Mission type Optical imaging SATCAT no. 1362 | COSPAR ID 1965-035A Mission duration 8 days Launch date 7 May 1965 | |
Launch mass 4,730.0 kilograms (10,427.9 lb) Manufacturer S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia People also search for Kosmos 64, Kosmos 52, Kosmos 98 | ||
Kosmos 66 (Russian: Космос 66 meaning Cosmos 66) or Zenit-2 No.27 was a Soviet optical film-return reconnaissance satellite launched in 1965. A Zenit-2 spacecraft, Kosmos 66 was the twenty-seventh of eighty-one such satellites to be launched and had a mass of 4,730.0 kilograms (10,427.9 lb).
Kosmos 66 was launched by a Vostok-2 rocket, serial number R15002-04, flying from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 09:50 UTC on 7 May 1965, and following its successful arrival in orbit the spacecraft received its Kosmos designation; along with the International Designator 1965-035A and the Satellite Catalog Number 1362.
Kosmos 66 was operated in a low Earth orbit; at an epoch of 9 May 1965 it had a perigee of 200 kilometres (120 mi), an apogee of 278 kilometres (173 mi) inclination of 65 degrees and an orbital period of 89.28 minutes. On 15 May 1965, after eight days in orbit, the satellite was deorbited so that its return capsule could be recovered and its photos analysed, however the capsule was lost after its parachute failed to deploy.