Apollo-Sojus-Test-Projekt: Ein tiefer Einblick
Video from the channel World Wonders about Apollo–Soyuz, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 16:07. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
Narrated explainer piece about the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), the orbital rendezvous of a US and a Soviet spacecraft in July 1975. It covers its origins, crew preparation, the flight itself and the mission's legacy, in a tone more inspirational than technical.
Historical context
The video places the mission within the Cold War and the Space Race: Sputnik 1 in 1957, Yuri Gagarin's flight in 1961, Valentina Tereshkova's in 1963 and the US response with the Moon goal. According to the narration, in 1972 Richard Nixon and Alexei Kosygin signed the space cooperation agreement that gave rise to the ASTP. Engineers from both countries designed a compatible docking system, and astronauts and cosmonauts trained together in both countries, learning each other's language.
Key facts
On 15 July 1975 the Soyuz carrying Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov launched from Baikonur; about seven and a half hours later the Apollo with Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton launched from Cape Canaveral. Docking took place on 17 July and the spacecraft remained joined for about 44 hours, during which the crews exchanged gifts and ran experiments on the solar corona, Earth's atmosphere and the effects of spaceflight on biological and physical materials. The piece highlights the androgynous APAS docking system, which allowed either spacecraft to dock with the other, and presents the mission as a forerunner of the International Space Station.