The race to the moon was barely over when the United States suddenly found itself in a new competition; one to establish a permanent long-term human presence on the high frontier. The Soviet Union had given up on its aspirations to plant the Hammer and Sickle in the lunar dust when their gigantic lunar booster, the N-1, had failed for a third time. Instead, they had forged ahead in the field of long duration spaceflight, with their sturdy Salyut series...