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Space embrace - milestone Soyuz-Apollo mission turns 35
Published: 19 July, 2010, 14:34
Edited: 22 July, 2010, 19:30
TAGS: Anniversary, Space, Russia, History, USA
Soviet-era cosmonauts and American astronauts who performed the first international space mission are celebrating the flight's 35th anniversary.
The Soyuz-Apollo mission in 1975 was the first joint space venture between the US and the Soviet Union, and marked a new era of co-operation.
For two days, from July 17 to July 19, Russian and American spacecrafts were docked to each other and two Russians and three Americans conducted joint and separate scientific experiments and training, though primarily the mission was symbolic. Astronauts and cosmonauts shook hands to put an end to the space race that started when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite – Sputnik – in 1957.
A special collar docking unit was built to make the mission possible as Soyuz and Apollo naturally had different docking systems and could not be hard-docked together directly.
On Monday the surviving members of the historic mission were present at the Moscow Space Museum to share with the public and each other memories of the event that eased the tensions between the two countries.
But it was more than just easing relations – it was the beginning of a joint conquest of space that 20 years later transformed into the Shuttle-MIR program, in which the American space shuttle docked to the Russian MIR space station. It was unofficially announced as Phase 1, while Phase 2 saw the merging of the American space station program Freedom and the MIR-2 project, which now form the International Space Station.
It is believed that the practice, the technology and the ability to work together 35 years ago laid the foundation for the ISS, which is alive and active today.
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There is an Italian journalist Luca Scantamburlo who claims that, apart from Apollo 18 (aka Apololo-Soyuz), there were also joint US-SSSR missions designated by Apollo 19 and Apollo 20 that took place in 1976. They were to closely examine an interesting "geological" feature (GF) on the Moon far side in the area about 160km north from Izsak crater (south-west from Delporte). The GF is cigar shaped, approximatelly 4km long, 0.5km high, and it is allegedly the wreckage of a huge ancient space-craft. Supposedly, a Lunokhod vehicle (Lunokhod 3?) was sent there in 1975 to collect some data and photos, and to act as a becon for the subsequent landing of Apollo 20. The GF is clearly visible on NASA World Wind and in some old Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 photos. There are also two smaller crafts of the smaller size at some 10-12km off the GF: one is to the west (better preserved) and the other one straight to the north (more damaged). Some people believe that shaking hands in the joint Apollo 18 mission in 1975 was only a preparation for what was going to follow a year later. The alleged ancient craft is clearly seen on panoramic images AS15-P-9625 and AS15-P-9630. On the AS15-P-9632 image are also clearly visible two nearby triangular crafts (after zoom-in is made several times).