In September 1968, the Soviets had already launched and recovered Zond 5, carrying worms, two turtles, and other life forms. The reentry was followed by the American USS McMorris. NASA’s decision to launch a crewed orbit of the Moon before the end of 1968 followed. And now the Soviets were also starting to rush things… On October 25, 1968 (three days after the reentry of Apollo 7), Soyuz 3 launched with Georgi Beregovoi aboard. Docking in LEO with Soyuz 2 failed several times, and he returned. A few weeks later, Zond 6 followed the same path. Upon reentry, it bounced in the atmosphere, then a valve depressurized the cabin while still in space, then an electrical fault ejected the parachute while still in orbit. The probe crashed to the ground, and would have killed any cosmonauts.
