MISSION NAME
Vostok 2 2
Status
Success
DATE
6 AUG 1961
LAUNCH PROVIDER
Soviet Space Program
Launch Pad
1/5
Description
The second crewed space launch carrying the Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov to orbit. The mission lasted 25 hours and 18 minutes and completed 17.5 orbits. He remains the youngest person to reach space, being a month short of 26 at the time of the launch.
Vostok-K
Rocket Description
The Vostok-K was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union for thirteen launches between 1960 and 1964, six of which were manned. The Vostok-K made its maiden flight on 22 December 1960, three weeks after the retirement of the Vostok-L. The third stage engine failed 425 seconds after launch, and the payload, a Korabl-Sputnik spacecraft, failed to reach orbit. The spacecraft was recovered after landing, and the two dogs aboard the spacecraft survived the flight. On 12 April 1961, a Vostok-K rocket was used to launch Vostok 1, the first manned spaceflight, which made Yuri Gagarin the first human to fly in space.