Apollo–Soyuz

Apollo–Soyuz was the first crewed international <a href="/facts/Space_exploration/2eKXYVdq">space mission</a>, carried out jointly by the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> and the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> in July 1975. Millions of people around the world watched on television as an American <a href="/facts/Apollo_command_and_service_module/rfoTgzFx">Apollo</a> spacecraft <a href="/facts/Docking_and_berthing_of_spacecraft/zUWc9rvu">docked</a> with a Soviet <a href="/facts/Soyuz_(spacecraft)/meooRg7U">Soyuz</a> capsule. The project, and its "handshake" in space, was a symbol of <a href="/facts/D%25C3%25A9tente/04U1rTlj">détente</a> between the two superpowers amid the <a href="/facts/Cold_War/spJdJQ3q">Cold War</a>.
The Americans officially called the mission the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) while the Soviets called it Experimental flight "Soyuz"–"Apollo" (<a href="/facts/Russian_language/ETXrTgHV">Russian</a>: Экспериментальный полёт «Союз»–«Аполлон», <a href="/facts/Romanization_of_Russian/FoQM4wI4">romanized</a>: Eksperimentalniy polyot "Soyuz"–"Apollon") and Soyuz 19. The unnumbered American spacecraft was left over from <a href="/facts/Canceled_Apollo_missions/617K7HW9">canceled Apollo missions</a> and was the last Apollo module to fly.
The mission consisted of three American astronauts (<a href="/facts/Thomas_P._Stafford/0hBPpDma">Thomas P. Stafford</a>, <a href="/facts/Vance_D._Brand/3Rk42YBj">Vance D. Brand</a>, and <a href="/facts/Deke_Slayton/Lc71Aylj">Deke Slayton</a>) and two Soviet cosmonauts (<a href="/facts/Alexei_Leonov/m410Rt3D">Alexei Leonov</a> and <a href="/facts/Valery_Kubasov/SoeUkrbv">Valery Kubasov</a>) who performed both joint and separate scientific experiments, including an arranged <a href="/facts/Solar_eclipse/2XsCFG1a">eclipse of the Sun</a> by the Apollo module to allow instruments on the Soyuz to take photographs of the <a href="/facts/Stellar_corona/W4WNqV9u">solar corona</a>. The pre-flight work provided useful experience for later joint American–Russian space flights, such as the <a href="/facts/Shuttle%25E2%2580%2593Mir_program/oU65ty8U">Shuttle–Mir program</a> and the <a href="/facts/International_Space_Station/VNPUBz9m">International Space Station</a>.
Apollo–Soyuz was the last crewed United States spaceflight for nearly six years until <a href="/facts/STS-1/DLnJNV3G">the first launch</a> of the <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle/7BoyetEv">Space Shuttle</a> on 12 April 1981, and the last crewed United States spaceflight in a <a href="/facts/Space_capsule/wd4mpTCX">space capsule</a> until <a href="/facts/Crew_Dragon_Demo-2/0D3BuCxE">Crew Dragon Demo-2</a> on 30 May 2020.

Apollo–Soyuz open-in-new

Apollo–Soyuz