Vostok 3
Mission Insignia
Mission Statistics
Mission Name:Vostok 3
Call Sign:Сокол (Sokol - "Falcon")
Number of Crew Members:1
Launch:August 11, 1962
08:30 UTC
Baikonur LC1
Landing:August 15, 1962
06:85 UTC
48° 2' N, 75° 45' E
Duration:3 days, 22 hours, 22 minutes
Number of Orbits:65

Vostok 3 and Vostok 4 were launched a day apart, and together these missions were the first time that more than one crewed spacecraft was in orbit at the same time, giving Soviet mission controllers the opportunity of learning how to manage this scenario.

Vostok 3 was crewed by Andrian Nikolayev, who reported sighting the Vostok 4 capsule after it entered orbit near him. The cosmonauts aboard the two capsules also communicated with each other via radio, the first ship-to-ship communications in space.

A final "first" for Vostok 3 was Nikolayev's taking of colour movie footage of the Earth from orbit.

Crew

Mission Parameters

  • Mass: 4722 kg
  • Perigee: 166 km
  • Apogee: 218 km
  • Inclination: 65.0°
  • Period: 88.3 minutes

Previous Mission:
Vostok 2
Vostok programme Next Mission:
Vostok 4