How long did Buzz Aldrin work outside the spacecraft in November 1966 ?
However , the Soviet Union was fiercely competitive in holding the early lead it had gained in manned spaceflight , so the Soviet Communist Party , led by Nikita Khrushchev , ordered the conversion of its single - pilot Vostok capsule into a two - or three - person craft named Voskhod , in order to compete with Gemini and Apollo .