Soyuz 3
| Mission Statistics |
| Mission Name: | Soyuz 3 |
| Call Sign: | Аргон (Argon - "Argon") |
| Number of Crew Members: | 1 |
| Launch: | October 26, 1968
08:34:18 UTC
Baikonur LC1 |
| Landing: | October 30, 1968
07:25:03 UTC |
| Duration: | 3 days, 22 h, 50 min, 45 s |
| Number of Orbits: | 64 |
Soyuz 3 was the first manned launch of a Soyuz spacecraft since the accident that killed cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov on Soyuz 1. That ill-fated flight had been intended to rendezvous and dock with Soyuz 2; now Soyuz 3 with cosmonaut Georgi Beregovoi would attempt this goal.
Ground controllers were able to bring the two spacecraft within 200 m of one another before
Beregovoi took control of the Soyuz to complete the maneuver. Unfortunately, while he was able
to close the gap to only one metre, three successive attempts to dock failed. Eventually,
almost all of the maneuvering fuel was expended and the objective had to be abandoned. The failure
was blamed on Beregovoi's piloting.
The plane crash that killed Yuri Gagarin was during his training for this mission.
Crew
Mission Parameters
- Mass: 6575 kg
- Perigee: 183 km
- Apogee: 205 km
- Inclination: 51.7°
- Period: 88.3 min
