Space history Spaceflight Vol 51 February 2009 Transcripts give new perspective to Vostok-6 mission The first woman in Earth orbit Part 2 by Asif A. Siddiqi Valentina Tereshkova’s condition seemed to deteriorate into her third day in orbit. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of her performance was her fumbled attempt to orient the spacecraft at the beginning of her third day in orbit, an exercise she was originally scheduled to perform early in the mission on the second orbit. She tried to perform attitude control twice (apparently on the 38th orbit) and openly admitted that she was not able to orient along the pitch axis. Not surprisingly, this made controllers on the ground anxious since, if for some reason she had to manually control attitude during the Tereshkova and Andriyan Nikolayev with their daughter Alyona. RIA Novosti descent, then a failure on her part could seriously jeopardise her There’s a pause in the audio at this point. she wasn’t responding to calls from the return. In part two of this article, ground. we join Tereshkova at 1737 hours Chayka [Tereshkova]: Orientation already on her 37th orbit, as she speeding up… [garbled]. Don’t worry, I’ll do Chayka [Tereshkova]: 20th [Korolev], I fell acknowledges a message from everything. Don’t worry about me. asleep … [but am] already woken up. Gagarin instructing her on how to Another pause. Kamanin noted in his diaries that despite her carry out the attitude control Chayka [Tereshkova, speaking to Zarya-6]: failure to carry out the attitude control experiment on the following orbit. Communicate to 20th [Korolev] that I’m experiment, Tereshkova tried to reassure the starting to orient for landing [mode]. Let ground: “Don’t worry, I’ll do everything in the Chayka [Tereshkova]: [Repeating Gagarin’s there be no worry, don’t worry. [next] morning,” ie, near the end of her third instructions:] On the 38th orbit carry out day in space [14]. Another pause. manual orientation for landing. Continue According to Kamanin, the plan was to work with photometer. If [I] don’t get Chayka [Tereshkova]: At the 20th parallel, I have ground controllers (specifically orientation, then turn the ship to roll. I carried out the calibration of [the] Globus cosmonauts Gagarin, Titov and Nikolayev, understood you. Switch off orientation after and [garbled]… [Pause] At six hours 26 as well as OKB-1 department chief Boris the turning ship passes over our territory. I minutes you gave me data for the correction Raushenbakh, responsible for the Vostok [need to] turn on the UKV [VHF]-regime of Globus [instrument], the number of attitude control system) pass on a precise during passage into our territory. correction is 524, longitude [or length] 273, set of instructions to Tereshkova in case she start up time 7 … [garbled]. On the 47th orbit needed to carry out manual orientation for Less than two hours later, at 1908 hours on calibrate Globus. re-entry. These instructions were to be her 38th orbit, Tereshkova reported directly communicated on her 45th orbit. to Korolev. According to Chertok, Tereshkova’s failure Around this time, Tereshkova hinted at to carry out her attitude control experiment Chayka [Tereshkova]: Am not getting the her condition. “didn’t bother” the ground controllers that photometer to work. I’ve attempted several much “but it really annoyed Korolev” [13]. In Chayka [Tereshkova, to Zarya-6]: I’m times. Chayka oriented the ship with the the transcripts, after a pause, we hear drinking a lot. [I feel] nauseous from the photometer on an airplane… [Rest garbled] Tereshkova speak at 2038 hours on her 39th sweets, so the sweets aren’t satisfactory. 120 atmospheres, so that I have another orbit, addressing Korolev directly, who had Don’t be concerned about my health - I feel possibility to fully orient the ship for been concerned after a long period when fully well. Completely well. I want [some] landing. Temperature 10 - quite well. I’m potatoes, onions and black bread… not turning on the ventilator, because [it’s] Part 1 of this article appeared in the rather cold, and it’s warm, fine without the According to Kamanin, on the night of June January 2009 issue of Spaceflight. ventilator. 18-19, despite Tereshkova’s condition, she 64 Space history News Conference on successful completion of the Vostok-5 and Vostok-6 missions. Pictured (from left) are: Pavel Popovich, Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, Mstislav Keldysh (and Bykovskiy) slept peacefully and were (president of the USSR Academy of Sciences), Valery Bykovsky, Adrian Nikolayav, and Major General Nikolay Kamanin. RIA Novosti well-rested for the next day [16]. And, as the following confirms, on her 47th orbit (on the morning of June 19), Tereshkova finally automatic cycle for landing Vostok-6. After a burning. Like a pendulum it’s turning and performed some attitude control exercises few seconds, ground control learned that the burning, burning. It’s swinging, swinging, with the Vostok-6 spacecraft for about 20 to command passed successfully. burning in [my] field of vision. It’s burning 25 minutes. Kamanin writes in his diary that vigorously. It’s burning vigorously. Swinging Tereshkova did not convey any information Chayka [Tereshkova]: From seven hours 40 around the axes, swinging around the axes. on several mission events. These included minutes until eight hours five minutes [I] It’s shaking, it’s shaking. Crackling. the switching on of the solar orientation oriented the ship… Everything’s in order. Did system; the functioning of the Vostok-6 The transcript tapes reveal that through the rotation on roll. retro-rocket engine; and the separation of these last comments, Tereshkova’s voice There’s a pause. the two modules of the spaceship, the re- was unusually restrained, sounding very entry module and the instrument section. fatigued, and not all excited. A few minutes Chayka [Tereshkova]: Roger, take a tablet, Ground control learned significantly later after her main parachute opened, the check the catapult toggle switch, the locks of about the success of all these events, and Vostok-6 re-entry module was located via a the harness… What did you say in Kamanin laments that everybody on the beacon, and coordinates of the landing point connection to the ship? ground desperately wanted to hear were precisely identified. Both Vostok-5 and Vostok-6 evidently Chayka [Tereshkova] [to Vesna-2]: [Please] confirmations from Tereshkova herself, but landed two degrees north of the computed communicate to Zarya-1 that on the 47th orbit, apparently she remained silent. point, an error that some claimed was due to I oriented the ship in the landing [mode] for a The following indicates that Tereshkova’s imprecision in issuing the backup command full 20 minutes along all three axes. Turned the reports to the ground during this critical for re-entry, a suggestion that Kamanin ship. Did everything as one should. phase were via telegraph key, ie, she did not report on direct voice communications to the dismissed. Instead, he suggested that the Kamanin confirms as such in his diaries, ground about any of her actions. As a result, off-course landing was due to failures and noting that Tereshkova carried out the attitude ground control had to hear about her re-entry errors in the work of the communications control in the ‘landing’ mode, although his from other indirect sources. and search services. notes suggest that she kept the vehicle in Ground control had no word on the health correct mode for about 15 minutes rather than Chayka [Tereshkova] [to Vesna-2]: At nine of the cosmonauts for several hours after the 20-25 reported by Tereshkova. According hours 42 minutes Spusk-I [ie, re-entry landing. Tereshkova called with word of her to Kamanin, Tereshkova was ‘delighted’ to instruction no. 1] was turned on [18]. Burn safety via ground communications systems report on the results of her piloting. Korolev aperture on KRU. Index passed. Ready for who reported on Tereshkova’s safe return. and other members of the State Commission descent. Loose equipment fastened. The commander of an aviation division which were also satisfied (at least at the time) with flew over the landing site and saw Bykovskiy Chayka [Tereshkova]: nine hours 47 her performance and believed that if the did the same for the Vostok-5 pilot. minutes. This is Chayka. Locks checked. automatic system failed, Tereshkova would be Tereshkova landed at 1120 hours Catapult toggle switch ‘On’. At nine hours 51 able to manually orient the vehicle for re-entry Moscow Time on June 19 about 620km minutes Spusk-II was turned on. The first [17]. northeast of Karaganda in Kazakhstan after command passed. a two day 22 hour 50 minute flight. Her Re-entry Chayka [Tereshkova]: 39 minutes. Re-entry. descent was not trouble-free. After she Transcripts from the landing phase are Vesna-4, over. The ship is turning, turning safely ejected from her capsule at 6.5km illuminating. Kamanin notes that at 0939 quite fast, turning, starting to burn. In [my] altitude, while she was parachuting down, in hours 40 seconds on June 19, the command field of vision I see the burning ship. Such violation of the training procedures, she was issued (from the ground) to begin the reddish light, reddish. The ship is turning and looked up to the side of the parachute 65 Space history Spaceflight Vol 51 February 2009 canopy at the upper line of the pressure [sic] for 20 minutes I manually oriented the suit’s helmet, when a piece of metal hit her spaceship. I think that there was no failure in straight on the nose. State Commission the orientation system.