Vostok (rocket family)
The Vostok rocket was developed by the Soviet Union to as their main launch vehicle for space flights. It was based on the R-7, an ICBM designed by Sergei Korolev and first launched in 1957. An R-7 rocket was used to carry Sputnik 1 into space on October 4, 1957.[1] It was a single rocket with 4 booster engines attached to the sides, which acted like a multi stage rocket. The Vostok was an R-7 with an extra upper stage rocket, called Blok-E. This upper stage would fire as the lower stages ran out of fuel (a mix of kerosene and liquid oxygen.[1]
The Vostok was the first rocket with enough power to reach a solar orbit, with Lunar 1, launched on January 2, 1959.[1] Luna 2 was the first rocket to reach the Moon, launched September 14, 1959.[1] Luna 3, launched October 4, 1959, was able to take photographs of the far side of the Moon.[1]
A Vostok rocket carried the Vostok 1 spacecraft, carrying Yuri Gagarin, the first person to go into space on April 12, 1961.[1] Vostok 6 carried Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space on June 16, 1963.[1]
