Cosmos 57

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Mission dates
Mission: Cosmos 57
COSPAR-ID : 1965-012A
Spacecraft: Vozhod 3KD
Dimensions: 5682 kg
Crew: no
Begin: February 22, 1965, 07:41 UT
Starting place: Baikonur 1/5
Landing: blown up in space
Flight duration: 3h
Earth orbits: 1
Rotation time : 90.42 min
Orbit inclination : 64.74 °
Apogee : 427 km
Perigee : 165 km
◄ Before / After ►
Vozhod 1
(manned) 		Vozhod 2
(manned)

Kosmos 57 is the code name for an unmanned mission of the Soviet spacecraft Vozhod , which carried out tests in February 1965 in preparation for the flight of Vozhod 2 in earth orbit. It was customary in the Soviet Union to give official names only to successful missions. Failed flights were mostly not announced at all and test flights were only announced under the general cover name Kosmos.

The flight

The launch took place on February 22nd at 07:12 UT from the Soviet spaceport Baikonur aboard a Vozhod rocket .

The modified spaceship of the Voschod 3KD type only offered space for two cosmonauts. Where a third cosmonaut could sit at Woschod 3KV, an inflatable airlock was now attached, which, when packed, had a diameter of 70 cm and a length of 77 cm. In space, the lock could unfold outwards and was then 2.5 m long, with an outer diameter of 1.2 m and an inner diameter of 1.0 m. The lock weighed about 250 kg.

In the earth's orbit, the external airlock unfolded as planned, which the ground station could even see on TV. Two ground stations mistakenly sent radio commands at the same time. The receiver in the spaceship incorrectly interpreted this as a command to ignite the brake rocket in order to initiate the landing. However, since the spaceship was not correctly aligned, it apparently remained in orbit, but was set into a rapid rotation. The self-destruct mechanism triggered, and Kosmos 57 exploded just under three hours after launch.

Still, the manned launch was scheduled for less than a month later.

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