09 March - Sputnik 9 launch

 

Korabl-Sputnik 4 or Vostok-3KA No.1, also known as Sputnik 9 in the West,was a Soviet spacecraft which was launched on 9 March 1961. Carrying the mannequin Ivan Ivanovich, a dog named Chernushka, some mice and the first guinea pig in space, 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.