Episode 74: Space Stations, Part II

 

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Program was a joint space mission that saw two cosmonauts in a Soyuz capsule dock with three astronauts in an Apollo module for nearly two days. It was planned during a thaw in Cold War tensions but by the time it was carried out, the détente was over and Cold War rivalries were back in full swing. As such, this would be the final US-Russian cooperation in space for twenty years.

The US delegation consisted of Docking Module Pilot and original Mercury 7 astronaut Deke Slayton (left, wearing an Omega Speedmaster on his left wrist!), Commander Tom Stafford (standing left), and Command Module Pilot Vance Brand (center). The Soviet delegation was Commander Alexei Leonov, from the USSR's first class of cosmonauts (standing right) and Flight Engineer Valeri Kubasov (right).

There were two insignias for this mission. The official insignia, jointly designed by NASA and the Soviet space agency, with Apollo in English and Soyuz in Russian, around a stylized Earth and the silhouette of docked Apollo and Soyuz capsules.

The astronauts also designed an insignia for unofficial use that was a more realistic depiction of the official insignia and also included the astronauts' and cosmonauts' names.

The historic handshake between Leonov (left) and Stafford (right), the two commanders of the two crews, took place over the French city, Metz, and was seen by millions of people around the word.

Mercury 7 astronaut Deke Slayton was 51-years-old at the time of his first mission, and was the last of NASA's original astronaut class to make it to space and the oldest person to go to space at that time. His majestic gray flat top and gold Omega Speedmaster are just two of the reasons this is my favorite astronaut portrait. 

Slayton (seen here with Soviet commander Leonov) knew this would be his only spaceflight and made the most of it. When he saw the Earth from orbit for the first time, he remarked that it was a sight worth waiting sixteen years for.