3 Roubles First flight of two spacecraft

This coin commemorates the first docking of two crewed Soyuz spacecraft, achieved in January 1969 when Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 linked up in orbit — the first transfer of crew between vehicles in space history. Two cosmonauts from Soyuz 5 crossed through open space and returned to Earth aboard Soyuz 4, a maneuver the Soviets framed as the assembly of an "experimental space station." The mission was as politically driven as it was technically ambitious, timed to preempt American momentum ahead of Apollo 11.