NASA TECHNICAL TRANSLATION NASA TT F-15,076

THE SECOND ORBITAL FLIGHT

A. Nikolayev

Translation of "Vo Vtorom Orbital"nom,"

Aviatsiya i Kosmonavtika, No. 7, July 1973, pp. 32-34.

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20546 SEPTEMBER 1973
 NASA TT F-15,076

THE SECOND ORBITAL FLIGHT

A. Nikolayev1

Thus, eight years following my flight aboard the "Vostok-3" spacecraft, /32*
I was once again to have a meeting with space. The long awaited day of the
launching of the "Soyuz-9" spacecraft — 1 June 1970 — differed in no particular
way from any other day. Get up at nine in the morning, then the medical
examination, then a short work-out before breakfast.
Between breakfast and lunch we once again examined the voluminous — 500
pages — spacecraft logs — they contain the upcoming 18 days of flight scheduled
by the hours and by the minutes. We repeat the sequence of the prelaunch
systems check in the equipment of the spacecraft, "playing out" in thought
one of the most complex stages of the flight — bringing the spacecraft into
orbit.
According to the order of the day, following lunch, a rest period is
planned and we lie down to sleep. Vitally, obviously, has no objection to
"expanding this part of the program" and, in any case, after the established
two and one-half hours the alarm bell of the alarm clock rings, but produces
no particular impression on him. One is forced to assist the alarm clock.

And the doctors are already waiting for us. They generously equip us
with sensors and electrodes and record the original physiological indices, in
order later to compare them with our post-flight condition.
Finally this procedure is concluded and we climb into our spacesuits and
receive our identification cards as pilot cosmonauts of the USSR.

Night. But on the launching pad it is as bright as day. Particularly

effective in appearance is the snow-white beautiful rocket pointed into the

General, Air Force, Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR, twice hero of the

Soviet Union.
*Numbers in the margin indicate pagination of the foreign text.
dark sky and illuminated by the powerful rays of searchlights. Not far away
are many people: scientists, cosmonaut*%raining supervisors, ground service
special]sts.

Saying farewell to our friends and back-ups, Vitally and I walk away from
the bus and toward the Chairman of the State Commission.

"Comrade Chairman of the State Commission," I report, "the crew of the

'Soyuz-9' spacecraft is ready for making its flight!"

In August 1962, when the "Vostok-3" carried me up into orbit, and when
the "Vostok-4" turned up directly adjacent to me one day later, piloted by
Pavel Popovich, we knew very little about space. However, our group flight was
an important step along the path to taking two spacecraft into orbit a short
distance apart from each other, docking the spacecraft, and consequently, to
the creation of an orbital space station.

Proportional to the increase in duration of spaceflights, it has become

clear that there are going signs that weightlessness is far from such a harm-
less thing as it seemed earlier. The American cosmonaut, Cooper, for example,
following his 18 day flight observed changes in the composition of his blood:
the volume of the red blood cells underwent a 30% decrease, their mass decreased
by 20%, and the amount of plasma decreased by 8%.

Following the 14 day long flight, the American cosmonauts were observed
to have a decreased amount of calcium in their bones, a decrease in tonus was
observed, as well as dehydration of the organism and loss in weight...

And now our 18 day long flight, filled with scientific investigations,
tests and experiments...

How would space greet us this time, what surprises had weightlessness in
store for us?

Vitaliy and I are sitting in the cockpit seats of "Soyuz-9." The seat belts
are tight, the medical sensors are hooked up to the on-board Telemetry system,
bilateral radio communications is established with "Zarya" (the Earth). The
rocket has already been filled with the fuel components, however there is still
quite a bit of time until launch and we still have to check all the on-board
systems and equipment of the craft up to the time the five-minute readiness
is declared.

Having completed the check, we turn in our seats. The last few minutes
pass slowly. Finally, the count-down of the last few seconds begins: "ten,
nine... three, two, launch!" In columns of fire and smoke our giant begins to
gain altitude.

The spacecraft is flying in the vastness of space. Its illuminators

shine brightly, but these lights are not visible on the Earth. Only a young
moon hangs in space, and the stars converse with one another in their secret
language.

Aboard the spacecraft the transition of day and night occurs much more
rapidly than it does on the Earth. We will have only just emerged on the
night side of the planet when a minute later the Sun bursts through the cabin
windows. For me this picture is already a familiar one, Vitaliy however is
entirely enraptured by his meeting with his first space sunrise.
"Andrey," he shouts with surprise, "look, what an astonishing sunrise!"
I understand his amazement, but just at this moment, from the right side of the
window, where Vitaliy is sitting, the final stage of our rocket appears. I
quickly grab the movie camera and pass it to Vitaliy so that he can shoot a few
frames, but unfortunately the Sun interferes with this photography...

I become accustomed to weightlessness comparatively easily, probably to

a certain extent this is explained by the fact that we are very carefully
prepared for our meeting with it while still on the Earth. All the same, when
experiencing weightlessness for the first time one senses the flow of blood
to the head, the face becomes puffy and acquires a crimson hue. We have
encountered a similar phenomenon when, during the training period we slept in
beds with a negative incline to the head portion. We succeeded in determining
body position quite rapidly, and during this process the condition to which
we are unaccustomed becomes less noticeable. As it turned out, it is quite
adequate during a turn of the spacecraft to have one's legs averted toward the /53
"ceiling" of the orbital cabin, since such sensations have almost entirely
disappeared.
3
 And we must turn the spacecraft almost everyday. In order to build up
reserves of electrical energy, it is necessary to turn the spacecraft in such
a way that the Solar rays strike the Solar panels in a perpendicular fashion,
thus supplying current to the buffer batteries.

The consumption of electrical energy in flight does not always remain at

the same level, occasionally less is expended, and then, for supplying elec-
trical energy of the craft, it is more efficient to make a so-called "indirect"
roll, i.e., to turn toward the Sun at a slight angle.

The flight program, specifically, provides for the development of a

method of making such twisting rolls by the aid of an optical wide-angle visor.
This task was successfully accomplished. It should be said that the manual
regime of control requires a great deal of attention and accuracy, inasmuch as
all maneuvers expend fuel, and in a long flight it is particularly important
to expend fuel economically.

The flight program was filled with many experimental and investigative
studies. We were aware that our flight was the decisive step on the very
difficult path to the conquest of space. However, we also no less clearly
understood another fact: in flight it is necessary to fulfill everything
which has been planned in as good and complete a fashion as possible, in order
to provide answers to the many questions of scientists and maximally to ease
the tasks of those who are to follow us.

"Sokol! This is Zarya!" "Contact! How do you read me?"

"This is Sokol1" "I read you five by!"

This is how our conversations with the flight control center began.

At the beginning of the flight, in one of the communications sessions,

I reported that all of the physical exercises planned for loading the muscular
apparatus under conditions of weightlessness could not be carried out by us
in the thirty minutes provided for by the program.

From the ground they ask: how much time is needed to carry out the
physical exercises7

About 50 minutes is required instead of the 30 minutes.

 All right, we will see here how much additional time can be set aside.

Vitally and I began to carry out the physical exercises more energetically,
but, apparently, not quite so intensively as the medical specialists would
like. The air composition sensors in the spacecraft found that the cabin
atmosphere of the spacecraft contained less carbon dioxide than would be the
case during intensive crew work. On the Earth it was assumed that we were
physically "underloaded." I must agree. And once again the question arose:
how could we increase loading.

Yevgeniy Khrunov advises jokingly from the control center:

"You are to increase your exercises while eating breakfast. Chew more
rapidly..."
We answered that our appetite was excellent and that his suggestion could
not be accepted.

In the end the specialist slightly "extended" the program and set aside
50 minutes. It was far from simple to do this.

On the Earth, during exercise, the muscles of the arms, legs and of the
body as a whole receive a good loading. But in weightlessness, those same
arms and legs weigh absolutely nothing. Therefore the muscles do not have any
force to work against.

For carrying out physical exercises in flight, a special suit was manu^
factured. Elastic elements were included in the cloth of this suit which aided
in uniformly loading the muscles of the body. In such suits, attached by means
of rubber-bands to a special area, Vitaliy and I walked, and ran in place, did
sit-ups and exercises with the expander.

In one of the communications sessions the conversations once again

concerned physical exercises. They were interested in whether or not full
harmony had been achieved between the program requirements and the capacities
of the cosmonauts with respect to time and stress.

"Subjective concern of self estimation confirms that we are both in good

shape, that the assignment for physical exercise, in our opinion, is high,"
Vitaliy Sevast'yanov answered them, "it could be that it should be cut down
a little."

Knowing how the doctors would react to this, I called them down a bit-
"Now we are carrying out the assignment fully and are voluntarily not going to
change anything. But Vitaliy, obviously, is right."

Several da>s remain to the end of the flight. By our activity we have
already completed several dozen experiments. The pages of the on-board log
book are filled with writing.

And yet one investigation knows no interruption and will be concluded only
much later than the end of our flight. This is the investigation of our
condition. We are under the constant control of the space medicine specialists.
By telemetry, information concerning all of the most important functions of the
organism is relayed to the center.
From conversations with the supervisors of the medical control group, a
great deal has been made clear to us. We discovered that adaptation to
weightlessness is endured well and went forth at a new level characteristic
for the conditions of spaceflight and completely stabilized. To it, our
condition was best of all attested to by the good state of our general health
and by adequately high working capacity. I am not saying that we would not
tire by the end of the flight, but this fatigue was entirely natural.

The days fly by. And now the on-board log contains an entry written in
hugh letters by Vitaliy Sevast'yanov: "The eighteenth day of the flight.
Home soon!!!" Our mood is elevated and we more and more think thoughts about
our relatives and those near to us, we recall our accustomed terrestrial
happinesses and concerns. However, before us there is a great deal of work
and the responsible conclusive stage of the flight — landing. /54
We began to gather the exposed cassettes with photographic and movie film,
spectrograph film, magnetic tape cassettes, capsules containing seeds, instru-
ments, and equipment — in a word all that must be returned to the Earth.
And now we are in the prelanding orbit. Following the next passage of the
spacecraft into the daytime side of the Earth we will turn it about in such a
way as to locate the engine along the direction of motion (for creating
 braking impulse). We observe our final space sunrise and once again emerge
on the daytime side of the Earth. We check the correctness of the spacecraft
orientation. The Earth flies into the visor screen — we are over the Atlantic
Ocean, in the region of South Africa. At the assigned time the landing engine
is turned on. We hear the characteristic hissing, similar to the sound of an
operating Primus [Translator's note' Primus is a make of portable Swedish
stove utilizing bottled gas]. And immediately we begin to sense a hardly
noticeable but very welcome g-force.

Preparing to separate the launching apparatus from the instrument-aggregate

and orbital sections, we are more closely pushed down into the seats, and we
strain against the seat belts. A sharp jolt and then through the windows we
can see the separated sections. The instrument panel blinks with the "separ-
ation" light and the automatic landing system cuts in.
One can clearly hear the valves of the engines of the launch control
system working. Down below past the deserts and oases of Africa and finally
the Black Sea. We are over our own territory. Home!

With a further descent the spacecraft begins to vibrate, but the trembling
like I experienced aboard the "Vostok-3" is not sensed by us. A yellow
fluorescence passed by the window and gradually changes to an orange hue.
Near by broken bits of some material fly by in a fashion similar to tracer
bullets. A barely noticeable flame appears.
Proportional to entry into the dense layers of the atmosphere, the
velocity of the landing apparatus gradually decreases to a sonic velocity. We
hear a high pitched whistle which gradually increases, changing into a howl
and a rumble. The g-forces grow and grow, but do not reach high magnitudes.
I estimate the g-forces to be 4 g's. Later it was established that they did
not even reach this magnitude.

The top of the parachute container flew off. Flight g-forces were
experienced during the opening of the drag parachute, the braking parachute
and the basic parachute. The spacecraft, swaying gently, hangs in the air.
At the command of the automatic control device, the funnel heat screen is blown
away and the force is equally absorbed by the shock absorbers of the cabin
seats.
7
 The breathing valve is open. The sensation is that cabin became filled
with vapor, however, one immediately senses the aroma of the fresh Kazakhstan
air. We pass through a layer of clouds and see an aircraft circling not far
away with a helicopter of the search group. And finally, we make contact with
the Earth. The spacecraft, tilted a little, comes to rest in a freshly plowed
field of a state farm. Hello, Earth!

I would like more quickly to leap out and rush up to those greeting us,
however the after-effects of the long flight do not immediately permit one to
realize his own strength. It is difficult to rise from the seat: the body is
as heavy as lead, the legs are like cotton. Somehow it is very exasperating
to perceive the terrestrial gravity.

Having arisen with difficulty, I-feel how rapidly my heart is pounding,

the blood running away from the head, and a gray shroud appears before the eyes,
I sit back down in the chair and it becomes easier to endure. However I have
to shoot the communications radio antenna away from the spacecraft. Sticking
the upper part of my body out of the cabin I ask everyone to step away from
the spacecraft.

Through the hatch I pass the space "baggage" to those who have come to
greet us. All of the objects seem very heavy. It is difficult to lift the
spacecraft log book in one hand. Vitaliy drops the helmet he has in his hand.
We are helped out of the spacecraft by our comrades.

It seems that weightlessness is quite a severe thing. The medical examin-

ation showed that during the flight I lost about 3 kg, Vitaliy — nearly 4, and
not only as the result of dehydration of the organism, but also as the result
of the deterioration of muscle and fat tissue. Moreover, a number of other
changes in the organism were noted.

Three years have past since our flight aboard "Soyuz-9." During this time
astronautics has advanced quite far. The "Salyut" orbital stations have been
created which permit one to conduct long-term and varied investigations in
near-Earth orbits. "Soyuz" has been converted into a transport spacecraft
called upon to deliver crews aboard the orbital station.
 In technology the next qualitative leap forward has been made, but the
problem of weightlessness continues firmly to be studied by scientists.

The primary result of our flight consists in the fact that in practice
it was shown possible for man to successfully live not only for days, but for
weeks to live and work in outer space. But today this is already inadequate.
Science in the national economy has placed to the fore ever new and complex
tasks which require a longer stay in orbit. In the final analysis the essence
of matters pertains to the fact that man could work in space as much as is
necessary for the solution of assigned tasks.

Translated for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Contract
No. NASw-2485 by Techtran Corporation, P.O. Box 729, Glen Burnie, Maryland,
2T061; translator: Samuel D. Blalock, Jr.
 TV) Q>
W <£-
STANDARD TITLE PAGE

1. Report No. 2 Government Accession No 3 Recipient's Catalog No

TT F-15.076
4 Title and Subtitle 5 Report Dot*
September 1973
THE SECOND ORBITAL FLIGHT 6. Performing Orgoniiotion Code

7 Aufhor(s) 8. Performing Organnation Report No.

A. Nikolayev
10 Work Unit No

11 Controct or Grant No.

9 Performing Organization Name and Address NASw-2485
Techtran Corporation 13. Type of Report and Period Covered
P.O. Box 645, Silver Spring, Md. 20901
Translation
12 Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 14 Sponsoring Agency Code
Washington, D.C. 20546
IS Supplementary Notes

16 Abstract

The author writes in the popular vein about his two space
flights, with emphasis on physical monitoring and aftereffects
of the flights.

17. Key Words (selecttd by Autlior(f)) 18. Distribution Statement

Unclassified-Unlimited

19. Security Clossif. (of this report) 20. Security Clossif. (of thif page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price

Unclassified Unclassified 3

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