Titov's Day in Orbit

The words

1. Alarm Clock

   Engineer Boris Chertok recalled being assigned to develop specifications for a space alarm clock after Titov overslept. The episode exposed a practical problem in planning rest periods.

   pp. 192–193 · Chertok: the space alarm-clock assignment (opens a new tab)

2. Backup Pilot

   Titov had been Gagarin’s backup for Vostok 1. He moved from preparing for the first human mission to flying the second Soviet orbital flight.

   Zak: Titov’s flight and radio contacts (opens a new tab)

3. Berlin Wall

   Siddiqi links Titov’s launch deadline to Khrushchev’s Berlin plans. East Germany began sealing the border on August 13, 1961; people were later killed attempting to cross.

   Siddiqi: Titov’s flight and its context (opens a new tab) · Berlin Wall Foundation: border and victims (opens a new tab)

4. Black Currant

   Titov had little appetite during Vostok 2. He drank black-currant juice from a tube as he struggled with nausea during the extended flight.

   Zak: Titov’s flight and radio contacts (opens a new tab)

5. Globus

   Vostok’s Globus instrument used a rotating globe to display predicted position over Earth. Ground stations supplied the orbital information represented by the globe.

   p. 17, Guidance and Navigation Equipment · U.S. assessment: the Globus display (opens a new tab)

6. Khabarovsk

   Titov spoke with a ground station at Khabarovsk in the Soviet Far East. Contact depended on where Vostok 2 was along its orbit.

   Zak: Titov’s flight and radio contacts (opens a new tab)

7. Krasny Kut

   Titov returned near Krasny Kut in the Saratov region on August 7, 1961. He left the descending capsule and landed separately under a parachute.

   p. 294 · Siddiqi: Titov’s flight and its context (opens a new tab)

8. Movie Camera

   Titov filmed Earth’s horizon from Vostok 2 with a Konvas movie camera, recording views near the transitions between daylight and darkness.

   Did you know?

   The camera’s exposure meter malfunctioned, but Titov still recorded the horizon. His film was later released in the Soviet media.

   p. 294 · Siddiqi: Titov’s flight and its context (opens a new tab)

9. Orientation

   The direction a spacecraft faces.

   Titov tested manual orientation during Vostok 2. Mission planners wanted to know whether a cosmonaut could work the spacecraft’s controls during a prolonged stay in weightlessness.

   pp. 292–293 · Siddiqi: Titov’s flight and its context (opens a new tab)

10. Oryol

    Russian for eagle, also written Orel.

    Titov used Oryol as his radio call sign aboard Vostok 2. It identified him during communications with the ground stations following his orbital flight.

    Zak: Titov’s flight and radio contacts (opens a new tab)

11. Overslept

    Titov woke about 35 minutes after the scheduled end of his sleep period. His Vostok 2 flight showed that a person could oversleep in orbit.

    Zak: Titov’s flight and radio contacts (opens a new tab)

12. Space Sickness

    Titov experienced nausea, disorientation and loss of appetite during Vostok 2. Doctors discussed his symptoms after the flight as they considered the problems of longer missions.

    pp. 292–295 · Siddiqi: Titov’s flight and its context (opens a new tab)

13. Titov

    Gherman Titov flew Vostok 2 for more than a day in August 1961. In May 1962, he met John Glenn and President Kennedy in Washington.

    Did you know?

    John and Annie Glenn hosted Titov and his wife Tamara in Washington. Their sightseeing included the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol.

    NASA: Glenn and Titov in Washington (opens a new tab)

14. Vostok Two

    In August 1961, Vostok 2 carried Titov for more than a day, studying the effects of prolonged weightlessness. The flight greatly extended Gagarin’s single orbit.

    Smithsonian: Vostok 2’s day-long study (opens a new tab)

15. Weightless

    The apparent absence of weight during free fall.

    Titov’s day in orbit let researchers study the human body during a longer period of weightlessness than Gagarin’s mission. Vostok 2 therefore extended the medical evidence from spaceflight.

    Smithsonian: Vostok 2’s day-long study (opens a new tab) · NASA: why people float in orbit (opens a new tab)