| Mission type | Test flight |
|---|---|
| Operator | Experimental Design Bureau (OKB-1) |
| COSPAR ID | 1968-093A |
| SATCATno. | 03511 |
| Mission duration | 3 days |
| Orbits completed | 48 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz 7K-OK No.11 |
| Spacecraft type | Soyuz 7K-OK (passive) |
| Manufacturer | Experimental Design Bureau (OKB-1) |
| Launch mass | 6,520 kg (14,370 lb)[1] |
| Landing mass | 2,800 kg (6,200 lb) |
| Dimensions | 7.13 m (23.4 ft) long 2.72 m (8 ft 11 in) wide |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 25 October 1968, 09:00GMT |
| Rocket | Soyuz |
| Launch site | Baikonur,Site 1/5[2] |
| Contractor | Experimental Design Bureau (OKB-1) |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 28 October 1968, 07:51 GMT |
| Landing site | Kazakh Steppe,Kazakhstan |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit[3] |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 196.0 km (121.8 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 200.0 km (124.3 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.70° |
| Period | 88.50 minutes |
Soyuz 2 (Russian:Союз 2,Union 2) was an uncrewedspacecraft (capsule number 7K-OK-P No. 11)[4] in theSoyuz family, intended to be the target of a docking maneuver by the crewedSoyuz 3 spacecraft. It was intended to be the first docking of a crewed spacecraft in the Soviet space program. Although the two craft approached closely, the docking did not take place and the first successful Soviet docking of crewed spacecraft took place in the jointSoyuz 4 andSoyuz 5 mission. It served for the radio search and as a target vehicle for docking by the crewed Soyuz 3. Soyuz 2 soft-landed in a predetermined area of theSoviet Union,[1] near the village ofMaiburnak, southwest of the city ofKaraganda.[4]
Conceptual artistJoan Fontcuberta claimed in 1997 that Soyuz 2 was crewed by Ivan Istochnikov and a dog named Kloka, who disappeared on 26 October 1968, with signs of having been hit by a meteorite. According to Fontcuberta, Soviet officials deleted Istochnikov from officialSoviet history to avoid embarrassment; however, the "Sputnik Foundation" discovered Istochnikov's "voice transcriptions, videos, original annotations, some of his personal effects, and photographs taken throughout his lifetime". The exhibition of artifacts (e.g., photographs) related to "Soyuz 2" was shown in many countries, includingSpain,France,Portugal,Italy,Mexico,Japan, and theUnited States.[5][6] Among other reactions to the exhibition, a Russian ambassador "got extremely angry because [Fontcuberta] was insulting the glorious Russian past and threatened to present a diplomatic complaint".
Several lines of evidence available since the first exhibition of "Sputnik" in 1997 inMadrid suggested that the story and artifacts form an elaborate hoax:
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.| Main topics |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Past missions (by spacecraft type) |
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| Current missions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Future missions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Uncrewed missions are designated asKosmos instead ofSoyuz; exceptions are noted "(uncrewed)". The † sign designates failed missions.Italics designates cancelled missions. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch vehicles and ascent/upper stages |  | |
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| Spacecraft | ||
| Other hardware | ||
| Soyuzdocking tests | ||
| Zond (7K-L1/L1S) lunar flyby missions | ||
| LOK (7K-LOK/L1E) test missions | ||
| LK Lander (T2K) test missions | ||
The † sign designates failed missions.Italics designates cancelled missions. | ||
