Space pin made in the Soviet Union about Vostok 3. Vostok 3 and Vostok 4 were launched a day apart in 1962 on trajectories that brought the spacecraft within approximately 6.5 km (4.0 mi) of one another. The cosmonauts aboard the two capsules also communicated with each other via radio, the first ship-to-ship communications in space. These missions marked the first time that more than one crewed spacecraft was in orbit at the same time, giving Soviet mission controllers the opportunity to learn to manage this scenario.
During the first day in orbit of Vostok 3, the cosmonaut unstrapped himself from his seat and became the first spacefarer to float freely in conditions of microgravity in space.
The mission led Western observers to speculate that the Soviets must already have spacecraft capable of in-orbit maneuvering. Official press releases made no mention that the Vostok spacecraft lacked this ability or that the two Vostoks were able to attain such close approach due to their extremely precise launches.