Kubyshev, March 5th 1965

Chief Director Sergei Korolev was resting at his dacha, recovering from his hospital treatment after he was diagnosed with liver cancer. His experience from the Gulag and the pressure from his workload is significant enough that forced Korolev to reduce his time at Baikonur as advised by his doctor. Glushko and Chelomei, despite being bitter rivals with him, visited Korolev to chat.

Chelomei: Good evening Korolev.

Korolev: Evening cough How goes it?

Glushko: You mean Voskhod? Well, if im gonna be honest, quite lackluster.

Korolev: How so?

Glushko: Well, the spacecraft, Voskhod 1 failed at the launch pad, we determined it was an issue with the rocket that was fixed, Voskhod 2 was more succesful and we were able to bring several of our cosmonauts into space and back safely. We were able to claim a first in “shirt sleeve environment” The data acquired was crucial to determine if extended stays in space were possible. By the time Voskhod 3 was in the works to test these theories further, The Americans beat us through Project Gemini.

Korolev: I read about Gemini, yes, marvel of engineering that is, they did a EVA before we did.

Glushko: Yes, that was the purpose for Voskhod 3, but after Gemini, now its sort of wasted. Gagarin was pretty annoyed that he didnt get the EVA title first but congratulated the Americans nonetheless. Thus we spent most of last year working on a new rocket design me and Chelomei have brainstormed together so that we can bring heavier payloads and be more reliable to maintain and construct.

Korolev: General Secretary Khrushchev came to my office a while back. He was quite angry at the poor showing and ordered me to cancel the project, so here we are.

Chelomei: Tell him about the bright idea you have Glushko.

Glushko: No, fuck you, you say it, laughs

Chelomei: Right, so, US President Kennedy has recently hardened and increased the stakes of the Space Race, the Moon.

Korolev: The moon? I have a moon project that has been in the works during quite some time, at least through theoretical analysis. It is possible to send a crewed mission to the Moon but its a enormously daunting task. We will probably need more resources.

Chelomei: Which is why we come here to ask you, have you been working on that super heavy rocket these last few years?

Korolev: You mean the N1? Not really, as you can see, I am basically sick and in no shape to work.

Chelomei: Yeah, im afraid we will probably have to scrap that thing

Korolev; How dare you? Why?

Chelomei: We have a better design, besides you are in no position to execute your functions as Chief Engineer and director of Sovcosmos. I wish you good health but your time as director is over.

Korolev: You dont have the authority to remove me? Are you mad?

Chelomei: I certainly dont, but Khrushchev certainly has second thoughts, he is replacing you with an administrator that would be more available. Sorry.

Korolev: Oh bother, why do i argue with this, I dont have the strength to keep up anymore. You are right.

Chelomei: Listen Sergei, We might not see eye to eye often. But i must recognize that your contributions are important to the program, You have built a lasting legacy which shall be respected wholeheartedly. For the benefit of your health, I would strongly suggest for you to resign. Glushko and I can handle it.

Korolev: Sigh Allright, I want my pension!

Glushko: I assure you, that you will not be dissapointed.

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Baikonur, May 20th 1965

Under pressure by the new Administrator of Sovcosmos: Konstantin Markov, a rocket scientist from Moscow Academy of Sciences noted for his management capability requested that the Voskhod program be salvaged anyway into the new burgeoning Soviet program: the Soyuz Program. Using a modified R-7 capable of transporting Voskhod 3, the launch was greenlit after succesful ground tests, a change in policy after Korolev’s retirement. Soviet Cosmonauts Pavel Belyavev and Alexei Leonov were selected for the flight. The boosters ignited launching the Voskhod spacecraft into space. No incident was reported during the flight. As Voskhod 3 entered orbit, it’s design improvements from Voskhod 2 which had several design flaws in it’s airlock and made an EVA dangerous, permitted for Belyavev and Leonov to exit the craft for the first time safely. The chainlink tethers connected to Leonov’s space suit and increased oxygen reserves allowed him to conduct a space walk for nearly half an hour. The extended stay of Voskhod 3 surprised Mission Control at Baikonur which allowed it to gather further data. The spacecraft faced multiple issues in it’s descent however with the stability of the craft being compromised during reentry forcing a a landing nearly 300km away from the designated landing site of Perm. Nevertheless, both Cosmonauts survives the encounter without much issue. The Soviet Union was now neck and neck with the United States in the Space Race.

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Baikonur, September 15th 1965

Chelomei and Glushko however, confident with the success of Voskhod 3 reduced timetables for the launch of the Soviet Union’s new heavy payload rocket. The launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome has been in a commotion recently. After multiple ground tests of the brand new UR-500 heavy payload rocket’s engines and mechanisms were succesful and approved by the engineers at the site, the rocket was lifted up for launch. The UR-500 is the latest iteration of Chelomei’s Universal Rocket series and thus far cutting edge technology:, a testament to the exponential sophistication of the Soviet space program. The rocket would be able to deliver a payload around 50% more weight than the Voskhod 3 spacecraft launched months earlier. For the first mission of the “Proton” it was decided that it would launch a series of Luna-F probes to map the lunar surface and next, launch a new “Slava-A” research probe designed to reach the upper solar system targetting the gas giant of Saturn. There was a concern that rushed development of the Proton would have led to failures in the initial launches which were indeed the case. Mechanical failures were reported during the launch of Proton 1 in early September. These issues however were fixed by the 15th in which the rocket lifted into the heavens with grace. After several weeks of waiting, the first selections of images from the Moon arrived to Mission Control which wre used to construct a map of the lunar surface. This map will be crucial towards finding a landing site for a future Soviet crewed moon landing. Proton 2 launched in October 4th 1965 which delivered the Slava A to the far corners of the Solar System. It wouldnt be until December 24th when Baikonur witnessed first hand the beauty of Saturn’s rings in closeup shots for the first time, as well as Jupiter’s massive red storm and multiple moons. These photographs were shared to the rest of the world through scientific channels as well as through Pravda showing the technological might of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union has retaken the lead in the Space Race.