Apollo‑Soyuz shaking hands

The rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union was concluded by a joint mission – the product of improving relations between the United States and the Soviet Union which allowed the Soviets to appear to be on equal terms. It was also an experiment into the possibilities ofdeveloping an international space station. Lindsay:

On 5 July 1975 the Soviets made their first televised launch. It wasSoyuz 19. Thiswas theirpartofthe Saturn‑Apollo launch.

Although he was 51, Deke Slayton finally got a space flight. Tom Stafford had trained with the Soviet cosmonauts on their systems and in their language. Vance Brand completed the Apollo crew. Aleksei Leonov and Valery Kubasov were the Soyuz crew. As they shot into orbit, Slayton called: “Man, I tell you, this is worth waiting 13 years for, this is a helluva lot of fun – I’ve never felt so free.”

By 8.00 am on 17 July the two spacecraft were approaching one another. When they were 322 km apart Brand told Houston: “OK, we’ve got Soyuz in the sextant.”

Apollo did all the maneouvring because Soyuz didn’t have enough fuel or a window. It took 388 kg to make the rendezvous and Soyuz only carried 136 kg. On their 36th orbit Apollo got to within 30 metres. “I’m approaching Soyuz,” called Stafford in Russian. Leonov rolled Soyuz around 60° to help line up the two spacecraft. “Oh please don’t forget your engine,” he called in English. Everyone appreciated the joke. “Three metres… one metre… capture… we have succeeded,” called Stafford. “Well done Tom, that was a good show. Apollo, Soyuz shaking hands now,” said Leonov. Lindsay:

The Apollo was fitted with a docking adapter module. The astronauts were the first to visit. They had to equalise the pressure before they could open the hatch. They stayed together for 44 hours.

The Apollo missions ended with drama in their final moments. As they re‑entered the atmosphere, there was a loud and painful squealontheir intercom. “Theinterferencewas so loud that we had to take our masks off and yell at one another,” Stafford said. He instructed Brand to turn on the automatic landing sequence but Brand couldn’t hear. The drogue parachutes failed to appear on schedule. Brand activated them manually but the automatic attitude control system remained on. So when the capsule began swinging under the parachute the automatic attitude control system began firing the thrusters. Brand shut them down but some gas remained smoking from the thrusters. When the ventilation valve opened the gas was sucked into the cabin. (The ventilation valve equalised the air pressure). The crew began coughing and their eyes burnt and stung. When they hit the water they were still in distress. The capsule turned upside down. Stafford said, “It was touch and go. The oxygen ran out just as we got upright.”

After a few days they had completely recovered. It was the end of an era – the reusable shuttle would take over the task of taking men into orbit.