Word: cosmonautics
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...cosmonauts-or the ground controllers-fail to notice the opened hatch in time? "The Soyuz hatchway is not unlike a car door," Louis explained. "When the hatch is open, a signal light goes on on a console at mission control. But the light will go out when the hatch is half closed, as with a half-slammed car door." The calamity came at a time when the Russians seemed to be overtaking the U.S. in space-a remarkable comeback after they abandoned the race to land the first man on the moon. Still, the comeback was not entirely without...
...Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died in 1967 when Soyuz 1 crashed to earth after its descent-parachute shrouds tangled at the end of a 17-orbit mission. Only three months earlier, Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaftee were killed when a flash fire engulfed their Apollo 1 spacecraft during a simulated launch at Cape Kennedy...
...asked Cosmonaut Vladislav Volkov, 35, "do you see what he's doing?" Before mission control could answer, Volkov's commander, Lieut. Colonel Georgy Dobrovolsky, 43, appeared on Moscow TV screens. He was playfully floating on his back in the zero gravity of space and pumping his legs as if he were pedaling a bicycle. Then, while all Russia watched, Volkov accidentally released a picture of Lenin, letting the father of the Soviet state drift aimlessly around the spacecraft...
...dock with a craft that would not long remain in orbit. When Soyuz was finally launched, it was unintentionally shot into an orbit higher than Salyut's. It took nearly two days for the manned craft to reach and dock with its target-an operation that the cosmonauts later compared to bringing a train into a large railroad station. Then, only 5½ hours later, having made no attempt to board Salyut, the Soyuz crew returned to earth in an unprecedented night landing. The premature return, one rumor had it, was caused by faulty operation of Soyuz...
...Cosmonaut will feel even worse served when she tries to find a bra, an enameled teapot or a new coat. Soviet-made clothing is ill-fitting, poorly made, and fashioned from generally inferior fabric. There is a shortage of meat grinders because the planners cut back output too drastically after production one year slightly exceeded demand. Enamel kitchenware is almost unavailable. Reason: the output of enamelware plants is measured by weight, so the factories meet their quotas by manufacturing a few heavy bathtubs rather than many small kitchen items...