Soyuz 12

Soyuz 12 was the test flight of the newly-redesigned Soyuz spacecraft that was intended to

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provide greater crew safety in the wake of the Soyuz 11 tragedy. The crew capacity of the capsule

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had been decreased from three to two cosmonauts to allow for space suits to be worn during launch,

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re-entry, and potentially hazardous maneuvers such as docking.

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Cosmonauts Vasili Lazarev and Oleg Makarov were to evaluate the design, which proved to be

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successful and well-behaved.

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Soyuz: Soyuz is Russian for "Union". Depending on the context, Soyuz may also refer to any of the following:...

Spacecraft: A spacecraft is a vehicle that travels through space. Spacecraft include robotic or unmanned space probes as well as manned vehicles. The term is sometimes also used to describe artificial satellites, which have similar design criteria....

Cosmonaut: redirect Astronaut#Russia...