1967-009A
The third test flight, 7K-OK No. 3, reached orbit safely and was named Kosmos-140. The orbit was lower than planned and the satellite couldn't turn its solar panels to the sun. After launch, an experiment began with a liquid helium cryostat. The cryostat temperature was reduced to 5.2 Kelvin. At around six hours after launch, the spacecraft was spun up to test the creation of artificial gravity; the cryostat warmed up at this point and three hours later the temperature was above sensor range.
Kosmos-140 remained in orbit for another day and a half; the spacecraft was commanded to return because of the failure to achieve solar orientation. Retrofire was successful on rev 33 and the orbital module and service module separated from the descent module, but during reentry the heatshield partially failed and the cabin depressurized. The spacecraft did survive reentry, but landed on the ice-covered Aral Sea. Five hours after landing, according to Kamanin's diaries, it sank because of the small hole in the heat shield. It was recovered after 48 hr.
| Kosmos-140 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 Feb 7 | 0320:00 | Launch by Soyuz 11A511 | KB |
| 0325 | Blok-I burn | ||
| 0329 | Blok-I cutoff, orbit insertion | ||
| 0329 | Blok-I sep | 157 x 229 x 51.69 | |
| 0700? | He cryostat down to 5.2K | ||
| 0930? | Rev 5 orbit raise | ||
| 0930? | Spacecraft spinup | 171 x 235 x 51.68 | |
| 1230? | Cryostat field off | ||
| 1967 Feb 8 | 0930? | 166 x 218 x 51.65 | |
| 1200? | 58s KTDU-35 burn | 220 x 310 x 51.7 | |
| 1967 Feb 9 | 0215? | Retrofire | |
| 0230? | PAO, BO sep | ||
| 0236? | Reentry, partial heatshield failure | ||
| 0253 | Landed in Aral Sea | ||
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