Mission type Biological
Technology SATCAT no. 91 Spacecraft type Vostok-3KA Period 1.5 hours Inclination 64.93° Launch date 9 March 1961 Launch site Baikonur Cosmodrome | Harvard designation 1961 Theta 1 Mission duration 1 hour, 41 minutes Manufacturer OKB-1 Apogee 239,000 m Date 9 March 1961 Landing date 9 March 1961 | |
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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 spacecraft which was launched in 1961. Carrying the mannequin Ivan Ivanovich, a dog named Chernushka, some mice and a guinea pig, 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 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was successfully placed into low Earth orbit. 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, and descended separately under its own parachute.