The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the first joint U.S.-Soviet space flight, marking an important step in the Détente period of the Cold War. The mission, which took place from July 15 to July 24, 1975, was aimed at demonstrating that the United States and the Soviet Union could work together in space despite their ideological differences.
Following the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, NASA looked to shift its focus from lunar missions to developing the Space Shuttle. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union continued to expand its own space program. The ASTP was proposed in 1972 by NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, who saw it as an opportunity to foster cooperation between the superpowers.
The project involved two spacecraft:
On July 15, 1975, the Apollo spacecraft was launched from Kennedy Space Center aboard a Saturn IB rocket, followed by the launch of the Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome. After achieving orbit, the two spacecraft performed a series of maneuvers to align for docking:
The docking occurred on July 17, 1975, and the crews spent about 44 hours in joint activities. The highlight was the handshake between American astronaut Thomas Stafford and Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov in space, symbolizing peace and cooperation.
During the mission, several experiments were conducted, focusing on:
The ASTP is considered a significant milestone in international space cooperation. It paved the way for future collaborative efforts such as: