Apollo–Soyuz Test Project was a program of co-pilot manned flight of the Soviet spacecraft "Soyuz-19" and the American "Apollo" spacecraft implemented on July 15, 1975. The main objectives of the program included: testing of orbit approach compatible elements; testing of the active-passive docking assembly; verification of technology and equipment to ensure the transition of astronauts from one ship to another; accumulation of experience in conducting joint flight of Soviet and American spacecrafts. In addition, the program included examination of inter-ship communication and coordination of actions of the Soviet and American mission control centers.
The initiator of such a joint flight was NASA. Special modifications of "Soyuz" and "Apollo" were designed for this collaboration program. Joint Soviet-American working groups were working on technical solutions that arose. Such complex issues related to ensuring compatibility of mutual location and orbit approach of spacecraft, smooth functioning of their docking units, life support systems and equipment for the mutual transition of astronauts from one ship to another.
This development is one of the few established within the framework of collaborated space programs, the basic elements of which are used to this day. Modern versions of Androgynous Peripheral Attach System, which are currently produced in Russia, make it possible for the Russian docking sites to dock to spacecraft of other countries, and also allow these ships to dock with the ISS modules.
This first international flight of spacecraft marked an important stage in the development of astronautics and opened a new chapter in international cooperation in the exploration and development of the outer space. Back then, in the era of the “Cold War”, thanks to this flight, a contact between the space industry of the USSR and the USA was established. However, the next joint US-USSR manned flight took place only in 20 years after this, within the Shuttle–Mir Program.
Bibliography
Ezell, Edward & Linda Neuman Ezell. The Partnership: A NASA History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2011).
Wilson, Jim. “Apollo-Soyuz: An Orbital Partnership Begins”. NASA. Last modified 10 July 2015. https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/astp.html
