Plus One More

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.

As always, Soviet officials were cautious and cryptic when they reported the results of the maneuver. The two ships, they said, had closed to within 650 feet of each other under "automatic control." Then Beregovoy took over and flew even closer. Whether he actually completed docking was not made clear.

Not until the Soviets, in their own good time, release more information will U.S. space scientists be certain of the significance of the flight. It is the first manned Russian space mission since April 1967, when Colonel Vladimir Komarov was killed in the crash of Soyuz 1. It seems almost certain that it is ultimately aimed at the moon; for one thing, the time is not right for a trip to any of the planets.

The Russians may be merely practicing hook-up procedures, a maneuver that U.S. spacemen have already perfected, or building an earth-orbiting space station. Indeed, there were suggestions that before the week ended a third capsule might be launched to join the first two. But the Russians may also be assembling the pieces of a composite spaceship, bound for the moon. U.S. space experts studied that technique years ago and abandoned it as too expensive. The Soviets' last space shot, a circumlunar mission powered by a giant booster, suggested that they too had made the same decision. Now, no one can be sure. U.S. spacemen could only watch, wait and worry about where they stand in the lunar sweepstakes.

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