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| Vostok 2 cover with red Moscow postmark, signed by Gherman Titov. |
Vostok 2 was a Soviet space mission which carried cosmonaut
Gherman Titov into orbit for a full day on August 6, 1961, to study the effects of a more prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body. Titov orbited the Earth over 17 times, exceeding the single orbit of Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1 − as well as the suborbital spaceflights of American astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom aboard their respective Mercury-Redstone 3 and 4 missions. Titov's number of orbits and flight time would not be surpassed by an American astronaut until Gordon Cooper's Mercury-Atlas 9 spaceflight in May 1963.
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| Photo signed by Gherman Titov, the second Russian cosmonaut to orbit the Earth. |
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| Vostok 2 launch cover with Vilnius postmark August 6, 1961. |
After the flight of Vostok 1, Sergei Korolev took a short vacation in Crimea where he began working out the flight plan for the next mission. There were considerable arguments over the duration of the mission as flight doctors argued for no more than three orbits. The flight of Korabl-Sputnik 2 nine months earlier had carried two dogs on a six orbit mission, during which the animals had experienced convulsions and thus all subsequent Vostok missions were limited to three orbits maximum. Although dogs and humans were very different physiologically, the doctors were worried about the risks posed on a longer flight. There was also the purely practical aspect of spacecraft recovery. If Vostok 2 flew three orbits, reentry and landing would take place in the wide open steppes of southern Russia, the landing site moving steadily further west with each orbit. Orbits 8-13 would drop the capsule into the Pacific Ocean, after which landing would again occur in Soviet territory, but in the remote, frozen wastes of Siberia. Thus, it was necessary to spend a full 24 hours in space before it would be once again possible to land in the prime recovery area in southern Russia. The three orbit limit thus would not only make landing easy, but minimize risks to the cosmonaut posed by prolonged weightlessness.
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| Vostok 2 recovery cover with Vinnitza postmark August 7, 1961. |
Korolev argued that since it would still take an entire day for landing in southern Russia to be possible again, there was no reason not to go for it. Besides, he argued, missions of the future would inevitably require lengthy stays in space. The flight was targeted for somewhere between July 25 and August 5. To ensure safe radiation levels, balloons equipped with Geiger counters were flown aloft; in addition, similar equipment would be carried on Vostok 2. Several enhancements were made to Vostok 2, including an improved TV transmission system and better climate control systems. The actual liftoff took place August 6 at 8:57 AM Moscow time and booster performance was almost flawless, placing the spacecraft into a 184x244 km orbit.
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| Photo: Titov's Vostok 2 flight last for 25 hours 18 mins and made 17.5 orbits around the earth. |
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| Vostok 2 cover with red Kiev postmark August 7, 1961. |
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| Photo: Gherman Titov orbital path. |
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Photo: Titov at news conference with Soviet newsman after his successful orbital flight.
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| Vostok 2 Kniga cover with black Moscow postmark, signed by Gherman Titov. |
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| Vostok 2 cover with red Moscow postmark. |
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| Photo: "Soviet spaceman Maj. Gherman Titov was given a hero's welcome in Moscow Wednesday. He was greeted at the airport by top Soviet leaders including Premier Khrushchev, who carried a bouquet. Maj. Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet Union's first spaceman, is at far left. Titov was flown to the capital from Saratov, 450 miles from the city. AP Radiophoto, August 9, 1961." |
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| Photo: Gherman Titov at news conference, August 11, 1961. |
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Photo: Gherman Titov standing at the podium giving a speech during his US tour in May 1962.
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| Gherman Titov post card. |
(Reference from
Vostok 2)
