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In the early 1960s, the Soviet Union began its Vostok program with a series of unmanned test flights to investigate the possibilities and means for a crewed mission, before sending Yuri Gagarin into space. Korabl-Sputnik 1, known as "Sputnik 4" in the West, was the first test flight of the Vostok program. The 4.5-ton spacecraft carried a variety of scientific instruments, including a television camera and a self-contained biological cabin with a dummy astronaut. The purpose of the mission was to study the operation of life support systems and the stresses of flight.