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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo–Soyuz | 4/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo–Soyuz | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T12:35:17.063113+00:00 | kb-cron |
The mission was considered a great success, both technically and as a public-relations exercise for both nations. The only serious problem was during reentry and splashdown of the Apollo craft, during which the crew were accidentally exposed to toxic monomethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide fumes, caused by unignited reaction control system (RCS) hypergolic propellants venting from the spacecraft and reentering a cabin air intake. The RCS was inadvertently left on during descent, and the toxic fumes were sucked into the spacecraft as it drew in outside air. Brand briefly lost consciousness, while Stafford retrieved emergency oxygen masks, put one on Brand, and gave one to Slayton. The three astronauts were hospitalized for two weeks in Honolulu, Hawaii. Brand took responsibility for the mishap; because of high noise levels in the cabin during reentry, he believed he was unable to hear Stafford call off one item of the reentry checklist, the closure of two switches which would have automatically shut off the RCS and begun drogue parachute deployment. These procedures were manually performed later than usual, allowing the ingestion of the propellant fumes through the ventilation system. The ASTP was the final flight of an Apollo spacecraft. Immediately after the launch of the Apollo spacecraft, preparations began to convert LC-39B and the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center for use by the Space Shuttle, the United States' next crewed spacecraft program. LC-39A had already been closed after the launch of Skylab.
== Legacy ==
=== Technical ===
A derivative (but mechanically incompatible) docking collar, APAS-89, was launched as part of the Kristall module of the Soviet Mir space station. Originally intended as the docking port for the Buran Soviet space shuttle, the APAS-89 unit was used for the next Russian–American docking mission, STS-71, twenty years later as part of the Shuttle–Mir program (though not before the docking port was tested by the last APAS-equipped Soyuz, Soyuz TM-16, in 1993). The American Space Shuttle continued to use the same APAS-89 docking hardware through the end of the Space Shuttle program to dock to Mir and then the International Space Station, the latter through the Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMAs). The PMAs are equipped with the later APAS-95 adapters, which differ from the APAS-89 adapters in that they are no longer androgynous; while compatible with the APAS-89 docking collars, they are not capable of acting as the "active" partner in docking. The first PMA, PMA-1, remains in use as the interface connecting the Russian-built, NASA-owned Zarya module to the US segment of the ISS (USOS), and so the APAS continues in use to this day (2024).
=== Political === Apollo–Soyuz was the first joint US–Soviet space mission. At the time it was thought that space would become either more international or competitive as a result, but it became both. The mission became symbolic of each country's goals of scientific cooperation, while their news reports downplayed the technical prowess of the other. Soviet press implied that it was leading the United States in space flight, tying it to the Marxist–Leninist ideology, while the United States reported that the Soyuz was technically primitive. High-profile space cooperation declined after the successful mission and became entangled in linkage politics, but it set a precedent of cooperation that continued in the Shuttle–Mir Program.
=== Cultural ===
The American and Soviet commanders, Stafford and Leonov, became lasting friends. Leonov was the godfather of Stafford's younger children. Stafford gave a eulogy at Leonov's funeral in October 2019. An asteroid, 2228 Soyuz-Apollo, discovered in 1977 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh, is named after the mission. To commemorate Apollo–Soyuz, renowned British/Irish bartender Joe Gilmore of The Savoy Hotel's American Bar created the 'Link-Up' cocktail. When the astronauts were told the cocktail was being flown out from London to be enjoyed on their return, they said, "Tell Joe we want it up here".
=== Scientific === The Apollo craft carried the SAG telescope designed to observe in the extreme ultraviolet. Across several orbits of observing the instrument discovered two ultraviolet sources, HZ 43 and FEIGE 24, both of which were white dwarfs. Other stars observed included, Proxima Centauri (a Red Dwarf), SS Cygni (a Binary star), and Sirius (also a Binary star). A third possible discovery was an unknown object in the Pavo constellation. The star HD 192273 was later suggested as a candidate for the Pavo observation but further study concluded that the star's distance and spectral class made this unlikely.
== Spacecraft locations ==
The Apollo command module from the mission is on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The descent module of Soyuz 19 is on display at the RKK Energiya museum in Korolyov, Russia. A display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. shows the docked Apollo/Soyuz configuration. The display is made up of the unflown Apollo Command and Service Module 105 (used for vibration testing for the Skylab program), the back-up Docking Module, and an unflown Soyuz spacecraft, on loan from the Russian government.
== Commemorations ==
The United States Postal Service issued the Apollo–Soyuz commemorative stamps, honoring the United States–Soviet link up in space, on 15 July 1975, the day of the launch. The remaining crew's most recent reunion was on 16 July 2010, when Leonov, Kubasov, Stafford, and Brand met at an Omega timepiece store in New York City. All except Leonov participated in a public roundtable that evening. Omega had produced several watches to be used on the mission.
=== Monument ===
A large Soyuz–Apollo monument was constructed outside the Soviet (now Russian) space control center RKA Mission Control Center (Russian acronym: TsUP) in Moscow. It consisted of a metal scale model of Earth overarched by an arc terminating in the joined Soyuz–Apollo spacecraft. It was damaged when a vehicle collided with it in the late 1990s, and was removed for repairs.
=== Mission Control Center === The mission control room that hosted the Americans in Korolyov, Russia, was preserved as a memorial to the Soyuz–Apollo mission.