When Soyuz 15 was launched last week from the Soviet space center in Kazakhstan, every sign pointed to another attempt to link up with the Salyut 3 space station, which has been orbiting the earth since last June. Yet after only two days aloft, Soyuz 15 returned abruptly to earth without docking with the lab. The landing, made at night and in bad weather, seemed to underline the urgency of the return. What had gone wrong? As usual, the Soviets admitted no problem, but American space analysts speculated that Soyuz's electrical power plant may have failed during the docking attempt. They...
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