Science: Dogged Determination

Around the time that Astronauts Armstrong and Scott were ordered to return to earth after less than a day in orbit, two Russian space travelers were finishing a much longer flight. After 22 days in orbit in their Cosmos 110 satellite-longer than any other living beings have spent in space-Cosmodogs Veterok and Ugolyok were brought down to a safe landing in Russian Central Asia. Still wearing their space jackets, they were promptly flown to Moscow for a triumphant TV appearance.

Obviously fatigued by the ordeal, Ugolyok sprawled out and tried to nap during most of his five minutes before the cameras; Veterok was able to stand only with the assistance of a laboratory technician. Otherwise, the dogs appeared to be in good health, occasionally lapping vigorously at bowls of water.

Though the travelers showed uneasiness and some disruption of their coordination during the first eight or nine days in space, Russian scientists reported that they gradually became acclimated, and apparently suffered no permanent ill effects from weightlessness. Doctors were still watching for any radiation effects, because at the apogee of each of their 330 orbits they were at a height of 560 miles-higher than any astronaut or cosmonaut has ever flown, and well within the lower reaches of the Van Allen radiation belt.

To Western scientists, it seemed obvious that the flight of the space dogs was merely a prelude to a major step in Russia's manned space program, which seems to have been marking time since Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov took the world's first space walk a year ago. And it left little doubt that the Soviets are doggedly determined to put the first man on the moon.