Editing Vostok programme (section)

===Vostok 3KA===
{{see also|Korabl-Sputnik 4|Korabl-Sputnik 5}}
The two uncrewed missions immediately preceding the first human flight used the same spacecraft design as in the crewed missions, a design called ''Vostok 3KA'' (or ''3A''). The only differences were that they would carry a single dog into orbit, a life-size [[mannequin]] would be strapped into the main ejection seat, and (unlike the crewed missions) they had a self-destruct system.<ref name=p264>Siddiqi, p. 264</ref> The recent failures of Vostok 1K were not encouraging, but it was decided to proceed with launches of an automated variant of ''Vostok 3KA'', the spacecraft design that would conduct a human spaceflight. The approval of a crewed mission was contingent upon the success of the two automated ''Vostok 3KA'' missions.<ref>Siddiqi, p. 260</ref> Unlike the previous ''Vostok 1K'' flights, the two uncrewed ''Vostok 3KA'' flights were planned to last only a single orbit, to imitate the plan for the first human flight.

The first of these uncrewed flights, [[Korabl-Sputnik 4]], was launched on March 9, 1961. It carried the dog [[Soviet space dogs#Chernushka|Chernushka]] into orbit, as well as a mannequin called [[Ivan Ivanovich (Vostok programme)|Ivan Ivanovich]], who wore a functioning [[SK-1 spacesuit]].<ref name=p265>Siddiqi, p. 265</ref> The dog was contained in a small pressurized sphere, which also contained 80 mice, several [[guinea pig]]s, and other biological specimens.<ref name=p265/> Additional mice, guinea pigs, and other specimens were placed within the mannequin.<ref name=p265/> After one orbit, the descent module successfully re-entered the atmosphere, the mannequin was safely ejected, and the dog and other specimens landed separately in the descent module by parachute.<ref name=p266>Siddiqi, p. 266</ref> The spaceflight lasted 106 minutes, and the dog was recovered alive after landing. The mission was a complete success.<ref name=p266/>

On March 23, before the next mission, an accident occurred during training which led to the death of cosmonaut candidate [[Valentin Bondarenko]]. He was burned in a fire in an oxygen-rich isolation chamber, and died in a hospital eight hours after the incident.<ref name=p266/> Bondarenko's death was the first known cosmonaut or astronaut fatality. It is not clear whether other cosmonauts were told of his death immediately;<ref name=p266/> the media did not learn of Bondarenko's death – or even of his existence – until many years later, in 1986.<ref>Burgess and Hall, p. 130</ref> Unsubstantiated reports of other cosmonaut deaths created the myth of the [[lost cosmonauts|lost cosmonaut]].

{{quote box|align=right|width=33%|quote=''Vostok 3KA-2'' was the key in the door for Gagarin's flight|author=[[James Oberg]], spaceflight historian<ref>Quoted in Burgess and Hall, p. 138</ref>}}
The next uncrewed flight, [[Korabl-Sputnik 5]], was launched on March 25, two days after Bondarenko's death. Like the previous ''Vostok 3KA'' flight, it lasted for only a single orbit, carried a mannequin and many animals, which included frogs, plants, mice, rats, and a dog, [[Soviet space dogs#Zvyozdochka|Zvezdochka]] ("Starlet",<ref name=p267>Siddiqi, p267</ref> or "Little star"<ref name=KS5>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1961-009A|title=Sputnik 10 - NSSDC ID: 1961-009A|publisher=NASA}}</ref>). This mission was also a complete success, which was the final step required to get approval for a crewed mission. The re-entry module of the Korabl-Sputnik 5 spacecraft, also called ''Vostok 3KA-2'', was auctioned at [[Sotheby's]] on April 12, 2011, the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight, [[Vostok 1]]. Evgeny Yurchenko, a Russian investment banker, paid $2,882,500 for the capsule.<ref name=sothebys>{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/11377-soviet-space-capsule-sothebys-auction.html|title=Vintage Soviet Space Capsule Sold for Record $2.9 Million|date=13 April 2013|author=Tariq Malik|website=[[Space.com]]}}</ref>