History Daily - The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

Episode Date: July 15, 2026

July 15, 1975. In an ambitious space mission at the height of the Cold War, American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts attempt to rendezvous in orbit. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

You hear that? That's Rogers Red Partner program at work in your business. Bringing more customers through your door with additional cash back for eligible Rogers Red Credit Cardholders. And more savings to your bottom line with lower transaction fees. Give your business a real edge with Rogers Red Partner program. More than a point of sale, a sign of smarter business. Learn more at Rogers.com slash Red Partner. It's July 15, 1975, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Tom Stafford lies in his seat and stares at his spacecraft's bank of instruments and switches.

There's a deep rumble from below, and the capsule begins to shake as the rocket engines ignite. Beside him, the two other astronauts on board tense nervously. But Tom is perfectly calm. At the age of 44, he's been at NASA for more than a decade, and this will be his fourth trip into space. Still, even his stomach lurches as this spacecraft shifts beneath him. Outside, the mechanical arm securing the rocket to the launch pad swing away. On the instrument panel, the mission clock begins.

Tom is pressed back in his seat as the rocket surges into the sky. Stafford and the two astronauts beside him are the 31st American crew to blast off for space, but theirs is a mission like no other. Seven and a half hours ago, a Soviet-Soyuz capsule blasted off from the Bikonor Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Tom's spacecraft is due to link up with it, high above Earth. If he succeeds, it won't just be a remarkable technological achievement. It will mark a rare moment of cooperation in the Cold War between the two superpowers. The capsule shudders as the spent first stage falls away.

Then the second stage engines ignite, pushing the rocket higher toward orbit, and a historic rendezvous in space. The Apollo Soyuz test project is an ambitious undertaking. The two crews will only meet up in space if they both execute their missions flawlessly. Three years of planning and preparation have led to this moment when two near-simultaneous launches carried into space the hope of a more peaceful world on July 15, 1975.

You hear that? That's Roger's Red Partner Program at Work in Your Business. Bringing more customers through your door with additional cashback for eligible Rogers Red Credit Cardholders. And more savings to your bottom line with lower transaction fees. Give your business a real edge with Rogers Red Partner program. More than a point of sale, a sign of smarter business. Learn more at Rogers.com slash Red Partner. An inspirational portrait of a farmer's son who rises from humble beginnings to build a luxury fashion empire.

Brunello, the gracious visionary. Traces Brunello Cucinelli's life journey. His commitment to craftsmanship, ethical values, and humanistic philosophy. Directed by Academy Award winner Giuseppe Tonatore, the film blends documentary and fiction, an intimate look at the Italian entrepreneur known as the King of Kashmir. See Brunello, the gracious visionary, in Select Theater's July 24th. You hear that? That's Roger's Red Partner Program at Work in Your Business.

Bringing more customers through your door, with additional cash back for eligible Rogers Red Credit Cardholders. And more savings to your bottom line with lower transaction fees. Give your business a real edge with Rogers Red Partner program. More than a point of sale, a sign of smarter business. Learn more at Rogers.com slash Red Partner. From Noisor and Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily. History is made every day.

On this podcast, every day, we tell the truth. true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is July 15, 1975, the Apollo Soyuz Test Project. It's July 8, 1972, at NASA's Man Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, three years before the launch of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project. Tom Stafford leans forward and rests his elbows on a conference table. He tries to keep the confusion off his face as he's strange to understand the thick accents of the visitors on the other side of the table. Strewn across the polished wood between them are technical drawings and engineering diagrams, all annotated with scribbled notes, some in English and others in Russian.

Only a few years ago, the idea of Soviet scientists being welcomed into the heart of NASA would have been unthinkable. For more than 20 years, the United States and the Soviet Union have been locked in bitter competition. They have vied for supremacy and everything from sports to technology. They've even come close to nuclear war on at least one occasion. But recently, relations between the two superpowers have begun to thaw. The two governments have signed an agreement to cooperate in at least one sphere, space. The United States may have won the competition to put a man on the moon, but there's still so much they could learn from the Soviet space program.

And both sides share a common human desire to explore the cosmos. Now it's up to men like Tom to shape exactly what form this cooperation will take and for the last three months, he's been taking a crash course in Russian to prepare for this moment. A meeting with scientists from the other side of the Iron Curtain is not what Tom imagined when he first joined NASA. Tom is a former test pilot, who is now one of the United States most experienced astronauts. He's been into space three times and orbited the moon on Apollo 10. But his responsibilities as a senior astronaut increasingly keep him tied up in meetings, but few have been more important than this conference with the men from the men from the world.

the USSR. Tom works up the courage to speak a few sentences in Russian. His accent needs work, though. The Soviet delegation looks puzzled, and a translator standing in the corner of the room has to repeat Tom's words for him. The scientists then begin talking among themselves, speaking so quickly that Tom loses track of the conversation almost immediately. He leans back in his chair and slowly shakes his head, wondering how they'll ever manage to work together. Despite the language barriers, though, the two sides gradually find common ground. They begin turning a diplomatic agreement into a workable flight plan for an unprecedented rendezvous in orbit. An American Apollo command and service module will dock with the Soviet Soyuz capsule. Once the two are joined, the astronauts and

cosmonauts will meet and conduct joint experiments, and together they'll demonstrate that the two space programs can work side by side before they undock and return separately to Earth. So over the next few months, scientists on both sides work around the clock. The mission plan sounds simple on paper, but it's extremely complicated. And the more the teams study each other's spacecraft, the more incompatibilities they find. One major problem is that the Apollo command module is pressurized to 5 PSI with a pure oxygen atmosphere. But the Soyuz capsule uses a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, pressurized to 15 PSI.

Connecting the two spacecraft would create dangerous, pressure differentials that could cause a catastrophic malfunction. And engineers declare that redesigning either spacecraft's life support system would be impractical. Fearing that the entire mission could be over before it's really begun, NASA set some of its best minds on the problem, and they eventually devise a solution. The Apollo command module is already fitted with a docking unit that allowed it to link up to the lunar landers on the missions to the moon. NASA engineers modify this system so it can attached to a specially built docking module. The Apollo spacecraft will link at one end,

the Soyuz capsule will link at the other. This module in the middle will then act as a kind of airlock, allowing the pressure and atmosphere to be adjusted safely as crew members move between the two spacecraft. So now, with the mission back on track, Tom Stafford continues to work closely with his Soviet counterparts. He travels to Star City outside Moscow, the center of the Soviet space program. He represents NASA at the funeral of a Soviet cosmonaut killed during a mission, and his Russian gradually improves until he can comfortably hold conversations. But Tom doesn't want to be just a liaison. He wants to return to space himself, and in January 1973, he receives the news he's been hoping for. He's been selected to command the Apollo crew that will join up with the Soviets

in space. The next three years will be spent training, planning, and preparing for this mission. But NASA has never attempted an international project of this complexity, and before Apollo and Soyuz can meet in orbit, a near-disaster aboard a Soviet spacecraft will threaten to derail the entire venture. It's April 5, 1975, in the sky above Kazakhstan, two years after Tom Stafford was named the American commander of the Apollo Soyuz test project. 47-year-old cosmonaut Vasily Lazarov stares straight ahead, concentrating on his breathing as powerful G-forces press him into his seat. Soyuz 18A blasted off just five minutes ago, and now it's making the final push to reach

orbit. But suddenly, without warning, a violent vibration shakes the spacecraft. A red alarm flashes on the control panel. The Silly's heart sinks. A booster separation has failed. He knows what happens next, but he has no control over it. The spacecraft's automatic abort system will activate, separating the Soyuz capsule from the rocket and sending it back toward Earth.

It's a scenario Vasili and his crewmate have trained for countless times, but today something isn't right. Vasili suddenly feels his body grow impossibly heavy. The G-forces climb far beyond anything he's experienced before, and he begins to wonder if this is how his life ends. Since the crews for the Apollo-Soyuz test project were selected, the U.S. and USSR have cooperated in ways that once would have seemed unimaginable. Both space programs have opened their doors to their former rivals.

Soviet engineers have been granted access to the Apollo spacecraft. American engineers have been invited inside the Soyuz capsule, and it's not just the engineers. The crews have spent months visiting each other's countries. American astronauts have attended lavish receptions in Moscow. Soviet cosmonauts have toured Disneyland. And as they've trained together, cautious, professional respect has gradually evolved into genuine friendship. Still, tensions remain. Working with the enemy is far from universally popular,

and many American politicians have called for the Apollo-Soyuz project to be canceled. So any setback will put extra pressure on NASA to pull out, and that's exactly what might be happening in the sky above Asia. As Soyuz 18A plunges back toward Earth, Picili struggles just to breathe. He tries to turn his head toward his crewmate, but the crushing forces won't allow it. He calls out, but all that escapes his lips is a muffled grunt.

For minutes, all the Silly can do is fight to stay conscious. Then there's a violent jolt, as though the Soyuz capsule has hit a brick wall, and the G-forces begin to ease. The Silly draws a deep breath and regains his composure. The parachutes have opened, and the capsule is no longer in freefall. Still, the danger's not over yet. Despite the parachutes, the capsule still slams into the ground with bulgeons. own rattling force. Then it starts to roll over and over as though tumbling down a hill.

Finally, it comes to a stop. For several minutes, Vassili remains strapped into his seat, recovering for the most violent ride of his life. When he finally unfastens his harness, he discovers that his fellow cosmonaut has somehow survived as well. The two men open the hatch and climb outside, finding themselves on a snow-covered mountainside, and only now do they realize just how close they came to disaster. The capsule came to rest near a steep drop, held in place by a snagged parachute. Had the spacecraft gone over the cliff, the two cosmonauts would surely have been killed. Instead, Vasili and his crewmate pull on cold weather gear and set off in search of help.

When they reach a village, they finally find out where they are, the remote Al-Ty Mountains of southern Siberia. They finally make contact with mission control and a rescue helicopter. is dispatched. In the past, the Soviet authorities have tried to cover up accidents like this, but the upcoming mission with NASA means they feel they have to tell the Americans. So in a report, they admit that the launch was aborted after a booster failed to detach properly. But they stress that the Apollo Soyuz mission will use a different, more modern rocket.

That's not enough for some in the American Congress, and the revelations about the accident lead to renewed calls for the project to be canceled. But NASA leadership strongly opposes the idea, and the mission is allowed to continue. On July 15, 1975, a Soyuz capsule is successfully launched into orbit from Bikonor Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Seven and a half hours later, three American astronauts follow from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Two days later, the spacecraft will finally draw together in orbit. The Apollo docking unit will successfully lock onto the Soyuz capsule. The airlock will be opened, and the spacecraft will be opened, and the spacecraft will be able.

the most unlikely partnership of the Cold War will become reality. It's July 17, 1975, aboard the Apollo Command and Service module in orbit above the Earth two days after the launch of Apollo Soyuz. American Commander Tom Stafford steps on the hatch of the docking unit. A hollow metallic sound rings through the spacecraft. A moment later, someone taps back from the other side. In Russian, Tom jokingly asks, who's there? Three hours ago, the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft met and docked in orbit.

Since then, both crews have painstakingly equalized the pressure inside the docking module between the two spacecraft. Now the final checks are complete, and the historic moment has arrived. It's time for Americans and Soviets to meet in space. Tom pulls the hatch handle, and with a creek, the door swings open. On the other side is smiling cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who drifts toward him in the weightless atmosphere. The two men meet in the middle and warmly shake hands. And when the initial greetings are over, Soviet mission control reads a letter from Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, while the crews also receive a phone call from U.S. President Gerald Ford. Then they set to

work. The crews conduct scientific experiments and repeatedly practice docking and undocking procedures. They also find time to relax together. They share meals aboard both spacecraft, exchange gifts, listen to music and pose for photographs. Finally, after 47 hours locked together, the two-vessel separate. The Soviets spend one extra day in orbit and then return to Earth. Three days after that, the Americans also head home. Both crews land safely, and the mission is over. But it's not the last time the American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts involved will see each other.

Tom Stafford and Alexei Leonov will remain especially close friends. Alexi will become godfather to Tom's children, and years later, Tom will speak at Alexi's funeral in 2019. Their long friendship was unlikely, one that began in the most extraordinary circumstances with a handshake in orbit, two days after the Apollo Soyuz test project began on July 15, 1975. Next on History Daily, July 16, 1054. After years of increasing tension between East and West, Christianity, humanity is split in two by the great schism. From Noisor and Ayrship, this is History Daily.

Hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham. Audio editing by Mohamed Shazim, sound designed by Molly Bogg. Music by Thrum. This episode is written in research by Owen Paul Nichols, edited by Scott Reeves, managing producer Emily Byrd. Executive producers are William Simpson for Ayrship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.