Soviet-American Apollo flight. Space flight under the Soyuz - Apollo program

Experimental flight "Apollo" - "Soyuz" (abbr. ASTP; more common name - the Soyuz program - "Apollo"; English Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP)), also known as Handshake in Space - a joint experimental program flight of the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz-19 and the American spacecraft Apollo.

The program was approved on May 24, 1972 by the Agreement between the USSR and the USA on cooperation in the research and use outer space for peaceful purposes.
Director of the Soyuz-Apollo Project Center accompanies the Russian delegation

The main goals of the program were:
testing elements of a compatible in-orbit rendezvous system;
Dick and Vance training in a pressure chamber

While studying in Houston

testing of active-passive docking units;
Thomas Stafford on a Soviet simulator

checking technology and equipment to ensure the transition of astronauts from ship to ship;
During training at the Soviet space center

accumulation of experience in conducting joint flights of spacecraft of the USSR and the USA.
From left to right: astronauts Donald Slayton K., D. Vance Brand and Thomas Stafford P., cosmonauts Valery Kubasov and Alexey Leonov

Press conference

Nixon looks at the Apollo command module after the briefing

In addition, the program involved studying the possibility of controlling the orientation of docked ships, testing inter-ship communications and coordinating the actions of the Soviet and American mission control centers.
Crews

American:
Thomas Stafford - commander, 4th flight;

Vance Brand - command module pilot, 1st flight;

Donald Slayton - docking module pilot, 1st flight;

Soviet:
Alexey Leonov and Valery Kubasov, Soyuz-19 crew

Alexey Leonov - commander, 2nd flight;
Valery Kubasov - flight engineer, 2nd flight.

Chronology of events
On July 15, 1975, at 15:20, Soyuz-19 was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome;

At 22:50, Apollo was launched from the Cape Canaveral launch site (using the Saturn 1B launch vehicle);
Launch vehicle "Saturn-1B" on the launcher

The Apollo crew poses near Saturn 1B on the site the day before launch

The day before the start

Before the start

Start

On July 17, at 19:12, the Soyuz and Apollo docked;
Apollo docking

Historical handshake

On July 19, the ships were undocking, after which, after two orbits of the Soyuz, the ships were re-docking, and after two more orbits the ships were finally undocked.
During a joint flight

Atmosphere on ships
At Apollo, people breathed pure oxygen under reduced pressure (≈0.35 atmospheric pressure), and at Soyuz, an atmosphere similar to the earth’s in composition and pressure was maintained. For this reason, direct transfer from ship to ship is impossible. To solve this problem, a transition compartment-gateway was specially developed and launched together with Apollo. To create the transition compartment, developments from the lunar module were used, in particular, the same docking unit was used to connect to the ship. Slayton's role was called "transition compartment pilot." Also, the atmospheric pressure in Apollo was slightly increased, and in Soyuz it was reduced to 530 mm Hg. Art., increasing the oxygen content to 40%. As a result, the duration of the desaturation process during sluicing was reduced from 8 hours to 30 minutes.
President Gerald Ford speaks to members of the American crew live

Flight time:
“Soyuz-19” - 5 days 22 hours 31 minutes;
"Apollo" - 9 days 1 hour 28 minutes;
Mission control center during the joint Soviet-American expedition

The total flight time when docked is 46 hours 36 minutes.
Apollo splashdown

The Apollo command module descends onto the deck of the USS New Orleans after splashdown in Pacific Ocean, west of Hawaii

Memory

For the day of spacecraft docking, the Novaya Zarya factory and the Revlon enterprise (Bronx) each produced one batch of Epas perfume (“Experimental Flight Apollo - Soyuz”), each with a volume of 100 thousand bottles. The packaging of the perfume was American, the contents of the bottle were Russian, with some French components used. Both batches were instantly sold out.
Omega watches released for this event

In the Soviet Union in 1975, Soyuz-Apollo cigarettes were produced jointly with the United States, which were very popular thanks to high quality tobacco and have been on sale for several years.
Model of Soyuz-19 in Star City

Patch on the spacesuits of expedition members

Without a signature

The program was approved on May 24, 1972 by the Agreement between the USSR and the USA on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.

The main goals of the program were:

• testing elements of a compatible in-orbit rendezvous system;
• testing of an active-passive docking unit;
• checking technology and equipment to ensure the transition of astronauts from ship to ship;
• accumulation of experience in conducting joint flights of spacecraft of the USSR and the USA.

In addition, the program involved studying the possibility of controlling the orientation of docked ships, testing inter-ship communications and coordinating the actions of the Soviet and American flight control centers.

Preparation

The initiator of the joint flight of American and Soviet manned spacecraft with docking in orbit was NASA. This idea was expressed by the director of NASA Thomas Paine in early 1970 during correspondence with the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences Mstislav Keldysh. Working groups were formed to coordinate technical requirements to ensure compatibility of the existing Soviet and American ships at that time - Soyuz and Apollo. On October 26-27, 1970, the first meeting of Soviet and American specialists on the problems of compatibility of means of rendezvous and docking of manned spacecraft took place in Moscow. The implementation of the project became possible after the signing of the “Agreement on Cooperation in the Study and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes” on May 24, 1972 in Moscow by Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Alexei Kosygin and US President Richard Nixon. Article number 3 of the agreement provided for an experimental flight of ships of the two countries with docking and mutual transfer of astronauts in 1975.

For the ASTP program, both sides developed special modifications of spacecraft of the Soyuz and Apollo series. While the Soyuz series ship underwent minor external changes (except for the addition of two seats, solar panels, payload capacity and propulsion systems), it was equipped with an androgynous-peripheral docking station APAS-75. And the remaining unchanged Apollo ship of the near-Earth version (without the lunar module) was supplemented with a special docking-airlock transition compartment, which in turn contained a docking unit developed and manufactured in the USSR. Similar compartments were used in all subsequent joint programs.

The Soviet side manufactured six copies of the 7K-TM spacecraft for the program, four of which flew under the ASTP program. Three ships made test flights: two unmanned ones called " Cosmos-638», « Cosmos-672"in April and August 1974 and one manned flight "Soyuz-16" in December 1974. The fifth copy was prepared for immediate launch if a rescue expedition was necessary during the days of the joint flight and was installed together with the launch vehicle at the launch site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and was later disassembled into components for the next ships of the series. The sixth copy was later equipped with a powerful multispectral camera for remote sensing of the Earth and in September 1976 made the last manned flight for the series of ships, Soyuz-22, without docking with the orbital station.

The American side did not conduct rehearsal flights or reserve ships under the program. At this time, from May 1973 to February 1974, it made three manned flights under the Skylab program.

Soviet and American crews underwent joint training on spacecraft simulators at the Cosmonaut Training Center. Yu. A. Gagarin (USSR) and at the Space Center named after. L. Johnson (USA).

Solving technical problems

Mixed Soviet-American working groups were created to jointly develop technical solutions. Soviet and American scientists and designers faced the need to solve a set of problems related to ensuring compatibility of means of mutual search and rendezvous of spacecraft, their docking units, life support systems and equipment for mutual transition from one ship to another, communications and flight control equipment, organizational and methodological compatibility.

The atmosphere on ships and the transition compartment

The life support systems (LSS) of the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft were incompatible, primarily due to the difference in atmosphere. At Apollo, people breathed pure oxygen under reduced pressure (≈0.35 atmospheric pressure), and at Soyuz, an atmosphere similar to the earth’s in composition and pressure was maintained. Aerocirculation and air conditioning systems were built on different principles. Communication between the atmospheres of ships would lead to a breakdown in the automatic regulation of these systems. For these reasons, direct transfer from ship to ship was impossible. Simple locking could not be used due to decompression sickness during the transition from Soyuz to Apollo.

To ensure compatibility of the life support system and the transition means, a special docking-airlock transition compartment was created, which was launched into orbit along with Apollo and allowed cosmonauts and astronauts to move from ship to ship. The transition compartment was a cylinder more than 3 meters long, with a maximum diameter of 1.4 meters and weighing 2 tons. To create the transition compartment, developments on the lunar module were used, in particular, the same docking unit was used to connect to the ship. After entering orbit, Apollo, just as it “picked up” the lunar module during lunar flights, turned 180 degrees and docked with the transfer compartment, “picking up” it from the second stage of Saturn, but in the process of docking and undocking with “ This node was not used by the Union.

When crews transferred from ship to ship, an atmosphere was created in the transition compartment corresponding to the atmosphere of the ship into which the transition was made. To reduce the difference in atmospheres, the pressure in Apollo was raised slightly - to 258 mm Hg. Art. , and in Soyuz they reduced it to 520 mm Hg. Art. , increasing the oxygen content to 40%. As a result, the duration of the desaturation process during airlock was reduced from eight hours to three, during which the cosmonauts’ stay in the transition compartment made it possible to avoid decompression and perform sufficient desaturation. Slayton's role was called "transition compartment pilot."

The ordinary suits of Soviet cosmonauts became fire hazards in the Apollo atmosphere due to the increased oxygen content in it. To solve the problem, the Soviet Union quickly developed a heat-resistant polymer that was superior to the foreign analogues described in the literature (the oxygen index was 79, while the fibers produced by DuPont were 41). This polymer was used to create the heat-resistant fabric “Lola” for the suits of Soviet cosmonauts. The starting monomers for obtaining a heat-resistant polymer were synthesized with the active participation and guidance of the famous Soviet chemist E. P. Fokin.

Docking units

The compatibility of the docking units required the consistency of their schematic diagram, the geometric dimensions of the mating elements, the loads acting on them, and the unification of the design of power locks and sealing devices. The standard docking units that were equipped with the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft, made according to an asymmetrical paired active-passive “pin-cone” design, did not meet these requirements. Therefore, for docking on the ships, a new APAS-75 unit, specially developed at KB Energia, was installed.

This development is one of the few created within the framework of the ASTP project, basic elements which are still used today. Modern modifications of APAS, produced in Russia, make it possible to dock spacecraft from other countries to Russian docking nodes (both active and passive), as well as dock these ships with ISS modules, provided they have two such compatible units.

Crews

Chronology of the joint flight

Start

• On July 15, 1975, at 15:20, Soyuz-19 was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome;
• At 22:50, Apollo was launched from the Cape Canaveral launch site (using the Saturn 1B launch vehicle).

Maneuvers in orbit

• On July 17 at 19 hours 12 minutes the Soyuz-19 and Apollo docked (the 36th orbit of the Soyuz);

The docking of the ships took place two days after the launch. Active maneuvering was carried out by Apollo; the speed of approach of the ship upon contact with the Soyuz was approximately 0.25 m/s. Three hours later, after the opening of the Soyuz and Apollo hatches, a symbolic handshake took place between the ship commanders Alexei Leonov and Thomas Stafford. Then Stafford and Donald Slayton made the transition to the Soviet ship. While the ships were flying in a docked state, four transitions of crew members between the ships were carried out. .

• On July 19, the ships were undocking (the 64th orbit of the Soyuz), after which, two orbits later, the ships were re-docking (the 66th orbit of the Soyuz), and after two more orbits the ships were finally undocked (the 68th orbit of the Soyuz). Union").

Flight time

• "Soyuz-19" - 5 days 22 hours 31 minutes;
• "Apollo" - 9 days 1 hour 28 minutes;
• The total flight time in the docked state is 46 hours 36 minutes.

Landing

• "Soyuz-19" - July 21, 1975
• "Apollo" - July 24, 1975

Experiments

During the joint flight, several scientific and technical experiments were carried out:

• Artificial solar eclipse - study from Soyuz

The docking of the Soviet Soyuz and the American Apollo was supposed to become a symbol of the rapprochement of the two superpowers during the “détente” in the Cold War. In order for the “handshake in space” to take place, specialists from both countries had to solve many complex technical problems, the main one of which was the incompatibility of the ships’ life support systems.

Preparations for the historic docking of Soyuz and Apollo lasted almost 3 years. The possibility of cooperation in space between the USA and the USSR was first discussed in the early 70s. In November 1970, scientists and specialists from the two countries gathered in the capital Soviet Union, where they talked about the compatibility of means of rendezvous and docking of manned spacecraft and stations. A year later, Moscow and Houston began discussing and agreeing on specific technical solutions, and in May 1972, the joint flight program to test docking in orbit was finally approved.

Space specialists from both countries had to solve several problems at once. The main one was that the life support systems of the American and Soviet ships were incompatible. Soyuz flew with an atmosphere similar in composition and pressure to that of Earth, while Apollo was designed for an atmosphere of pure oxygen at low pressure. Because of this, the airlock passage from ship to ship was impossible.

This problem was solved by lowering the pressure in the Soyuz to 520 millimeters of mercury, increasing the pressure on board Apollo and creating a separate transition compartment. It had an atmosphere identical to that on the ship to which the transition was made.

Thomas Stafford Apollo crew commander.

Born September 17, 1930 in Oklahoma. Age at the time of flight: 44 years.

As part of the Apollo 10 expedition he flew to the Moon. Together with Eugene Cernan, he undocked the lunar module and approached the surface, but did not land on the Earth satellite itself.

Vance Brand , command module pilot.

Born May 9, 1931 in Colorado. Age at the time of flight: 44 years.

As a command module pilot (remaining in lunar orbit during expeditions), he was part of the backup crew of Apollo 15. Participation in the Soyuz-Apollo mission was his first flight into space.

Donald Slayton , docking module pilot.

Born March 1, 1924 in Wisconsin. Age at the time of flight: 51 years.

At NASA he served as deputy director for crew training. The only one of the first seven American astronauts who had never been in space before the Soyuz-Apollo mission.

Alexey Leonov , commander of the Soyuz crew.

Born on May 30, 1934 in the village of Listvyanka, West Siberian Territory of the RSFSR. Age at the time of flight: 41 years.

On March 18-19, 1965, he went into space for the first time as a co-pilot on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft. Completed lasting 12 minutes 9 seconds.

Valery Kubasov , flight engineer.

Born on January 7, 1935 in the city of Vyazniki Vladimir region. Age at the time of flight: 40 years.

He made his first flight from October 11 to October 16, 1969 as a flight engineer of the Soyuz-6 spacecraft. During the flight, for the first time in the world, experiments were carried out on welding work in space.

According to the plan, both ships were supposed to launch several hours apart. On July 15, 1975, at 15:20, Soyuz was launched, and at 22:50, Apollo took off from Cape Canaveral. The American ship was launched into orbit by the Saturn-1B launch vehicle.

This sequence was explained by the fact that the Soyuz launch site passed over the populated territory of the USSR and the launch azimuth and launch program were linked to the location settlements. The Apollo launch site passed over the ocean, which made it possible to make the necessary adjustments to align the orbital planes.

According to the original plan, both Soyuz and Apollo were supposed to spend a day in orbit before docking, but rendezvous began only after two days. An active role was assigned American ship. At the same time, the joint flight was controlled using tracking stations of the Soviet and American flight control centers. Direct television, telephone and telegraph communications were established between them.

On July 17 at 19:12 the ships docked. The process of equalizing the atmosphere has begun. After the airlock tunnel hatch was cleared, Leonov and Stafford shook hands.

Soyuz and Apollo spent about two days docked. During this time, the crews became familiar with the equipment of both ships, conducted scientific experiments, including studying the effects of weightlessness, overloads and cosmic radiation on basic biological rhythms.

One of the experiments, however, ended unsuccessfully. This is what Alexey Leonov later said: “I had a flask with me with fish fry, water and oxygen were pumped in for 10 days, it was enough for them. But when we dropped the pressure from 760 to 550, adjusting to their pressure, these flasks, of course , burst. The liquid was still there, but all the oxygen was gone. And, of course, the fish died in this biological experiment. The logbook says: “How are the fish feeling? Okay, they're all dead."

The crews devoted a lot of time to television broadcasts to Earth. During one of them, Leonov decided to joke with his American colleagues.

“I took the labels of vodka “Stolichnaya Vodka”, “Old Vodka” from Earth and pasted them on the tubes. They sat down at the table, I gave everyone a tube of vodka: “Come on, guys,” they said to me: “You can’t.” According to the tradition of Russian cuisine, it’s good for the stomach. So they opened it, chin-chin. And then we shot a close-up, Dick Slayton took it, and he was stunned: and there was such a human joke, and still no one believes it. that we were actually eating borscht and not drinking vodka,” the Soviet cosmonaut recalls, laughing.

Two days later, on July 19, Soyuz and Apollo undocked. But only to reconnect after two orbits around the Earth. Together, the ships completed two more orbits, after which they finally separated and continued their independent flight.

In total, the flight of the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft lasted 5 days 22 hours 31 minutes. The descent capsule with Leonov and Kubasov landed near the city of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan. The flight of the American Apollo lasted almost twice as long - 9 days 1 hour 28 minutes. On July 25, the descent module with three astronauts successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

The historic docking of the American and Soviet ships was successful and was supposed to become a symbol of the rapprochement of the two superpowers. However, this did not happen. The Soyuz-Apollo flight turned out to be the last step towards each other not only in space, but also on Earth. A few years later, the period of so-called “détente” in the Cold War ended; the Afghan War began in 1979, and with it new round confrontation between two superpowers. However, this two-day joint flight and years of preparation for it led to solutions that are still used today.

If you take a closer look
to Soviet sources, you start
understand something.

This is how the Soyuz-Apollo docking took place. It is clear to the naked eye that Soviet film materials are used. And the announcer has characteristic intonations. We'll find out when and by whom the film was made.

The duration of the video is less than 20 minutes. Try to find the one yourself small detail, which caught my attention. If you're short on time, start watching from the 12th minute. If you don’t have patience even for 1.5 minutes, welcome to the cat.

Transcript of the speaker's words from 12.46 to 12.55.
"Seven hours and thirty minutes after the Soyuz launch, the Saturn-1Be rocket with the Apollo spacecraft took off from the Kennedy Test Site. ".

We still need to find out, maybe the announcer made a mistake? Not in the sense that the English “V” was voiced in Russian by “Ve”. And the fact that he confused it with the Saturn-5 rocket. The question is not simple. The carrying capacity of Saturn-1B into an orbit at an altitude of 195 km is 18.1 tons. And the mass of Apollo is no less than 20 tons, even without the command compartment. At least that's what NASA says. For example, the weight of the Apollo 17 command compartment is 20.5 tons. Moreover, this is a “dry” mass, without fuel.
They could, of course, remove unnecessary equipment - they weren’t flying to the Moon, after all - but they also had to equip it with an airlock device. In any case, the question arises: But what about the Saturn 5?? After all, according to NASA, there were still two rockets left.

In fact, if you listen carefully to everything - and it’s also interesting - to the same Leonov, then an interesting feeling is born. Twice Hero of the USSR, pilot-cosmonaut Leonov A.A. can defend the “American feat” as much as he likes. That's just him personal experience, its priceless evidence contradicts the words of its owner.

It’s not a sin to quietly giggle at this. In the video below, Leonov in his interview tells the details of his famous spacewalk. Look. For general development healthy.

1) From the moment of 3:40, Alexey Arkhipovich says that as a result of an error, the ship ended up close to Van Allen’s belt. Literally five kilometers away. It turns out that there were fears of catching a dose of radiation that the body would not digest painlessly (" There, about 500 roentgens could be grabbed ").
Everything worked out fine. We see Alexei Arkhipovich alive and well to this day. He received only 86 millirads.

2) That flight was replete with emergency situations. And one concerned Leonov specifically, when his spacesuit inflated. He released the pressure to half. According to him, he took an unacceptable risk, but there was nowhere to go. Nitrogen in the blood could boil with a sharp drop in pressure. Everyone knows the dangers of sudden decompression. There is no discussion of this point in this video. But there are many films from Leonov. You can, for example, look (the moment is 7:45, but it’s long and drawn out, it takes a long time to watch).

Now I’ll ask some unpleasant questions.
- How was the problem of regulating the pressure during the descent to Earth of the command compartment solved? An internal pressure of a third of atmospheric pressure must rise to atmospheric pressure. The design was such that it could not withstand even a difference of half the atmosphere. From the inside. I believe that excess pressure outside (in the same half-atmosphere) could also be fatal.
An increase in internal pressure from a third to a half threatened to burst the tin can, which the Americans solemnly called the “Apollo command module.” The difference between the external pressure of one atmosphere and one third inside could crush the structure like a tin bucket. How sometimes it crushes tanks that don’t need to be made too thin.
So I ask how NASA solved this problem. When descending, they had to gradually raise the internal pressure to equalize the external one. I haven't heard about the appropriate equipment.

The second unpleasant question is about radiation. There’s no need to even explain anything here. Our most authoritative and popular space expert directly stated the amount of radiation that an astronaut should have received in the Van Allen belt. Even in “calm” sun.
A tin bucket, called by an American misunderstanding “Apollo” - please forgive my sarcasm - of course provides some kind of protection. But anyway. The Nasanauts under Van Allen's belt flew for a whole week. We wandered around the Moon for several hours, i.e. no longer under the protection of the hull. And nothing. They “returned” cheerful, vigorous and healthy.

Electric models of the Apollo and Soyuz-19 spacecraft.
At the bottom right you can see the original Soyuz 19 lander.
RSC Energia, Korolev. Photo by Yuri Parshintsev.

And here is the Soyuz-19 lander
close-up - with personal signatures
cosmonauts Leonov and Kubasov.
RSC Energia, Korolev, Museum of Cosmonautics.
Photo by Sergei Gorbunov.

On July 15, 1975, at 15:20 Moscow time, the Soyuz-19 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome with Alexey Leonov and Valery Kubasov on board, and seven and a half hours later from the Eastern Test Site at Cape Canaveral (USA) The Apollo spacecraft was launched with astronauts Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand and Donald Slayton.

The ASTP program - the Apollo-Soyuz Experimental Flight - was successfully completed, although it was carried out by two rival space powers in the era of " cold war" For the first time in the history of space navigation, a space system consisting of docked spacecraft from two countries with an international crew on board was created and operated for two days in low-Earth orbit. World community, prominent politicians different countries considered the joint Soviet-American experiment "Soyuz-Apollo" as important historical event, opening new era in space exploration, and a significant contribution to improving Soviet-American relations and the entire international climate.

The first meeting of Soviet and American specialists on the problems of compatibility of means of rendezvous and docking of manned spacecraft and stations took place in Moscow on October 26-27, 1970. At the same time, working groups were formed to develop and coordinate technical requirements to ensure the compatibility of these tools.

The practical beginning of the Soyuz-Apollo experimental project was made on April 6, 1972 with the “Final document of the meeting of representatives of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the US NASA on the issue of creating compatible means of rendezvous and docking of manned spacecraft and stations of the USSR and the USA.”

On May 24, 1972, in Moscow, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A.N. Kosygin and US President R. Nixon signed the “Agreement between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.” In this “Agreement”, in particular, in the third article it is written: “The parties agreed to carry out work to create compatible means of rendezvous and docking of Soviet and American manned spacecraft and stations in order to improve the safety of human flights into space and ensure the possibility of future joint scientific experiments. The first experimental flight to test such means, providing for the docking of a Soviet Soyuz-type spacecraft and an American Apollo-type spacecraft with a mutual transfer of cosmonauts, is scheduled to take place during 1975.”

The agreement determined the development of cooperation in other areas, such as meteorology, the study of the natural environment, the study of near-Earth space, the Moon and planets, space biology and medicine.

However, the central place was occupied by the joint flight of manned spacecraft.

Corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Konstantin Davydovich Bushuev was appointed technical directors of the Soyuz-Apollo experimental project on the Soviet side and Glynn Lunney was appointed on the American side, and USSR pilot-cosmonaut Alexey Stanislavovich Eliseev and Peter Frank were appointed flight directors, respectively.

In accordance with the Soviet program of preparation for a joint space experiment, from December 2 to 8, 1974, a flight of the modernized Soyuz-16 spacecraft was carried out with a crew of Anatoly Filipchenko (commander) and Nikolai Rukavishnikov (flight engineer). During this flight, tests of the life support system were carried out (in particular, depressurization in the ship's compartments to 520 mm Hg), tests of the automatic system and individual components of the docking unit, development of methods for performing some joint scientific experiments and conducting one-sided experiments, formation of an installation orbits with an altitude of 225 km, etc.

The final stage of the project began on July 15, 1975 with the launch of the Soyuz-19 and Apollo spacecraft. The Soyuz 19 crew included cosmonauts Alexei Leonov (commander) and Valery Kubasov (flight engineer), the Apollo crew included astronauts Thomas Stafford (commander), Vance Brand (command module pilot) and Donald Slayton (docking module pilot). On July 17, the ships docked, becoming the prototype of the future international space station.

During this experimental flight All the main tasks of the program were completed: the rendezvous and docking of ships, the transition of crew members from ship to ship, the interaction of Flight Control Centers, and all planned joint scientific experiments were completed. The Soyuz 19 crew returned to Earth on July 21, the Apollo crew on July 25.

Chronicle of a joint flight

Moscow maternity time (flight time in brackets)

The Soyuz-19 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 15, 1975 at 15:20:00.005 (00:00:00) and was launched into low-Earth orbit at 15:28:49.8 (00:08:49.8 ). The initial orbit of the spacecraft had the following parameters: minimum altitude – 186.5 km, maximum altitude – 222.1 km, orbital period – 88.528 minutes, inclination – 51.78°.

The commander of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft is Alexey Leonov, the flight engineer is Valery Kubasov.

After completing a comprehensive check of the onboard systems, the first of two assembly orbit formation maneuvers was carried out. The control system was turned on at 29:51:30.5 (05:31:30.5) and worked out the specified impulse - 3.6 m/s. Orbital parameters after the maneuver: minimum altitude – 192 km, maximum altitude – 228 km, orbital period – 88.63 minutes, inclination – 51.78°.

At 21:37 (06:17) the crew of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft began reducing pressure from the living compartments. This operation, after which the pressure in the ship became 520 mm Hg.

In accordance with the flight program, the Apollo spacecraft was launched 7.5 hours after the Soyuz launch - at 22:50:01 (07:30:01). The initial orbit of the spacecraft had the following parameters: minimum altitude – 153 km, maximum altitude – 170 km. The gap from the Soyuz is about 6000 km.

Apollo commander - Thomas Stafford, command module pilot - Vance Brand, docking module pilot - Donald Slayton.

After rebuilding the compartments of the Apollo spacecraft and separating it from the second stage of the launch vehicle at 02:35 (11:15), it was transferred to a circular orbit at an altitude of 165 km.

In addition to the planned program, the crew of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft carried out the first stage of repair of the on-board television system, the failure of which was discovered before the launch and did not allow television broadcasts from the ship on the first day of the flight.

The astronauts' sleep began later than planned - around 03:20 (12:00).

At 04:31:28 (13:11:28), the Apollo spacecraft performed the first phasing maneuver to establish the speed necessary to ensure the docking of the ships on the 36th orbit of the Soyuz. After the manner, the parameters of the Apollo orbit: minimum altitude - 170 km, maximum altitude - 230 km.

On the second day of the flight, the crew of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft continued to work with the television system, conducted some experiments, including one under a joint program (AS-1 “Zone-forming fungi”), and began to prepare for the second maneuver of forming an assembly orbit. The SKDU was turned on at 15:43:40.8 (24:23:40.8) and worked out the specified impulse - 11.8 m/s. Orientation and program turnaround went without any comments.

As a result of two maneuvers, an installation orbit was formed with the following parameters: minimum altitude - 222.65 km, maximum altitude - 225.4 km, orbital period - 88.92 minutes, inclination - 51.79°.

Then the cosmonauts checked the operation of the attitude control and motion control system in the mode of programmed turns and stabilization for the nominal docking process. The inspection went through without any comments.

After this check, in the time period 18:25–19:20 (27:05–28:00), the astronauts finished renovation work with TV system. At 19:25 (28:05) the color television camera was turned on and the first television report was made from Soyuz-19.

At 20:30 (29:10) a corrective pressure release from the ship's compartments was carried out to 500 mm Hg. Art.

At the end of the day, the astronauts were engaged in conducting scientific experiments.

The rest period for the crew of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft began at 01:50 (34:30).

The cosmonauts began their third working day with scientific experiments.

At 15:54:04 (48:34:04) the Apollo spacecraft performed the second phasing maneuver, after which the parameters of its orbit became: minimum altitude - 165 km, maximum altitude - 186 km.

At 16:01 (48:41) Vance Brand reported that he was observing the Soyuz spacecraft through the sextant. The distance between the ships was about 400 km.

At 16:04 (48:44) radio communication was established between the ships.

Construction of the orientation before the docking of the ships began at 16:30 (49:10).

The established orbital orientation was then maintained for 4.5 hours with good accuracy.

At 16:38:03 (49:18:03) Apollo carried out a combined correction maneuver and entered an orbit with the following parameters: minimum altitude – 186 km, maximum altitude – 206 km.

At 17:15:04 (49:55:04) Apollo performed a coelliptic maneuver, as a result of which its orbit began to have the following parameters: minimum altitude - 294 km, maximum altitude - 205 km. At the same time, in terms of orbital altitude it was 20 km below the Soyuz orbit.

At 18:14:25 (50:54:25) the final phase of the ships' approach began.

Apollo, which had previously been catching up with Soyuz from behind, came out 1.5 km ahead of it.

The time 18:34:23 (51:14:23), according to the FAI, is considered the beginning of the group flight, and the distance between the ships was less than 10 km.

At 19:03 (51:43) the Soyuz-19 spacecraft was switched to inertial stabilization mode and made a programmed turn around the longitudinal axis by 60°.

The docking (touching) of the Soyuz-19 and Apollo spacecraft was recorded at 19:09:08.1 (51:49:08.1), the compression of the joint was recorded at 19:12:12.1 (51:52:12 ,1), almost 3 minutes earlier than the scheduled time.

All preparatory operations to ensure the first transition were completed at the planned time, and at 22:12 (54:52) the cosmonauts opened the hatch of the Soyuz household compartment. The Apollo docking module hatch was opened at 22:17:29 (54:57:29). The symbolic handshake of the ship commanders was recorded at 22:19:25 (54:59:25).

The meeting of Alexei Leonov, Valery Kubasov, Thomas Stafford and Donald Slayton in the Soyuz-19 spacecraft occurred exactly as planned and was observed on Earth on television. During the first transition, planned television reports, filming, an exchange of flags of the USSR and the USA, the transfer of the UN flag, an exchange of souvenirs, the signing of an FAI certificate on the first docking of two spacecraft from different countries in orbit, and a joint lunch were carried out.

Kubasov and Slayton conducted the first joint phase of the AC-3 “Universal Furnace” experiment.

During subsequent operations to return the astronauts to the Apollo spacecraft, after closing the hatch of the Soyuz living compartment at 01:56 (58:36), an increase in pressure was noted in the tunnel between the docking module and the living compartment (after releasing the pressure in the tunnel to 250 mm Hg . Art.) about 1 mm Hg. st..?min.

The crews of the ships reopened the hatches of the docking module and the living compartment and relieved pressure from the tunnel between them.

Subsequent analysis carried out by the Soviet and American Flight Control Centers showed the influence of temperature fluctuations during depressurization on subsequent measurements, which was not taken into account during pre-flight preparation. The method for checking the tightness of the tunnel between the Apollo docking module and the Soyuz living compartment has been changed.

Due to these difficulties, the cosmonauts' rest period began at 03:50 (60:30) 1.5 hours later than planned. Subsequently, when checking the tightness of the tunnel between the docking module and the living compartment using the modified method, no difficulties arose.

The next day, the astronauts conducted scientific experiments. Then the operations of the second transition began.

The astronauts opened the hatch of the service compartment at 12:45 (69:25). Vance Brand moved to the Soyuz-19 spacecraft, and Alexey Leonov moved to the Apollo spacecraft. The Soyuz service compartment hatch was closed at 13:30 (70:10), and the second period began joint activities crews. During this period, crew members who transferred to another ship were familiarized in detail with the equipment and systems of the other ship, carried out joint television reports and filming, symbolic activities,. The second period of joint activity lasted 6 hours 14 minutes.

During the third transition, the Soyuz service compartment hatch was opened at 18:57 (75:37) and closed at 19:28 (76:08). During the third period of joint activity, Alexey Leonov and Thomas Stafford were on the Soyuz-19 spacecraft, and Vance Brand, Donald Slayton and Valery Kubasov were on the Apollo spacecraft.

The cosmonauts and astronauts conducted a joint experiment AS-3 “Microbial exchange” and exchanged plant seeds. At 20:30–21:00 (77:10–77:40) a joint press conference of the crews was held.

During the final, fourth transition of the cosmonauts and astronauts (return to their ships), the hatch of the Soyuz household compartment was opened at 22:49 (79:29).

At 00:05 (80:45) the hatches between the ships were closed, and this ended the joint activity of the mixed crews. The last, third, period of joint activity lasted 5 hours 08 minutes.

After closing the hatches of the Soyuz living compartment and the Apollo docking module during the fourth transition, the pressure from the tunnel between the living compartment and the docking module was released to 50 mm Hg. Art., the tightness of both hatches was checked, then the pressure in the tunnel between them was dropped to zero.

The astronauts' rest period began at 02:30 (83:10).

At the beginning of the next working day, the cosmonauts conducted scientific experiments and inflated the living compartments of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft to 800 mm Hg. Art. and began to prepare for undocking.

The ships undocked at 15:03:21 (95:43:21). The docked flight phase lasted 43 hours 54 minutes 11 seconds. 15 seconds after undocking, Apollo began performing the first of two maneuvers to escape from the Soyuz spacecraft, providing for the AS-4 “Artificial solar eclipse

" The maximum distance between the ships was 220 m. During this experiment, the Apollo spacecraft blocked the Sun, and the crew of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft took photographs. A total of 150 photographs were taken. After this, Apollo began re-approaching Soyuz.

The time interval between touch and coupling was 0.6 s. Within 6 s after coupling, an off-design disturbance in the angular velocities of the Soyuz was recorded due to the operation of the Apollo spacecraft engines of up to 2.2 °/yaw rate and up to 0.7 °/pitch rate. The Soyuz docking unit successfully absorbed the resulting disturbance, leveled the ships, and 42 seconds after coupling, retraction automatically began. During the tightening, 174 s after coupling, immediately before the entry of the guide pins into the sockets, an uncalculated disturbance of the ships was again noted. The angular velocities of the Soyuz reached up to 0.7 °/yaw and up to 2 °/pitch. At this time, the Apollo spacecraft, using manual control, performed unplanned yaw and pitch maneuvers, which caused corresponding disturbances. After touching the connecting frames, the locks began to close automatically, and the joint was crimped at 15:40:35 (96:20:35). The duration of the mechanical docking process was 6 min 55 s. Checking the pressure between the joint seals confirmed its tightness. The docking device worked flawlessly.

After all the checks were completed, the Soyuz-19 crew began to prepare for the final undocking.

The command for final undocking was issued at 18:23 (99:03).

The ships began to disperse at 18:26:12.5 (99:06:12.5). The second time the ship was docked for 2 hours 52 minutes 33 seconds.

After final undocking, Apollo maintained a distance of about 20 m between the ships for 16 minutes, then it performed the maneuver necessary to conduct the AS-5 Ultraviolet Absorption experiment. Data collection for this experiment was carried out at a distance of 150 and 500 m using corner reflectors installed on the Soyuz. At 21:42:27 (102:22:27) Apollo performed an escape maneuver in the orbital plane with an impulse of 0.6 m/s. As a result, at 23:09 (109:49) he passed over the Soyuz at a distance of 1000 m and again collected data for the Ultraviolet Absorption experiment.

The joint phase of the flight ended with an escape maneuver and data collection at a distance of 1000 m. At this time, Apollo followed the Soyuz at a range increasing rate of approximately 9 km per orbit.

According to the FAI, the end of the group flight of the ships was taken to be 23:43:40 (110:23:40), when the distance between the ships became more than 10 km.

The crew of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft rested from 01:20 to 07:10 (106:00–113:50).

The test switching on of the control system was at 13:29:00.8 (118:09:00.8), the pulse was worked out at 1.5 m/s. The inspection went through without any comments.

The day of the return of the Soyuz-19 crew to Earth.

At 13:10:21 (141:50:21) the ship's control system was turned on, ensuring the execution of a given impulse. Orientation and descent stabilization were precise.

The Soyuz-19 lander made a soft landing near the city of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan at 13:50:51 (142:30:51). The landing process and the exit of the crew from the descent vehicle were broadcast on television in real time.

After completing joint operations in low-Earth orbit with the Soyuz-19 spacecraft, the Apollo spacecraft continued its independent flight to carry out experiments provided for by the American program.

During the joint flight of the Soyuz-19 and Apollo spacecraft, the main tasks of the program were completed, including the rendezvous and docking of the spacecraft, the transition of crew members from ship to ship, the interaction of Flight Control Centers and crews, as well as joint scientific experiments

Materials used from the site http://www.mcc.rsa.ru/apollon_sojuz.htm