The first in the world docking of two manned spacecraft was carried out by Soviet cosmonauts in January 1969 on ships participating in the Soyuz-4 program (crew: V.A. Shatalov) and Soyuz-5 (crew: B.V. Volynov, A.S. Eliseev, E.V. Khrunov).
The Soyuz-4 ship was launched on January 14, 1969. The next day, the Soyuz-5 was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The ships Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 docked on January 16, 1969. The active ship was the Soyuz-4, the docking station of which was equipped with a pin. The Soyuz-5 docking station was equipped with a receiving cone. At the 35th orbit, astronauts Khrunov and Yeliseyev entered the open space from the Soyuz-5 spacecraft and proceeded to the Soyuz-4 spacecraft. The ships Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 were in the docked state for 4 hours and 35 minutes.
This transition was an element of preparation for the proposed flight to the moon. After docking, the TASS agency announced that for the first time an experimental space station with four cosmonauts on board was created in orbit. Soviet television conducted a live broadcast of the transition astronauts Khrunov and Eliseev.
The original stamp depicts a symbolic image of a launch vehicle launched into outer space; the main image shows the docking of the manned spacecraft Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5.
In addition to the release of a card with the original stamp of JSC “Marka”, special cancellation stamps have been made for Moscow and Baikonur.
Artists-designers: R. Komsa (illustration), A. Drobyshev (stamp).
Circulation: 14 thousand copies.
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