This week in 1975, the final Saturn IB rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project – an international partnership between the U.S. and Soviet space programs. A Soviet Soyuz rocket launch preceded the Saturn IB launch. Designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems and the possibility of an international space rescue, the nine-day mission brought together NASA astronauts Tom Stafford, Donald “Deke” Slayton, and Vance Brand in an Apollo command and service module and Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Leonov and Valeriy Kubasov in a Soyuz capsule. During nearly two days of joint activities, the cosmonauts and astronauts carried out five joint experiments. Today, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is playing a vital role in the Artemis program by developing the Space Launch System, the backbone of NASA’s exploration plans and the only rocket capable of sending humans to the Moon and Mars. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage. (NASA)