![Artist illustration ASTP docking](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/artist%20illustration%20ASTP%20docking%20t.jpg)
Artists illustration of ASTP docking.
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![U.S. Apollo spacecraft and Saturn IB on the launch pad.](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/ASTP%20Saturn%20IB%20t.jpg)
U.S. Apollo spacecraft and Saturn IB on the launch pad.
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![Borscht toast](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/borscht%20toast%20t.jpg)
U.S. commander Thomas Stafford and docking module pilot Deke Slayton participate in a toast to a successful docking. The tubes have the labels of famous Russian vodka brands, but actually contained borscht, a beet soup.
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![Soyuz from Apollo](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Soyuz%20from%20Apollo%20t.jpg)
Soyuz 19 spacecraft as seen from the U.S. Apollo spacecraft during rendezvous in orbit. The Soyuz consists of three parts: the spherical Orbital Module, the bell-shaped Descent Vehicle, and the cylindrical Instrument Assembly Module.
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![Apollo from Soyuz](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Apollo%20from%20Soyuz%20t.jpg)
U.S. Apollo spacecraft as seen from the Soyuz 19 spacecraft during rendezvous in orbit. The specially designed docking module is visible in the left of the photo.
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![Joint crew portrait](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/joint%20crew%20portrait%20t.jpg)
Joint portrait of ASTP crew. Standing left to right are Thomas Stafford, the Apollo commander, and Alexei Leonov, the Soyuz commander. Seated left to right are Deke Slayton, Apollo docking module pilot, Vance Brand, Apollo command module pilot, and Valeriy Kubasov, Soyuz flight engineer.
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![Leonov and Kubasov before launch](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Leonov%20and%20Kubasov%20before%20launch%20t.jpg)
Alexei Leonov (left) and Valeriy Kubasov preparing to launch aboard the Soyuz. Image credit: USSR Academy of Sciences.
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![Engineers and docking module](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/engineers%20and%20docking%20module%20t.jpg)
A group of unidentified American and Soviet engineers examine the docking module at the Johnson Space Center after a docking mechanism fitness test.
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![Crew atop mockup.jpg](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/crew%20atop%20mockup%20t.jpg)
During a lighter moment in joint training, the ASTP crew sit atop a mockup of the docking module and Soyuz spacecraft to symbolize the docking. The Apollo crew are seated on the docking module and the Soyuz crew are on the Soyuz spacecraft.
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![ASTP Soyuz on pad](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/ASTP%20Soyuz%20on%20pad%20t.jpg)
Soyuz spacecraft and launch vehicle in transit to its pad at Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
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![Leonov and drawing](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Leonov%20and%20drawing%20t.jpg)
Alexei Leonov displays one of his drawings of Apollo commander Tom Stafford during the ASTP flight.
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![Slayton docking module](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Slayton%20docking%20module%20t.jpg)
Apollo docking module pilot Deke Slayton travels through the hatch between the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft during the ASTP flight.
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![Kubasov in flight](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Kubasov%20in%20flight%20t.jpg)
Valeriy Kubasov, the Soyuz flight engineer, during the ASTP flight.
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![Brand in Apollo](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Brand%20in%20Apollo%20t.jpg)
Apollo command module pilot Vance Brand at the controls of the Apollo spacecraft during the ASTP flight.
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![ASTP commemorative plaque](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/ASTP%20commemorative%20plaque%20t.jpg)
The ASTP commemorative plaque is assembled on orbit in the Soyuz spacecraft during the ASTP flight.
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![Food testing](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/food%20testing%20t.jpg)
Valeriy Kubasov, Vance Brand, and Alexei Leonov evaluate candidate food items at the Johnson Space Center for the ASTP flight.
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![Ford and crew](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Ford%20and%20crew%20t.jpg)
President Ford visits with the ASTP prime crew during the crews pre-flight visit to Washington, DC. From left to right are: Vladimir Shatalov, head of cosmonaut training for the Soviet Union; Valeriy Kubasov, Soyuz flight engineer; Alexei Leonov, Soyuz commander; Anatoliy Dobrynin, Soviet ambassador to the US; President Gerald Ford; George Low, NASA Deputy Administrator; Thomas Stafford, Apollo commander; Deke Slayton, Apollo docking module pilot; and Vance Brand, Apollo command module pilot.
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![Soviet engineers docking simulation](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Soviet%20engineers%20docking%20simulation%20t.jpg)
Four Soviet engineers participate in docking simulation exercises at the Johnson Space Center.
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![Crew training](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/crew%20training%20t.jpg)
ASTP crewmen participate in crew training at the Johnson Space Center.
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![Leonov and Bean](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Leonov%20and%20Bean%20t.jpg)
Alexei Leonov, Soyuz commander, and Alan Bean, Apollo backup crew commander, train for activities on the first day of joint flight operations in the Apollo Command Module trainer at JSC.
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![MOCR docking simulation](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/MOCR%20docking%20simulation%20t.jpg)
View of the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) at JSC during a docking simulation for the ASTP flight. A view of the Soviet control room is visible on the monitor in the upper left of the photo.
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![Flight controllers](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/flight%20controllers%20t.jpg)
Two senior flight directors confer outside a mockup of the ASTP docking module. At left is Soviet flight director Alexei Yeliseyev and at right is American flight director M.P. Frank
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![Soviet control center](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Soviet%20control%20center%20t.jpg)
The American ASTP crew are briefed on the operations of the consoles in the Soviet mission control center at the Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, near Moscow.
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![Truly capcom](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Truly%20capcom%20t.jpg)
Astronaut Richard Truly, ASTP capcom and later NASA administrator, works with an Apollo docking probe during the ASTP flight.
The Apollo crew had difficulty removing the probe assembly from the tunnel of the Apollo command module, but were later able to successfully remove the probe and complete the mission.
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![Mission control in flight](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/mission%20control%20in%20flight%20t.jpg)
A view of the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) during the rendezvous and docking of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft during the ASTP mission. Gene Kranz, Deputy Director of Flight Operations is standing in the foreground.
The Soyuz spacecraft is visible on the monitor.
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![Handshake.jpg](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/handshake%20t.jpg)
Thomas Stafford (foreground), Apollo commander, and Alexei Leonov, Soyuz commander, make their historic handshake in the tunnel between the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft during the ASTP flight.
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![Ford call](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Ford%20call%20t.jpg)
U.S. President Gerald Ford calls the ASTP crewmen from the Oval Office of the White House during the ASTP flight.
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![Apollo crew before launch](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Apollo%20crew%20before%20launch%20t.jpg)
Apollo crew board transfer van to the launch pad prior to liftoff on the ASTP flight. The crew are (from left to right) Deke Slayton, docking module pilot; Vance Brand, command module pilot; and Thomas Stafford, commander.
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![Joint press conference](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/joint%20press%20conference%20t.jpg)
Apollo and Soyuz crews hold a joint press conference on February 10, 1975 at the Kennedy Space Center.
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![ASTP crew answer questions from high school students](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/Clear%20Lake%20High%20t.jpg)
ASTP crew answer questions from high school students during a visit to Clear Lake High School, near Houston. Crew pictured (from left to right) are Alexei Leonov, Thomas Stafford, Valeriy Kubasov, and Vance Brand.
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![ASTP crew look over the docking module](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/docking%20module%20exam%20t.jpg)
ASTP crew look over the docking module during a pre-flight inspection tour of the Kennedy Space Center. Crew pictured (from left to right) are Vance Brand, Thomas Stafford, Deke Slayton, and Valeriy Kubasov.
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![Working Group](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/working%20group%20t.jpg)
One of the many working group meetings conducted to prepare for the ASTP flight. Gene Cernan (standing) comments on the Apollo reaction control system.
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![agreement](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/agreement%20t.jpg)
President Richard Nixon (seated at left) and Premier Alexei Kosygin sign the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology; which included the agreement governing ASTP. The agreement was signed during the bilateral summit in Moscow, May 24, 1972.
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![Post recovery](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/astp/post%20recovery%20t.jpg)
Apollo crew participate in the post-recovery ceremony aboard the prime recovery ship, USS New Orleans. Pictured (from left to right) are the New Orleans commanding officer Capt. Ralph Neiger, Thomas Stafford, Deke Slayton, and Vance Brand.
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