Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188

Kosmos 186

A Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft with an active docking unit

Mission type| Uncrewed spacecraft
Operator| OKB-1
COSPAR ID| 1967-105A
SATCAT no.| 3014
Mission duration| 4 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft| Soyuz
Spacecraft type| Soyuz 7K-OK # 6
Manufacturer| OKB-1
Launch mass| 6000 kg[1]
Start of mission
Launch date| 27 October 1967, 09:29:59 GMT
Rocket| Soyuz 11A511
Launch site| Baikonur 31/6
Contractor| OKB-1
End of mission
Landing date| 31 October 1967
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric[2]
Regime| Low Earth
Perigee altitude| 172 km
Apogee altitude| 212 km
Inclination| 51.7°
Period| 88.7 minutes
Epoch| 27 October 1967

Soyuz (spacecraft)

<- Soyuz 1

Kosmos 188 ->

Kosmos (satellites)

<- Kosmos 185

Kosmos 187 ->

Kosmos 188

Mission type| Uncrewed spacecraft
Operator| OKB-1
COSPAR ID| 1967-107A
SATCAT no.| 3020
Mission duration| 3 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft| Soyuz
Spacecraft type| Soyuz 7K-OK # 5
Manufacturer| OKB-1
Launch mass| 6000 kg[3]
Start of mission
Launch date| 30 October 1967, 08:12:41 GMT
Rocket| Soyuz 11A511
Launch site| Baikonur 1/5
Contractor| OKB-1
End of mission
Landing date| 2 November 1967
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric[4]
Regime| Low Earth
Perigee altitude| 180 km
Apogee altitude| 247 km
Inclination| 51.7°
Period| 89.0 minutes
Epoch| 30 October 1967

Kosmos 186/188 stamp (1968)

Soyuz (spacecraft)

<- Kosmos 186

Kosmos 212 ->

Kosmos (satellites)

<- Kosmos 187

Kosmos 189 ->

Kosmos 186 (Russian: Космос-186 meaning Cosmos 186) and Kosmos 188 (Russian: Космос-188 meaning Cosmos 188) were two uncrewed Soviet Union spacecraft that incorporated a Soyuz programme descent module for landing scientific instruments and test objects.[5]

## Contents

* 1 Mission
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## Mission

Because of the lethal outcome of both the Soyuz 1 and the Apollo 1 missions earlier that year it was decided to proceed with unmanned flights first. But because the Soviet Union had no ground stations outside its own territory, this meant the docking had to be fully automated. After the first attempt failed (a fly by at a distance of 900 metres (3,000 ft)), the second attempt succeeded over the South Atlantic. However, this docking was not entirely successful either — the modules were mechanically docked, but not electrically. Also, the manoeuvre had cost more fuel than anticipated.[6]

On 27 October 1967 at 09:29:59 GMT, the Soyuz 11A511 s/n U15000-05 booster and Kosmos 186 were set up at Site 31/6 of Baikonur Cosmodrome and the planned mission could be carried out. Kosmos 186 was operated in a low Earth orbit, it had a perigee of 172 kilometres (107 mi), an apogee of 212 kilometres (132 mi), an inclination of 51.7°, and an orbital period of 88.7 minutes,[2] and had a mass of 6,000 kilograms (13,000 lb).[1]

On 30 October 1967 at 08:12:41 GMT, the Soyuz 11A511 s/n N15000-07 booster and Kosmos 188 were set up at Site 1/5 of Baikonur Cosmodrome and the planned mission could be carried out. Kosmos 188 was operated in a low Earth orbit, it had a perigee of 180 kilometres (110 mi), an apogee of 247 kilometres (153 mi), an inclination of 51.7°, and an orbital period of 89.0 minutes,[4] and had a mass of 6,000 kilograms (13,000 lb).[3]

The first automatic docking in space. Soviet Union stamp, 1968.

The two Soviet spacecraft made the first fully automated space docking in the history of space exploration on 30 October 1967. Mutual search, approach, mooring, and docking were automatically performed by the IGLA-system onboard Kosmos 186. After 3.5 hours of joint flight, the satellites parted on a command sent from the Earth and continued to orbit separately. Officially, both made a soft landing in a predetermined region of the Soviet Union — Kosmos 186 on 31 October 1967 and Kosmos 188 on 2 November 1967. But according to Boris Chertok, "one of the vehicles was destroyed by the emergency destruction system". (See B.Chertok, Rockets and People, Vol.IV, Chapter 8, page 156)

Kosmos 186 (Soyuz 7K-OK No.6) launched first on 27 October 1967 and underwent a meticulous on-orbit checkout, followed by Kosmos 188 three days later. With Kosmos 186 taking the active role in the docking, the two craft docked just 62 minutes after the launch of Kosmos 188 (Soyuz 7K-OK No.5), the passive target spacecraft. The two craft remained mechanically docked for three and a half hours, although an electrical connection could not be made. The descent module of Kosmos 186 was successfully recovered in the Soviet Union on 31 October 1967, but the accidental firing of the self-destruct mechanism of Kosmos 188 during the descent prevented its recovery on 2 November 1967. Despite the anomalies, the automatic docking mission demonstrated a new capability for the Soviet Union that proved valuable to their future human space flight programs. Although the Soviet lunar landing programme was cancelled before an actual landing mission, automatic dockings were an integral component of their Salyut and Mir space station programs and remain in practice today on the Russian segment of the International Space Station.[7]

This mission proved it possible to launch smaller parts and assemble them in space, thus eliminating the need for exceedingly large rockets for larger undertakings like a space station.[8]

## See also

* SPADEX
* ETS-VII
* Orbital Express

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Cosmos 186: Display 1966-105A". NASA. 27 February 2020. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-105A. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Cosmos 186: Trajectory 1967-105A". NASA. 27 February 2020. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayTrajectory.action?id=1967-105A.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Cosmos 188: Display 1966-107A". NASA. 27 February 2020. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-107A. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Cosmos 188: Trajectory 1967-107A". NASA. 27 February 2020. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayTrajectory.action?id=1967-107A.
5. ↑ russianspaceweb.com, kosmos-186-188
6. ↑ Radio observations of Kosmos-186/188, the first automatic docking, Sven Grahn
7. ↑ NASA 50 Years Ago: The First Automatic Docking in Space, 18 April 2020 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
8. ↑ NASA 50 Years Ago: The First Automatic Docking in Space, 19 October 2017 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

## External links

* yourtube Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188

* v
* t
* e

Soyuz human spaceflight programme

* List of Soyuz missions
* List of Soviet human spaceflight missions
* List of Russian human spaceflight missions

Main topics|

* Soyuz (rocket family)
* Soyuz (spacecraft)
* Baikonur Cosmodrome
* Site 1/5
* Site 31/6
* Soyuz abort modes
* Cosmonaut ranks and positions

Past missions
(by spacecraft type)|

| Soyuz 7K-OK (1966–1970)|

* Kosmos 133†
* Soyuz 7K-OK No.1† (uncrewed)
* Kosmos 140
* Soyuz 1†
* Kosmos 186
* 188
* 212
* 213
* 238
* Soyuz 2 (uncrewed)
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9

|

Soyuz 7K-L1 (1967–1970)
(Zond lunar programme)|

* Kosmos 146
* 154†
* Zond 1967A†
* 1967B†
* Zond 4
* 1968A†
* 1968B†
* 5
* 6
* 1969A†
* Zond-M 1†
* M 2†
* Zond 7
* 8
* 9
* 10

Soyuz 7K-L1E (1969–1970)|

* Soyuz 7K-L1E No.1†
* Kosmos 382

Soyuz 7K-LOK (1971–1972)|

* Soyuz 7K-LOK No.1†
* No.2†

Soyuz 7K-OKS (1971)|

* Soyuz 10†
* 11†

Soyuz 7K-T (1972–1981)|

* Kosmos 496
* 573
* Soyuz 12
* Kosmos 613
* Soyuz 13
* Kosmos 656
* Soyuz 14
* 15†
* 17
* 18a†
* 18
* 20 (uncrewed)
* 21
* 23†
* 24
* 25†
* 26
* 27
* 28
* 29
* 30
* 31
* 32 (uncrewed landing)
* 33†
* 34 (uncrewed launch)
* 35
* 36
* 37
* 38
* 39
* 40

Soyuz 7K-TM (1974–1976)|

* Kosmos 638
* 672
* Soyuz 16
* 19 (Apollo–Soyuz Test Project)
* 22

Soyuz 7K-S (1974–1976)|

* Kosmos 670
* 772†
* 869†

Soyuz-T (1978–1986)|

* Kosmos 1001†
* 1074
* Soyuz T-1 (uncrewed)
* T-2
* T-3
* T-4
* T-5
* T-6
* T-7
* T-8†
* T-9
* T-10a†
* T-10
* T-11
* T-12
* T-13
* T-14
* T-15

Soyuz-TM (1986–2002)|

* Soyuz TM-1 (uncrewed)
* TM-2
* TM-3
* TM-4
* TM-5
* TM-6
* TM-7
* TM-8
* TM-9
* TM-10
* TM-11
* TM-12
* TM-13
* TM-14
* TM-15
* TM-16
* TM-17
* TM-18
* TM-19
* TM-20
* TM-21
* TM-22
* TM-23
* TM-24
* TM-25
* TM-26
* TM-27
* TM-28
* TM-29
* TM-30
* TM-31
* TM-32
* TM-33
* TM-34

Soyuz-TMA (2002–2012)|

* Soyuz TMA-1
* TMA-2
* TMA-3
* TMA-4
* TMA-5
* TMA-6
* TMA-7
* TMA-8
* TMA-9
* TMA-10
* TMA-11
* TMA-12
* TMA-13
* TMA-14
* TMA-15
* TMA-16
* TMA-17
* TMA-18
* TMA-19
* TMA-20
* TMA-21
* TMA-22

Soyuz-TMA-M (2010–2016)|

* Soyuz TMA-01M
* TMA-02M
* TMA-03M
* TMA-04M
* TMA-05M
* TMA-06M
* TMA-07M
* TMA-08M
* TMA-09M
* TMA-10M
* TMA-11M
* TMA-12M
* TMA-13M
* TMA-14M
* TMA-15M
* TMA-16M
* TMA-17M
* TMA-18M
* TMA-19M
* TMA-20M

Soyuz MS (2016–present)|

* Soyuz MS-01
* MS-02
* MS-03
* MS-04
* MS-05
* MS-06
* MS-07
* MS-08
* MS-09
* MS-10†
* MS-11
* MS-12
* MS-14 (uncrewed test flight)

Current missions|

* Soyuz MS-13
* MS-15

Future missions|

* 2020
* Soyuz MS-16
* MS-17

Uncrewed missions are designated as Kosmos instead of Soyuz; exceptions are noted "(uncrewed)".
The † sign designates failed missions. Italics designates cancelled missions.

* v
* t
* e

Orbital launches in 1967

Intelsat II F-2 | OPS 1664 | IDCSP 9 * IDCSP 10 * IDCSP 11 * IDCSP 12 * IDCSP 13 * IDCSP 14 * IDCSP 15 * IDCSP 16 | Kosmos 138 | Kosmos 139 | ESSA-4 | OV3-5 | OPS 4399 | Lunar Orbiter 3 | Kosmos 140 | OPS 6073 | Diadème 1 | Kosmos 141 | Kosmos 142 | Diadème 2 | OPS 4750 | OPS 4204 | Kosmos 143 | Kosmos 144 | Kosmos 145 | OSO 3 | Kosmos 146 | Kosmos 147 | Kosmos 148 | Kosmos 149 | Kosmos 150 * OGCh No.8 | Intelsat II F-3 | Kosmos 151 | Kosmos 152 | OPS 4779 | Kosmos 153 | ATS-2 * RPM-481 | Kosmos 154 | Kosmos 155 | Unnamed | OPS 0100 | Surveyor 3 | ESSA-5 | Soyuz 1 | San Marco 2 | OPS 4243 | Kosmos 156 | OPS 6638 * OPS 6679 * ERS-18 * ERS-20 * ERS-27 | Lunar Orbiter 4 | Ariel 3 | OPS 4696 * OPS 1967 | Kosmos 157 | Kosmos 158 | Kosmos 159 | Kosmos 160 | OPS 7218 | Kosmos 161 | OPS 4321 * OPS 5557 | Explorer 34 | Molniya-1 No.8 | ESRO-2A | NRL PL-151 * NRL PL-152 * NRL PL-153 * NRL PL-154 * NRL-PL 159 * Timation 1 * Calsphere 3 * Calsphere 4 * OPS 5712 | Kosmos 162 | OPS 4360 | Kosmos 163 | Kosmos 164 | Venera 4 | Kosmos 165 | Mariner 5 | Kosmos 166 | OPS 3559 * OPS 1873 | Kosmos 167 | Zenit-4 No.32 | OPS 4286 | Unnamed | SECOR-9 * Aurora | IDCSP 16 * IDCSP 17 * IDCSP 18 * IDCSP 19 * LES-5 * DODGE | Kosmos 168 | Surveyor 4 | Kosmos 169 | Explorer 35 | Zenit-4 No.33 | OPS 1879 | OV1-11 * OV1-12 * OV1-86 | OGO-4 | Kosmos 170 | Lunar Orbiter 5 | OPS 4827 | Kosmos 171 | Kosmos 172 | OPS 4886 | OPS 7202 | Kosmos 173 | Kosmos 174 | Zenit-2 No.51 | Biosatellite 2 | Surveyor 5 | Kosmos 175 | Kosmos 176 | OPS 5089 | Kosmos 177 | Kosmos 178 | OPS 4941 | Kosmos 179 | OPS 4947 | Kosmos 180 | Unnamed | 7K-L1 No.4L | Intelsat II F-4 | Molniya-1 No.9 | OPS 1264 | Kosmos 181 | Kosmos 182 | Kosmos 183 | OSO 4 | Molniya-1 No.12 | Kosmos 184 | OPS 4995 | Kosmos 185 | Kosmos 186 | Kosmos 187 | Kosmos 188 | Kosmos 189 | OPS 0562 * OPS 1587 | Kosmos 190 | ATS-3 | Surveyor 6 | Apollo 4 | ESSA-6 | Kosmos 191 | 7K-L1 No.5L | Kosmos 192 | Kosmos 193 | WRESAT | Kosmos 194 | OV3-6 | OPS 5000 | OPS 1001 | Pioneer 8 * ERS-30 | Kosmos 195 | Kosmos 196 | Kosmos 197 | Kosmos 198

Payloads are separated by bullets ( * ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets.

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