Word: spacecrafts
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...Russians do indeed plan to steal the limelight from Apollo 8, their best opportunity for launching a manned circumlunar shot will occur during a brief period beginning around the first week in December. At that time, a spacecraft could be launched in daylight, streak around the moon, and return for a landing in Russia or the Indian Ocean during daylight hours, when it is easier to locate and reach the downed craft. The mission almost certainly will follow closely the trail of Zond-5 and Zond-6, the first craft to circle the moon and return safely to earth...
Long Shot. For all the meticulous planning, NASA acknowledges that Apollo 8 involves greater risks than any of the previous manned space flights. Not only will the spacecraft be as many as three days away from a safe landing (v. no more than three hours in earth-orbiting missions), but it will be entirely dependent on its own propulsion system to break out of lunar orbit. If that lone engine should falter, the astronauts would be stranded, circling the moon with absolutely no hope of rescue...
...checked countless times in flight and on the ground. At the slightest hint of trouble, the mission could be safely aborted at any of a dozen points along the way. Even as Apollo nears the moon, the astronauts will still be able to make a "nogo" decision. Should the spacecraft fail to be slowed down as planned, it can simply make a high-speed loop of the moon and head back toward earth...
...from the surface of the moon, Apollo would have to rendezvous and dock with it in order to rescue the two astronauts aboard. Even more important, the propulsion engine will have to fire without fail to place Apollo in lunar orbit, and fire again to kick the spacecraft back toward the safety of the earth...
Even as the U.S. proudly hailed Apollo 7 and its crew, the Soviets launched an impressive reminder that they are still running hard in the race to the moon. With no advance fanfare, Russia's tenth manned spacecraft, Soyuz 3, soared into orbit, piloted by fledgling Cosmonaut Colonel Georgy Beregovoy, 47. On the craft's very first pass around the earth, he made a rendezvous with Soyuz 2, an unmanned spacecraft that had been fired aloft the dav before...