Apollo-Sojus-Testprojekt: Ein detaillierter Einblick
Video from the channel Space Wonders about Apollo–Soyuz, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 16:07. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
Explainer documentary about the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), presented as the shift from rivalry to space cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Historical context
It summarises the Space Race: Sputnik 1 in 1957, Yuri Gagarin's flight in 1961, Valentina Tereshkova's in 1963 and the race to the Moon. According to the video, in 1972 Richard Nixon and Alexei Kosygin signed the cooperation agreement from which the project was born. The project required designing a compatible docking system and having the crews train together, in both countries, in English and Russian.
Key facts
On 15 July 1975 the Soyuz launched from Baikonur with Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov and, about seven and a half hours later, the Apollo launched from Florida with Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton. Docking took place on 17 July and the spacecraft stayed joined for about 44 hours. During that time they ran joint experiments on the solar corona, Earth's atmosphere and the effects of spaceflight on materials. The video attributes the link-up to an androgynous docking system, with no male-female configuration, which allowed either spacecraft to dock with the other, and presents the mission as a precedent for the International Space Station.