Word: soyuz
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When an Apollo spacecraft links up with a Soviet Soyuz above the earth this summer, Writer Martin Caidin, author of nearly 90 science and adventure stories, will have a greater feeling of involvement than most Americans. Caidin learned recently that the movie version of his popular 1964 space novel
...When Soyuz 16 landed safely on the snow-covered steppes of Kazakhstan last week after six days in orbit, Soviet space officials were exultant. The successful flight, they said, showed that their cosmonauts and spacecraft were capable of carrying out their assigned role in next July's historic orbital linkup of an American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz...
...space officials could only hope that the Russians were right. Although the U.S. Apollo spacecraft has more than demonstrated its incredible capabilities on eight missions to the moon, the Soviets are still ironing the kinks out of Soyuz. The workhorse of the Russian manned space program underwent a radical overhaul after three cosmonauts were killed when a hatch seal failed in a 1971 flight. Even that redesign did not eliminate all the bugs. At the time of its previous test in August, Soyuz 15's thrusters failed during an attempted linkup with an unmanned Salyut space station...
...Soyuz 16 performed "without a hitch," say the Soviets. During their 96 swings around the earth, Cosmonauts Anatoli Filipchenko, 46, and Nikolai Rukavishnikov, 42, practiced exercises with a docking ring mounted on the ship's nose. With the ring, according to the Soviets, the crew could simulate some of the "docking maneuvers" that will be required in next year's linkup. (The description was somewhat misleading since the Russian ship will be the passive partner during the rendezvous; Apollo will do all the critical maneuvering.) The Russian spacemen also reduced cabin pressure to about...
Nonetheless, both the Americans and Russians are stressing the flight's importance to detente. During Moscow's TV coverage of the Soyuz 16 mission, commentators repeatedly pointed out that the flight was a dress rehearsal for next year's meeting in space with the Americans. When Soviet officials were interviewed, they even displayed a small U.S. flag alongside a Soviet flag of the same size on their desks. U.S. space officials also emphasized the mission's importance. They are trying to entice the Russians into other joint space ventures-if only to keep alive the badly...