American and Soviet crews were launched today in 1975 for the first handshakes in space between the two superpowers as part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The Soviet Soyuz with cosmonauts Aleksey Leonov and Valeriy Kubasov was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome about seven hours before the American Apollo-Saturn 1B with Tom Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton lifted off from Kennedy Space Center.
Mission Reports
Live coverage: Veteran three-man crew docks with space station
Three fresh crew members lifted off at 1541 GMT (11:41 a.m. EDT) Friday on a six-hour trip to the International Space Station, riding a Soyuz spaceship from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio hails from Russia, the United States and Italy and boosted the station’s crew back to a full complement of six. Docking occurred at 2154 GMT (5:54 p.m. EDT).