Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

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**Apollo-Soyuz Test Project**
Mission Spacecraft
Image:Apollo-Soyuz-Test-Program-artist-rendering.jpg
Mission Statistics (Soyuz)
Mission Name:	Soyuz 19
Call Sign:	Союз (Soyuz - "Union")
Number of Crew:	2
Launch:	July 15, 1975 12:20:00 UTC Baikonur
Apogee:	231 km
Perigee:	218 km
Period:	88.92 min
Inclination:	51.76 deg
Landing:	July 21, 1975 10:50:00 UTC 57° N 67° E
Duration:	5 d 22 h 30 min 54 s
Number of Orbits:	96
Distance Traveled:	~2,400,000 mi (~3,900,000 km)
Mass:	Soyuz 6,790 kg
Mission Insignia
Image:ASTPpatch.png
Mission Statistics (Apollo)
Mission Name:	Apollo 18
Call Sign:	Apollo
Number of Crew:	3
Launch:	July 15, 1975 19:50:00 UTC Kennedy Space Center LC-39B
Apogee:	231 km
Perigee:	217 km
Period:	88.91 min
Inclination:	51.75 deg
Landing:	July 24, 1975 21:18:00 UTC Template:Coor dm
Duration:	9 d 1 h 28 min 24 s
Number of Orbits:	148
Distance Traveled:	~3,700,000 mi (~5,990,000 km)
Mass:	CSM 14,768 kg DM 2,012 kg
Crew Picture
Image:Portrait of ASTP crews.jpg ASTP crew portrait (L-R: Slayton, Stafford, Brand, Leonov, Kubasov)
ASTP Crew

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint flight of the US and Soviet space programs. The mission took place in July 1975. For the United States of America, it was the last Apollo flight, as well as the last manned space launch until the flight of the first Space Shuttle in April 1981. For the Soviet Union it was the last manned space flight until Soyuz 21 in June 1976.

1 Apollo Crew
- 1.1 Backup Crew
2 Soyuz Crew
- 2.1 Backup Crew
3 Mission parameters
- 3.1 Docking
4 Mission highlights
5 External links

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Apollo Crew

Thomas Stafford (flew on Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, & Apollo-Soyuz) - Apollo Commander
Vance Brand (flew on Apollo-Soyuz, STS-5, STS-41-B, & STS-35) - Apollo Command Module Pilot
Deke Slayton (flew on Apollo-Soyuz) - Apollo Docking Module Pilot

Jack Swigert had originally been suggested for Command Module Pilot position in the original ASTP prime crew, but was removed as punishment for his role in the postage stamp scandal following the Apollo 15 mission. (Swigert was not involved in the controversial Apollo 15 stamp deal, but in the investigation that followed the scandal he initially denied having any involvement in similar schemes. When evidence against him started to build up he confessed to Deke Slayton and was consequently considered to be undesirable from a public relations viewpoint.)

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Backup Crew

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Soyuz Crew

Alexei Leonov (2) - Soyuz 19 Commander
Valery Kubasov (3) - Soyuz 19 Engineer

(1) number of spaceflights each crew member has completed, including this mission.

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Backup Crew

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Mission parameters

Mass:
- 14,768 kg (Apollo),
- 6,790 kg (Soyuz)
Perigee:
- 152 km (Apollo),
- 186 km (Soyuz)
Apogee:
- 166 km (Apollo),
- 220 km (Soyuz)
Inclination:
- 51.7° (Apollo),
- 51.8° (Soyuz)
Period:
- 87.6 minutes (Apollo),
- 88.5 minutes (Soyuz)

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Docking

First Docking: July 17, 1975 - 16:19:09 UTC
Last Undocking: July 19, 1975 - 15:26:12 UTC
Time Docked: 1 day, 23 hours, 07 minutes, 03 seconds

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Mission highlights

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) took place in the second half of July 1975 and entailed the docking of the American Apollo 18 space craft with the Soviet Soyuz 19 space craft. The former had three crew on board – Tom Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton - whilst the latter had two – Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov.

ASTP was in part inspired by the 1968 film Marooned, in which a stranded US Apollo crew is rescued by a Soviet spacecraft. Although the equipment developed for ASTP was only of use as a one-off, the program allowed NASA to maintain a manned space focus following the end of the Apollo and Skylab missions. As the Apollo's Saturn IB launcher and CSM were all surplus material, ASTP was the most inexpensive manned space program ever mounted.

The Soyuz 19 and Apollo 18 craft launched within seven-and-a-half hours of each other July 15, and docked on July 17. Three hours later the two mission commanders, Stafford and Leonov, exchanged the first international handshake in space through the open hatch of the Soyuz. NASA had calculated that the historic handshake would have taken place over the British seaside resort of Bognor Regis, [1] but a delay resulted in its actual occurrence being over the town of Metz in France. [2]

The two spacecraft remained linked for 44 hours, long enough for the three Americans and two Soviets to exchange flags and gifts (including tree seeds which were later planted in the two countries), sign certificates, pay visits to each other's ships, eat together and converse in each other's languages. There were also docking and redocking maneuvers during which the two spacecraft reversed roles and the Soyuz became the "active" ship. The Soviets remained in space for five days, the Americans for nine, during which the Soviets also conducted experiments in Earth observation.

Image:Soyuz 19 (Apollo Soyuz Test Project) spacecraft.jpg While docked, the two crews conducted joint scientific experiments and spent time in each others' craft. After forty-four hours together, the two ships separated, and maneuvered to use the Apollo to create an artificial solar eclipse to allow the crew of the Soyuz to take photographs of the solar corona. Another brief docking was made before the ships went their separate ways.

The mission was a great success, both technically and as a public-relations exercise for both sides. As an aside, the Apollo-Soyuz mission was the first mission carrying a handheld programmable pocket calculator (the HP-65); the calculator was programmed to perform several backup computations to partly stand in for the Apollo mission computer in case the latter should malfunction or cease to function altogether (neither of which occurred).

Image:ASTBLaunch.jpg

The only serious problem that arose was due to the Apollo crew making a mistake during their preparations for re-entry that resulted in a very rough landing and the capsule filling with noxious fumes. The reaction control system was inadvertently left on during descent, producing uncombusted thruster propellant which was then sucked into the capsule as its pressure equalized with the outside air. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.

This was the final flight of an Apollo spacecraft. The Command Module is on display at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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