MOSCOW: The Soviet Union today [Oct 26] successfully launched a manned spaceship, “Soyuz 3”. The spaceship, piloted by Col Georgi Beregovoi, had been placed in orbit by a powerful launcher rocket, “Tass” news agency reported.

Radio contact with the spaceship had been established and Col Beregovoi reported that all equipment abroad was functioning normally. “Tass” said the spaceship “was launched on an orbit with the following parameters: period of revolution around the earth 88.6 minutes; the maximum distance from the earth’s surface (apogee) 225 kilometres; and the minimum distance from the earth’s surface (perigee) 205 kilometres.” The launching at 11.30 a.m. (Moscow time) took place almost exactly 18 months after the death of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov aboard “Soyuz 1” in April 1967.

“Soyuz 3” approached another ship, “Soyuz 2”, launched yesterday. Observers had earlier speculated that the missing Soyuz series spaceship might be involved in a space link-up attempt. The “Tass” announcement said: “During the first revolution around the earth, pilot cosmonaut of “Soyuz 3” Georgi Beregovoi approached the unmanned ship “Soyuz 2”, which had been put on a near terrestrial orbit on Oct 25 for joint experiments with the piloted ship “Soyuz 3”.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2018

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