Titov, Volynov, Vorobyov, Zaikin. Program: Voskhod, Almaz. Flight: Soviet Lunar Landing, Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2A, Soyuz 7K-L1 mission 1, Soyuz 7K-L1 mission 2, Soyuz 7K-L1 mission 3, Soyuz s/n 3/4, Soyuz s/n 5/6, Voskhod 3. Spacecraft: Almaz OPS, Soyuz VI, Spiral OS, Voskhod.

  Kamanin organises the cosmonauts into the following training groups:

  • Voskhod: Volynov, Shonin, Beregovoi, Shatalov.
  • Spiral: Titov, Kuklin, Filipchenko, Beregovoi, Shatalov.
  • Soyuz VI: Popovich, Gubarev, Artyukhin, Gulyayev, Belousov, Kolesnikov
  • Almaz: Belyayev, Shonin, Matinchenko, Demin, Zaikin, Vorobyev, Lazarev

• Apollo program delays give Soviets opportunity to leapfrog Americans - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Bykovsky, Khrunov, Komarov, Yeliseyev. Program: Soyuz, Voskhod. Flight: Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2A, Soyuz s/n 3/4, Soyuz s/n 5/6, Soyuz s/n 7, Voskhod 3. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-OK, Voskhod.

  Komarov, Bykovsky, Khrunov, and Yeliseyev have completed zero-G training in the Tu-104 at Tyuratam, and need to get back to Moscow to complete simulator training. But continued bad weather at Moscow means that they will have to be flown by Il-14 to Gorkiy, and then get to Moscow by train. Kamanin notes reports on NASA's reorganised flight program for the Apollo program. Under the new schedule, the first attempt at a manned lunar landing will be possible in the first half of 1968. The first manned flight of the Apollo CSM has slipped from December 1966 to the first quarter of 1967. This makes it possible that the Soviets can make 3 to 5 manned spaceflights before the first Apollo flight - the flights of Soyuz s/n 3 and 4 in December 1966, Voskhod 3 in January 1967, and Soyuz s/n 3 and 4 in February 1967.

• Soyuz and L1 crew assignments. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Beregovoi, Bykovsky, Gagarin, Gorbatko, Grechko, Kerimov, Khrunov, Komarov, Kubasov, Leonov, Makarov, Mishin, Nikolayev, Rudenko, Shatalov, Volkov, Volynov, Yeliseyev, Yershov. Program: Soyuz. Flight: Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2A, Soyuz 7K-L1 mission 1, Soyuz 7K-L1 mission 2, Soyuz 7K-L1 mission 3, Soyuz s/n 3/4, Soyuz s/n 5/6, Soyuz s/n 7. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-L1, Soyuz 7K-OK.

  Rudenko, Mishin, Kerimov and Kamanin agree on crews for upcoming flights. Komarov, Bykovsky, Khrunov, and Yeliseyev are assigned to Soyuz s/n 3 and 4; Gagarin, Nikolayev, Gorbatko, and Kubasov to Soyuz s/n 5 and 6, with Beregovoi, Shatalov, Volkov, and Makarov trained as back-ups. For Soyuz s/n 7, which will conduct space welding experiments with the Vulkan furnace, the commander will be either Komarov, Bykovsky, Gagarin, Nikolayev, Beregovoi, or Shatalov. The other two crewmembers will be either Lankin and Fartushniy from the Paton Institute, VVS cosmonaut Kolodin, or an engineer from OKB-1.

  Crews for the L1 must be named in order to complete the five-month training program in time. Eight L1's are being completed to the manned configuration, but Mishin believes it is necessary to plan for only six manned missions. It is decided to train nine crews. Spacecraft commanders will be Komarov, Bykovsky, Nikolayev, Gagarin, Leonov, Khrunov, Volynov, Beregovoi, and Shatalov. Flight engineers will be Yeliseyev, Kubasov, Makarov, Volkov, and Grechko. Komarov, Bykovsky or Nikolayev will command the first circumlunar flight. Mishin promises to name the OKB-1 candidates for that flight by 8 December. Mishin and Kerimov agree that training of cosmonaut- researchers from the Academy of Sciences may begin, although both Mishin and Rudenko expressed doubts about cosmonaut candidate Yershov.

  The failures of Cosmos 133 have been narrowed to entangled thrust vector vanes in the main engines and a single defective approach and orientation thruster. It is agreed to set the unmanned launch of Soyuz s/n 1 for 18 December as a final functional check of all systems. If this is successful, the date will then be set for the manned launch of Soyuz s/n 3 and 4. Flight control will be conducted from Yevpatoria.