Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first crewed U.S.-Soviet space mission and the first international docking between crewed spacecraft. Soyuz 19 launched from Baikonur Site 1/5 on July 15, 1975, followed by Apollo CSM-111 aboard the final Saturn IB, SA-210, from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B. The spacecraft docked on July 17 and remained linked for nearly two days while Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand, Deke Slayton, Aleksei Leonov, and Valeriy Kubasov exchanged visits, conducted joint experiments, and tested docking procedures. Soyuz landed near Arkalyk on July 21; Apollo splashed down west of Hawaii on July 24. The flight became both a symbolic close to the early Space Race and an operational foundation for later international crewed cooperation.