| Title |
APOLLO-SOYUZ TEST
PROJECT |
|
Date-wise Events |
July 17, 1975 –
docking in space |
|
Objective |
Docking of
spacecrafts and handshake by astronauts / cosmonauts |
|
Description |
- It was the the first joint U.S./Soviet space flight.
- It was the last flight of the Apollo spacecraft.
- The Soyuz and Apollo flights launched within
seven-and-a-half hours of each other on 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.
- While the two ships were docked, the three Americans and
two Soviets conducted joint scientific experiments,
exchanged flags and gifts (including tree seeds which were
later planted in the two countries), signed certificates,
visited each other's ships, ate together, and conversed in
each other's languages.
- The US Postal Service issued the Apollo–Soyuz
commemorative stamps, honouring the United
States–Soviet link up in space, on July 15, 1975, the day of
the launch.
- In the wake of the mission, a large Soyuz–Apollo
monument was constructed outside TsUP (the Soviet,
later Russian space control center) in Moscow.
|
|
