Korabl-Sputnik 4
(russian: Корабль-Спутник 4 meaning ''Ship-Satellite 4'') or Vostok-3KA No.1, also known as Sputnik 9 in the West,
was a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
spacecraft which was launched on 9 March 1961. Carrying the
mannequin
A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. P ...
Ivan Ivanovich, a
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
named
Chernushka, some
mice and the first
guinea pig
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...
in space, it was a test flight of the Vostok spacecraft.
Korabl-Sputnik 4 was launched at 06:29:00 UTC on 9 March 1961, atop a
Vostok-K
The Vostok-K (russian: Восток meaning ''"East"''), GRAU index 8K72K was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union for thirteen launches between 1960 and 1964, six of which were manned. It was derived from the earlier Vostok-L ...
carrier rocket flying from
Site 1/5 at the
Baikonur Cosmodrome.
It was successfully placed into
low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...
. The spacecraft was only intended to complete a single orbit, so it was deorbited shortly after launch, and reentered on its first pass over the Soviet Union. It landed at 08:09:54 UTC, and was successfully recovered. During the descent, the mannequin was ejected from the spacecraft in a test of its
ejection seat
In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rock ...
, and descended separately under its own parachute.
References
{{Orbital launches in 1961
Vostok program
Spacecraft launched in 1961
1961 in the Soviet Union
Spacecraft which reentered in 1961
March 1961 events