View source for Soyuz 2

{{Short description|Soviet uncrewed flight of the Soyuz programme}}
{{About|a 1968 test flight|the carrier rocket|Soyuz-2|the mission identified by NASA as ISS Soyuz 2|Soyuz TM-32}}
{{Distinguish|Soyuz T-2|Soyuz TM-2|Soyuz TMA-2|Soyuz TMA-02M|Soyuz MS-02}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name              = Soyuz 2
| image             = 
| image_caption     = 
| image_size        = 300px

| mission_type      = [[Flight test|Test flight]]
| operator          = [[Experimental Design Bureau]] (OKB-1)
| COSPAR_ID         = 1968-093A
| SATCAT            = 03511
| mission_duration  = 3 days
| orbits_completed  = 48

| spacecraft        = Soyuz 7K-OK No.11
| spacecraft_type   = [[Soyuz 7K-OK]] (passive)
| manufacturer      = [[Experimental Design Bureau]] (OKB-1)
| launch_mass       = {{cvt|6520|kg}} <ref name="Display"/>
| landing_mass      = {{cvt|2800|kg}}
| dimensions        = {{cvt|7.13|m}} long<br/>{{cvt|2.72|m}} wide

| launch_date       = 25 October 1968, 09:00 [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]]
| launch_rocket     = [[Soyuz (rocket)|Soyuz]]
| launch_site       = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]], [[Gagarin's Start|Site 1/5]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/sites/baiurlc1.htm|title=Baikonur LC1|access-date=2009-03-04 |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415160730/http://www.astronautix.com/sites/baiurlc1.htm|archive-date=2009-04-15}}</ref>
| launch_contractor = [[Experimental Design Bureau]]<br/>(OKB-1)

| landing_date      = 28 October 1968, 07:51 GMT
| landing_site      = [[Kazakh Steppe]], [[Kazakhstan]]

| orbit_reference   = [[Geocentric orbit]]<ref name="Trajectory"/>
| orbit_regime      = [[Low Earth orbit]]
| orbit_periapsis   = {{cvt|196.0|km}}
| orbit_apoapsis    = {{cvt|200.0|km}}
| orbit_inclination = 51.70°
| orbit_period      = 88.50 minutes
| apsis             = gee

| insignia          = 
| insignia_caption  = 
| insignia_size     = 200px

| programme         = [[Soyuz programme]]
| previous_mission  = [[Soyuz 1]]
| next_mission      = [[Soyuz 3]]
}}

'''Soyuz 2''' ({{langx|ru|Союз 2}}, '''Union 2''') was an uncrewed [[spacecraft]] (capsule number 7K-OK-P No. 11)<ref name="rsw">[https://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz2-landing.html Soyuz-2 completes its mission] ''www.russianspaceweb.com'', accessed 27 December 2922</ref> in the [[Soyuz spacecraft|Soyuz]] family, intended to be the target of a docking maneuver by the crewed [[Soyuz 3]] spacecraft. It was intended to be the first docking of a crewed spacecraft in the Soviet space program. Although the two craft approached closely, the docking did not take place and the first successful Soviet docking of crewed spacecraft took place in the joint [[Soyuz 4]] and [[Soyuz 5]] mission. It served for the radio search and as a target vehicle for docking by the crewed Soyuz 3. Soyuz 2 soft-landed in a predetermined area of the [[Soviet Union]],<ref name="Display">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1968-093A|title=Display: Soyuz 2 1968-093A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=5 October 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> near the village of [[Maiburnak]], southwest of the city of [[Karaganda]].<ref name="rsw"/> 

== Mission parameters ==
* '''Mass:''' {{cvt|6520|kg}} <ref name="Display"/>
* '''Perigee:''' {{cvt|196.0|km}} <ref name="Trajectory">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayTrajectory.action?id=1968-093A|title=Trajectory: Soyuz 2 1968-093A|publisher=NASA |date=14 May 2020|access-date=17 October 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* '''Apogee:''' {{cvt|200.0|km}}
* '''Inclination:''' 51.65°
* '''Period:''' 88.50 minutes

== "Crew" hoax ==
[[Conceptual artist]] [[Joan Fontcuberta]] claimed in 1997 that Soyuz 2 was crewed by Ivan Istochnikov and a dog named Kloka, who disappeared on 26 October 1968, with signs of having been hit by a meteorite. According to Fontcuberta, Soviet officials deleted Istochnikov from official [[History of the Soviet Union|Soviet history]] to avoid embarrassment; however, the "Sputnik Foundation" discovered Istochnikov's "voice transcriptions, videos, original annotations, some of his personal effects, and photographs taken throughout his lifetime". The exhibition of artifacts (e.g., photographs) related to "Soyuz 2" was shown in many countries, including [[Spain]], [[France]], [[Portugal]], [[Italy]], [[Mexico]], [[Japan]], and the [[United States]].<ref name=ElMundo>Pérez de Albéniz, Javier, [http://www.el-mundo.es/magazine/num84/textos/cosmo.html El cosmonauta fantasma] ''El Mundo'' magazine, 25 May 1997, Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref><ref>Curtis, Mary Jo, [https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2000-01/00-070.html Artists mix fact and fantasy in False Witness exhibition at Bell Gallery] Providence, Rhode Island: Brown University, 17 January 2001, Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref> Among other reactions to the exhibition, a Russian ambassador "got extremely angry because [Fontcuberta] was insulting the glorious Russian past and threatened to present a diplomatic complaint".

Several lines of evidence available since the first exhibition of "Sputnik" in 1997 in [[Madrid]] suggested that the story and artifacts form an elaborate hoax:

* The name "Ivan Istochnikov" is a Russian translation of Joan Fontcuberta's name; in specific, "Joan" and "Ivan" both translate to "John"<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20050422092748/http://www.diccionaris.net/ English Catalan Dictionary.]}} Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Ivan Online Etymology Dictionary: Ivan] Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref> and "Fontcuberta" and "Istochnikov" both mean "hidden fountain".
* The photographs of Istochnikov show Fontcuberta's face.
* Pages of the official website of the Madrid exhibition contain the words "PURE FICTION" toward the top of each page in light red text on a dark red background <ref>[http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/at/esputnik.html Sputnik Foundation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605182703/http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/at/esputnik.html|date=5 June 2008}} "From May 21st to July 20th, 1997" Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref> or light pink text on a white background.<ref>[http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/at/esputnik1.html Texts from the SPUTNIK catalog.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821200355/http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/at/esputnik1.html|date=21 August 2008}} Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref>
* The front and rear endpapers of the catalog accompanying the Madrid exhibition have the words "it's all fiction" in Russian and Spanish printed on them using [[Phosphorescence|glow-in-the-dark]] ink.<ref>Kondakova, Olga, et al., ''Sputnik'', Madrid: Fundación Arte y Tecnologia, 1997 {{ISBN|84-89884-00-5}}</ref>
* At the website of Spanish newspaper ''El Mundo'', the third of three pages concerning the Madrid exhibition states that "the report which we published on the previous pages is a product of his [Fontcuberta's] imagination".<ref name=ElMundo/>

== See also ==
*[[Soyuz 2A]]

== References ==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
*''Luna Cornea'', Number 14, January/April 1998, p.&nbsp;58
*''The Fabricated Cosmonaut and the Nonexistent Prophecy'', Luis Alfonso Gamez, ''[[Skeptical Inquirer]]'', Volume 30, number 5 (September/October 2006) p.&nbsp;12

== External links ==
* [https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2000-01/00-070.html Brown University News Service] Artists mix fact and fantasy in ''False Witness'' exhibition at Bell Gallery.

{{Soyuz}}
{{Orbital launches in 1968}}
{{N1-L3}}

[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1968]]
[[Category:Soyuz uncrewed test flights]]
[[Category:1968 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Spacecraft which reentered in 1968]]