The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

34 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP)
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Apollo Commander Thomas Stafford (in foreground) and Soyuz Commander Alexei Leonov make
their historic handshake in space during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The handshake took place after the hatch to the Universal
Docking Adapter was opened. NASA
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP)
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of each other’s vehicles. If the cosmonauts had transferred
directly to Apollo, they would have suffered from
the bends. Other differences, such as language, were not
so easily resolved. The cosmonauts and astronauts agreed
to talk with their respective mission controllers in their
native tongues, while in-flight communication between
the crews would rely mostly on gestures and sign language.
National pride also played its part: Americans
referred to the mission as the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project,
Soviets as the Soyuz-Apollo Test Project.
Soyuz 19 was launched about seven hours ahead of its
Apollo counterpart. Once in orbit, the Apollo craft separated
from its spent S-IVB booster, turned around, docked
with the ASTP docking module, then chased Soyuz 19 to
a rendezvous, completing a docking at 12:10 P.M.EDT on
July 17, 1975. Stafford and Slayton entered the docking
module and adjusted the air pressure inside, and, finally,
in an event broadcast live on global television, the two
cosmonauts entered through their side of the docking
module and shook hands with the waiting astronauts. The
two crews conducted experiments together, shared each
other’s accommodations and meals, and took part in a
variety of press conferences and other live broadcasts.
Messages were relayed from the crews directly to President
Ford and Premier Brezhnev. The two spacecraft remained
docked for two days, then undocked and re-docked for
practice purposes, before returning to Earth. Soyuz 19
landed in Russia on July 21, while the Apollo craft remained
in space another three days to conduct more onorbit
experiments.
At splashdown a tragedy was only narrowly averted.
Difficulties with communications following reentry had