Apollo Soyuz Test Project

Apollo–Soyuz Test Project

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project commemorative painting, 1975
Mission type	Cooperative/scientific
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	Soyuz: 1975-065A Apollo: 1975-066A
SATCAT no.	Soyuz: 8030 Apollo: 8032
Mission duration	Soyuz: 5 d 22 h 30 m Apollo: 9 d 01 h 28 min
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Apollo CSM-111 Soyuz:
Spacecraft type	Apollo: Block II Soyuz: Soyuz 7K-TM
Launch mass	Apollo: 14,768 kg (32,558 lb) Docking Module: 2,012 kg (4,436 lb) Soyuz: 6,790 kg (14,970 lb)
Crew
Crew size	Apollo: 3 Soyuz: 2
Members	Thomas P. Stafford Vance D. Brand Donald K. Slayton Alexey Leonov Valeri Kubasov
Callsign	Apollo Союз (Soyuz - "Union")
Start of mission
Launch date	Soyuz: 12:20:00, July 15, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-15T12:20:00Z) Apollo: 19:50:00, July 15, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-15T19:50:00Z)
Rocket	Soyuz: Soyuz-U Apollo: Saturn IB SA-210
Launch site	Soyuz: Gagarin's Start, Baikonur Cosmodrome Apollo: Kennedy LC-39B
End of mission
Recovered by	Soyuz: Soviet Armed Forces Apollo: USS New Orleans
Landing date	Soyuz: 10:50:00, July 21, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-21T10:50:00Z) Apollo: 21:18:00, July 24, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-24T21:18:00Z)
Landing site	Soyuz: 50°40′N 67°1′E / 50.667°N 67.017°E / 50.667; 67.017 (Apollo–Soyuz Test Project landing) Apollo: 21°52′N 162°45′W / 21.867°N 162.750°W / 21.867; -162.750 (Apollo–Soyuz Test Project landing)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	217 km (135 mi)
Apogee	231 km (144 mi)
Inclination	51.75°
Period	88.91 minutes
Docking
Docking date	First: 16:19:09, July 17, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-17T16:19:09Z)
Undocking date	Last: 15:26:12, July 19, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-19T15:26:12Z)
Time docked	1 day, 23 hours, 07 min, 03 sec
Official emblem of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) chosen by NASA and the Soviet Academy of Sciences Soyuz programme ← Soyuz 18 Soyuz 20 →

Official emblem of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) chosen by NASA and the Soviet Academy of Sciences

The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) (Russian: Экспериментальный полёт «Союз» — «Аполлон», Eksperimantalniy polyot Soyuz-Apollon, lit. "Experimental flight Soyuz-Apollo"), conducted in July 1975, was the first joint U.S.–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 program 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 Program 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 U.S. astronaut Donald "Deke" Slayton's only space flight. He was chosen as one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts in April 1959, but had been grounded until 1972 for medical reasons.