A Soviet "Skylab"

As usual, the Russians said not a word about the mission. But last month, when the Soviet tracking ships Gagarin and Komarov sailed out of the Black Sea, passed through the Mediterranean and headed full steam into the Atlantic, Western observers knew that something was up. The vessels are known to carry elaborate electronic gear and serve as communications links between Soviet spacecraft and ground controllers. Last week these suspicions were dramatically confirmed when the Soviets orbited Salyut 2, a 17 3/4-ton space lab. At week's end, they were expected to launch a smaller Soyuz spacecraft that would carry cosmonauts to the orbital lab.

The launch of Salyut, which carries a cargo of scientific equipment, marked a resumption of the Soviet manned space effort after an interruption of nearly two years. During the last manned mission, in June 1971, three cosmonauts lived in Salyut 1 for almost 24 days--longer than anyone had previously spent in space. But the three crewmen were killed on their way back to earth; the hatch of their Soyuz spacecraft leaked--perhaps jolted by the retrorocket firing prior to re-entry--resulting in a fatal loss of oxygen. Since then Soviet engineers have redesigned the hatch to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy. As an added precaution, the cosmonauts will also wear their pressure suits on the return flight, something the earlier crew had not done.

TIME'S Moscow correspondent John Shaw reports strong speculation in the Soviet capital that the cosmonauts will live and work aboard Salyut 2 until May Day, one of the biggest political holidays of the year and a time when the Soviet leadership likes to show off its accomplishments. If the mission is successful, the Russians may well steal the thunder from a U.S. space spectacular: the mid-May launch of Skylab, aboard which three astronauts are scheduled to live for 28 days.

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