Ivan Ivanovich (Иван Иванович, the Russian equivalent of "John Doe") was the name given to amannequin used intesting the SovietVostok spacecraft in preparation for itscrewed missions.[1]
Ivan Ivanovich was made to look as lifelike as possible, with eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, and a mouth. He was dressed in acosmonautsuit andstrongly resembled a dead person; for this reason, asign reading "МАКЕТ" (Russian for "dummy") was placed under his visor so that anyone who found him after his missions would not think he was a corpse or analien.[2]
Ivan firstflew intospace onKorabl-Sputnik 4 on 9 March 1961, accompanied by a dog namedChernushka, various reptiles, and 80 mice and guinea pigs, some of which were placed inside his body. To test the spacecraft'scommunication systems, an automatic recording of a choir was placed in Ivan's body – this way, any radio stations who heard the recording would understand it was not a real person. Ivan was also used to test the landing system upon return to Earth, when he was successfullyejected from thecapsule and parachuted to the ground.
His second space flight,Korabl-Sputnik 5, on 26 March 1961, was similar – he was again accompanied by a dog,Zvyozdochka, and other animals, which include guinea pigs, frogs, monkeys, mice, rats, and flies. He had a recording of a choir (and also a recipe forbeetroot soup) inside him, and he safely returned to Earth. These flights paved the way forVostok 1, the firstcrewed flight into space on 12 April 1961.
In 1993, Ivan was auctioned atSotheby's, with the winning bid coming from a foundation belonging to US businessmanRoss Perot. He fetched $189,500.[3] Since 1997, he has been on loan to theNational Air and Space Museum, where he was on display, still in his spacesuit, until 2017 when he was moved back into the private collection of Ross Perot.
In 2006, the name Ivan Ivanovich was used as a nickname forSuitSat-1, asatellite made from a disused spacesuit, ejected from theInternational Space Station.
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