Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), conducted in July 1975, was the first joint US–Soviet space flight, as a symbol of the policy of détente that the two superpowers were pursuing at the time. It involved the docking of an Apollo Command/Service Module with the Soviet Soyuz 19. The unnumbered Apollo vehicle was a surplus from the terminated Apollo programme and the last one to fly. This mission ceremoniously marked the end of the Space Race that had begun in 1957 with the Sputnik launch.
The mission included both joint and separate scientific experiments (including an engineered eclipse of the Sun by Apollo to allow Soyuz to take photographs of the solar corona), and provided useful engineering experience for future joint US–Russian space flights, such as the Shuttle–Mir programme and the International Space Station.
ASTP was the last manned US space mission until the first Space Shuttle flight in April 1981. It was also US astronaut Donald 'Deke' Slayton's only space flight. He was one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts selected in April 1959, but had been grounded until 1972 for medical reasons.
Above you can see the the restored Apollo Command and Service Module used for testing prior to the mission. Connected to it on the right is the back-up Docking Module. Connected to the other end of the Docking Module off-camera to the right is a model of the Soyuz. This scene is in the Space Race gallery of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum on the Mall in Washington DC.
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), conducted in July 1975, was the first joint US–Soviet space flight, as a symbol of the policy of détente that the two superpowers were pursuing at the time. It involved the docking of an Apollo Command/Service Module with the Soviet Soyuz 19. The unnumbered Apollo vehicle was a surplus from the terminated Apollo programme and the last one to fly. This mission ceremoniously marked the end of the Space Race that had begun in 1957 with the Sputnik launch.
The mission included both joint and separate scientific experiments (including an engineered eclipse of the Sun by Apollo to allow Soyuz to take photographs of the solar corona), and provided useful engineering experience for future joint US–Russian space flights, such as the Shuttle–Mir programme and the International Space Station.
ASTP was the last manned US space mission until the first Space Shuttle flight in April 1981. It was also US astronaut Donald 'Deke' Slayton's only space flight. He was one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts selected in April 1959, but had been grounded until 1972 for medical reasons.
Above you can see the the restored Apollo Command and Service Module used for testing prior to the mission. Connected to it on the right is the back-up Docking Module. Connected to the other end of the Docking Module off-camera to the right is a model of the Soyuz. This scene is in the Space Race gallery of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum on the Mall in Washington DC.