The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint US-Soviet space flight and the last crewed US space mission until the Space Shuttle program. The US side of mission began on July 15, 1975, 19:50:00 UTC, launching Commander Thomas P. Stafford, Command Module Pilot Vance D. Brand and Docking Module Pilot Donald K. Slayton into orbit. Two days later, they docked with the Soyuz 19 spacecraft. American and Soviet crews visited each other's spacecrafts, performed docking and redocking maneuvers, conducted joint scientific experiments, exchanged flags and gifts. Crews spent more than 44 hours together, and after final parting of the ships on July 19, Apollo crew spent nine more days in orbit, conducting Earth observation experiments. The Apollo crew returned to Earth on July 24, 1975, 21:18:0 UTC with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 19 was a part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, which was the first joint US-Soviet space flight. The Soviet side of mission began on July 15, 1975, 12:20:00 UTC, launching Commander Alexey Leonov and Flight Engineer Valeri Kubasov into orbit. Two days later, they docked with the Apollo spacecraft. American and Soviet crews visited each other's spacecrafts, performed docking and redocking maneuvers, conducted joint scientific experiments, exchanged flags and gifts. Crews spent more than 44 hours together, and after final parting of the ships Soviet crew spent five more days in orbit. Soyuz 19 returned to Earth with a safe landing on July 21, 1975, 10:50:00 UTC.
Low Earth Orbit