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The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the culmination of years of effortby NASA to conduct a joint endeavor with the Soviet Union.
By Glen Golightly
Houston Bureau Chief
posted: 05:38 pm ET
14 July 2000
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HOUSTON The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the culmination of years of effort by NASAs international programs office to conduct a joint endeavor with the Soviet Union HOUSTON The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the culmination of years of effort by NASAs international programs office to conduct a joint endeavor with the Soviet Union. 
A 1972 agreement signed by the U.S. and Soviet Union called for development of docking systems that might be used for a rescue mission or a future joint spaceflight. The agreement also called for a join mission in 1975 to test the docking procedures. Mission Overview: The Saturn 1B carrying the three U.S. astronauts would be the last flight of the Apollo program. Not long after ASTPs conclusion, the remaining Saturn and Apollo hardware was sent to museums and displays around the country. The Soyuz with Gen. Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov aboard launched first from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Saturn 1B carrying Gen. Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand and Thomas "Deke" Slayton followed a few hours later from the Kennedy Space Center. On the third day of the flight, Apollo would maneuver to dock with the Soyuz. Two days of experiments and goodwill gestures followed. Then, the hatches on the docking module and spacecraft closed and the two vehicles separated. One more practice docking took place, but the crews remained in their vehicles. The Soyuz returned to Earth two days later, while the Apollo capsule stayed aloft three more days to conduct experiments. Mission Experiments: Several dozen experiments were carried out throughout the mission. Aboard the docking module, the astronauts and cosmonauts operated a furnace for materials handling experiments. After the two vehicles undocked, the Apollo module moved to block the sun in a simulated eclipse while the Soyuz crew took photographs. Mission Data: Soyuz launch: July 15, 1975 at 8:20 a.m. EDT Apollo launch: July 15, 1975 at 2:50 p.m. EDT Docking: July 17, 1975 at 2:09 p.m. EDT Undocking: July 19, 1975 at 7:12 a.m. EDT (The crews also conducted a second docking exercise on July 19) Soyuz landing: July 21, 1975 at 6:51 a.m. EDT Apollo splashdown: July 24, 1975 at 5:18 p.m. EDT
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