Buzz
The Soviet Union is renowned for its pioneering achievements in space, including launching the first satellite, sending a living being, and eventually a human into orbit. But beyond these famous feats, the USSR worked tirelessly to outdo the US in space exploration. Although they secured numerous groundbreaking firsts, they also witnessed the first human tragedy in space.
10. The First Moon Flyby
Launched on January 2, 1959, Luna 1 became the first spacecraft to successfully reach the Moon's vicinity. Weighing 360 kilograms (800 lbs), it carried various metallic symbols, including the Soviet coat of arms, and was intended to crash-land on the Moon as a display of Soviet scientific superiority. However, the spacecraft overshot its target, coming within 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) of the Moon's surface. As it passed, the probe released a trail of sodium gas, temporarily glowing as brightly as a sixth-magnitude star, allowing astronomers to track its path.
Luna 1 marked at least the fifth attempt by the Soviets to make a successful crash landing on the Moon. Many of the previous failed attempts were kept so secret that even American intelligence remained unaware of several of them.
In comparison to today's space probes, Luna 1 was quite rudimentary. It lacked a propulsion system, relying solely on batteries for limited electrical power, and it had no camera. Communications from the probe were cut off three days after its launch.
9. The First Flyby of Another Planet
On February 12, 1961, the Soviet space probe Venera 1 was launched with the goal of a controlled crash-landing on Venus. This was the second attempt by the Soviets to reach Venus with a probe. Venera 1 carried Soviet medallions within a reentry capsule. While the main body of the probe was expected to disintegrate upon entry into the Venusian atmosphere, the Soviets hoped that the reentry capsule would strike the surface of Venus, making them the first to deliver an object to another planet's surface.
The initial launch and communications with the probe went smoothly, with three successful communication sessions confirming normal operation. However, the fourth session revealed a failure in one of the probe’s systems, resulting in a five-day communication delay. Contact was lost when the probe was approximately 2 million kilometers from Earth. The spacecraft continued its drift through space, passing Venus at a distance of 100,000 kilometers (62,000 miles) without the ability to receive data for any course corrections that might have directed it to crash on Venus.
8. The First Spacecraft To Capture Images of the Moon's Far Side
On October 4, 1959, Luna 3 became the third spacecraft to successfully reach the Moon. Unlike its predecessors, Luna 3 was equipped with a camera designed to capture images of the Moon's far side, a region that had never been photographed before.
The camera was a mix of simplicity and complexity. The spacecraft was capable of taking 40 photographs, which were developed, fixed, and dried on board. A cathode-ray tube then scanned the images and transmitted the data back to Earth. Due to a weak radio transmitter, the first attempts to send the images were unsuccessful. However, as the probe approached Earth after orbiting the Moon, 17 low-quality, resolvable images were received.
Despite the poor quality of the images, scientists were thrilled by the new discoveries. Unlike the flat near side of the Moon, the far side was found to be mountainous with fewer dark regions.
7. The First Successful Landing on Another Planet
On August 17, 1970, Venera 7, part of a pair of Soviet spacecraft, launched on its journey to Venus. The probe was designed to deploy a lander that would send back data after landing on Venus, achieving a historic milestone as the first successful landing on another planet. To withstand Venus's extreme atmosphere, the lander was cooled to -8 degrees Celsius (18 °F). The Soviets also aimed to maximize the lander's survival time, designing it to stay attached to the spacecraft during entry until atmospheric forces caused it to separate.
Venera 7 entered the Venusian atmosphere as planned, but the parachute intended to slow the lander tore and failed, resulting in a 29-minute fall to the surface. Initial assumptions were that the lander had failed upon impact, but further analysis of radio signals revealed that the probe transmitted temperature readings for 23 minutes after landing, demonstrating the ingenuity of the spacecraft's engineers.
6. First Man-Made Objects On The Surface Of Mars
In May 1971, the twin spacecraft Mars 2 and Mars 3 were launched just days apart with the goal of orbiting Mars and mapping its surface. Both spacecraft also carried landers, with the Soviets hoping they would become the first human-made objects to land on Mars.
However, the Americans narrowly beat the Soviets to this achievement. Mariner 9, launched in the same month of May 1971, arrived two weeks before the Soviet probes and became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. Upon reaching Mars, both the American and Soviet spacecraft encountered a global dust storm that hindered their ability to collect data.
While the Mars 2 lander (pictured left) crashed, the Mars 3 lander (pictured right) successfully touched down and began transmitting data. However, the transmissions stopped after just 20 seconds, and the only photo taken was poorly lit with no discernible details. This failure was likely caused by the massive dust storm on Mars, preventing the Soviets from capturing the first clear images from the Martian surface.
5. First Robotic Sample Return Mission
While NASA had the Apollo astronauts bring back Moon rocks to Earth, the Soviets, unable to send humans to the Moon, were determined to outdo the Americans by using an automated spacecraft to collect and return lunar soil first. The initial Soviet probe, Luna 15, crashed on the Moon. Their next five attempts failed due to severe issues with the launch vehicle. However, the sixth Soviet attempt, Luna 16, was successfully launched after the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions.
After landing in the Sea of Fertility, the Soviet probe deployed a drill to gather lunar soil and deposit it in a container that would lift off and bring the soil back to Earth. Once the sealed container was opened, Soviet scientists retrieved just 101 grams (4 oz) of lunar soil, far less than the 22 kilograms (50 lb) returned by Apollo 11. The Soviet sample was carefully examined and found to have the properties of damp sand.
4. First Spacecraft To Carry Three People
On October 12, 1964, Voskhod 1 became the first spacecraft to carry more than one person into space. Though the Soviets hailed Voskhod as a groundbreaking spacecraft, it was essentially a modified version of the same craft that had previously carried Yuri Gagarin. Despite this, the mission impressed the Americans, who had yet to launch a crew of two aboard a single spacecraft at the time.
The Voskhod was regarded as unsafe by its Soviet designers. They strongly opposed its use until the government incentivized them with the promise of allowing one designer to join the mission as a cosmonaut. Despite their reservations, the spacecraft’s design posed several significant safety concerns.
To begin with, the cosmonauts had no means of escape in the event of a rocket failure because it was impossible to fit an escape hatch for each person. Furthermore, the capsule was so cramped that the cosmonauts couldn’t wear spacesuits, which meant that any depressurization of the cabin would be fatal. Additionally, a new landing system, involving two parachutes and a retro-rocket, had only been tested once prior to the mission. Finally, the cosmonauts had to follow strict diets before the mission to ensure that the combined weight of the crew and capsule stayed light enough for the rocket to launch.
Given all the numerous issues surrounding the mission, it was remarkable that everything went smoothly without incident.
3. First Human Fatalities In Space
On June 30, 1971, the Soviet Union anxiously awaited the return of three cosmonauts who had spent over 23 days aboard the first-ever space station. But when the capsule touched down, there was no sign of life from the crew. Upon opening the hatch, ground personnel found the three cosmonauts dead, their faces marked with dark blue patches and blood leaking from their noses and ears. What had caused this tragedy?
Investigators revealed that the disaster occurred shortly after the orbital module separated from the descent module in preparation for reentry. A valve in the descent module malfunctioned and opened. Within less than two minutes, the cabin was deprived of air. As the pressure plummeted, the cosmonauts rapidly suffocated, unable to locate and close the valve before they lost consciousness and passed away.
Although other fatalities have occurred during launches and reentries, the Soyuz 11 accident was distinct because it took place at an altitude of 168 kilometers (104 miles), while the cosmonauts were still in space, making them the first—and to this day, the only—humans to die in space.
2. First Docking With A Dead Space Object
On February 11, 1985, the Soviet space station Salyut 7 went silent. A series of electrical shorts had ravaged the station, disabling its systems and leaving Salyut 7 lifeless and frozen in space.
In a desperate attempt to salvage the station, the Soviets dispatched two seasoned cosmonauts to repair Salyut 7. With the automated docking system failing, the cosmonauts had to maneuver manually, drawing close enough to attempt a manual docking. Luckily, the station was not spinning uncontrollably, allowing them to dock successfully, marking the first time it had been demonstrated that it was possible to dock with any space object—even one that was dead and unresponsive.
The cosmonauts reported that the inside of the station was musty, with icicles forming on the walls, and the temperature inside had dropped to -10 degrees Celsius (14°F). Over the following days, the crew worked tirelessly to restore the station, inspecting hundreds of cables to identify the source of the electrical fault.
1. First Person Of African Descent In Space
On September 18, 1980, Soyuz 38 took off on its journey to the Salyut 6 space station, carrying a Soviet cosmonaut alongside Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez, a Cuban air force pilot who made history as the first individual of African descent to venture into space. His mission was part of a Soviet initiative known as “Intercosmos,” designed to involve other nations in Soviet space explorations.
Though Mendez's stay aboard Salyut 6 lasted only a week, he carried out over 24 scientific experiments in fields such as chemistry and biology. He tracked his metabolic processes, studied the electrical patterns in his brain, and observed changes in the shape of his foot bones in the microgravity environment of space. Upon returning to Earth, Mendez was awarded the prestigious title of “Hero of the Soviet Union,” the highest honor the USSR could bestow.
Since Mendez was not American, he was not the first African-American in space. That distinction goes to Guion Stewart Bluford Jr., who made his journey aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983.
