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Cosmos 212 April 14-19, 1968
Cosmos 213 April 15-20, 1968
Automated docking between two unmanned Soyuz, similar to the Cosmos 186-Cosmos 188 docking flight.

Cosmos 238 August 28-September 1, 1968
Unmanned Soyuz meant either to requalify the Original Soyuz for manned flight after the Soyuz 1 accident or to serve as a docking target for a manned Soyuz spacecraft, launch of which had to be cancelled. Presumably Cosmos 238 would have been renamed Soyuz 2 if the manned craft (which would have been called Soyuz 3) had reached orbit.[1]

Soyuz 2 October 25-28, 1968
Soyuz 3 October 26-30, 1968
Georgi Beregevoi
Crew code name—Argon

Soyuz 3 was the active craft for the docking with the unmanned Soyuz 2 craft. The craft were unable to dock, though automatic systems brought the ships to within 200 m, and Beregovoi brought Soyuz 3 still closer to Soyuz 2 under manual control.[2][3] Before launch the flight was called a prelude to manned space stations.[4]

Soyuz 4 January 14-17, 1969
Launch crew—Vladimir Shatalov
Crew code name—Amur

Landing crew—Vladimir Shatalov, Yevgeni Khrunov, Alexei Yeliseyev
Crew code name—Amur

Soyuz 5 January 15-18, 1969
Launch crew—Boris Volynov, Yevgeni Khrunov, and Alexei Yeliseyev

Crew code name—Baykal

Landing crew—Boris Volynov
Crew code name—Baykal

Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 carried out the first docking between manned Soviet spacecraft. Soyuz 4 played the active role in the docking. After docking, Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 were described as comprising the first multimodular space station.[5] More importantly, however, this was a test of rendezvous and docking and EVA procedures, with implications for the manned lunar program.[6] Yeliseyev and Khrunov transferred by EVA from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4. The two craft remained docked for 4 hr, 35 min. Afanaseyev states that, after Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5, two additional Soyuz craft were to have rendezvoused and docked to prepare for manned lunar landing

  1. Johnson, 1980, pp. 131-132.
  2. Dmitri Payson, “Eternal Soyuz—Today Marks the 25th Anniversary of the First Docking in Orbit,” Nezavisimaya Gazeta, January 15, 1994, p. 6. Translated in JPRS Report, Science and Technology, Central Eurasia: Space, March 22, 1994 (JPRSUSP-94-003), p. 1.
  3. Johnson, 1980, p. 148-149.
  4. Pravda, November 3, 1968.
  5. Johnson, 1980, p. 152.
  6. Afanasyev, 1991, pp. 6-7.