Vostok 3

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 06:52 UTC
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 manned spacecraft was in orbit at the same time, giving Soviet mission controllers the opportunity of learning how to manage this scenario.

Vostok 3 was manned 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

• Andrian Nikolayev

Backup

• Valery F. Bykovsky

Mission Parameters

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