Apollo-Soyuz Docks: Cold War Rivals Unite in Space
American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft docked in orbit on July 17, 1975, and astronaut Tom Stafford reached through the hatch to shake cosmonaut Alexei Leonov's hand 140 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. The two crews exchanged gifts, shared meals, and conducted joint experiments over two days. The mission required solving a fundamental engineering problem: Apollo used pure oxygen at low pressure while Soyuz used a nitrogen-oxygen mix at higher pressure, necessitating a custom docking module that served as an airlock. This handshake in space was the final flight of an Apollo spacecraft and the last American crewed mission until the Space Shuttle launched six years later.
July 17, 1975
51 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Apollo program
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orbit
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Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
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Soyuz spacecraft
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Soyuz spacecraft
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Apollo–Soyuz Test Project
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Apollo–Soyuz
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Apollo program
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Soyuz (spacecraft)
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Orbit
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Apolo
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Spacecraft
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Space Race
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Space rendezvous
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Programme spatial des États-Unis
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Soviet space program
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What Else Happened on July 17
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Joan of Arc had lifted the siege of Orleans, opened a path through English-held territory, and personally accompanied the reluctant Dauphin Charles to Reims, wh…
Jean Bureau positioned 300 cannons in a fortified camp outside Castillon and waited. The English commander John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, charged anyway—73 ye…
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