The Apollo Soyuz Test Project A Thaw in the Cold War

Video from the channel Barbara A Newitt about Apollo–Soyuz, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 9:59. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

This short documentary is a school project that won first place in the junior category at the South Dakota National History Day phase. It presents the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project as a gesture of Cold War détente, symbolized by the handshake in orbit between the American and Soviet crews.

The story begins at the end of the Second World War, when Wernher von Braun and his team from the V2 rocket program surrendered to American troops and went on to work for the United States under Operation Paperclip. It continues with the 1957 launch of Sputnik 1 from Baikonur, which opened the space race, Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the Moon, and the success of Apollo 11 in 1969. NASA's first contacts in 1970 and the 1972 Moscow summit between Brezhnev and Nixon eventually shaped a joint mission, preceded by mutual visits to the training centers.

Soyuz 19, with Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov on board, lifted off from Baikonur on July 15, 1975. That same day Apollo lifted off from Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center, aboard a Saturn IB, with Tom Stafford, Deke Slayton and Vance Brand. Both spacecraft were joined through a docking module that served as an adapter. The crews shared meals, experiments and televised visits to the two spacecraft. According to the video, Apollo returned on July 24.