This date in science: America and Russia meet in space

July 17, 1975. On this date, Soviets and Americans accomplished the first joint space docking between two nations in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. It marked the cooling of a long era of tense relations between the two world superpowers. Russian Soyuz and American Apollo flights launched within seven-and-a-half hours of each other on July 15, and docked on July 17. Three hours later, the world watched on television as the two mission commanders, Tom Stafford and Alexey Leonov, exchanged the first international handshake in space through the open hatch of the Soyuz.

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project worked, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Engineers on the ground had to work hard to make the two spacecraft compatible. Meanwhile, the astronauts and cosmonauts from both countries learned about each other’s language and procedures. Because of Stafford’s pronounced drawl when speaking Russian, Leonov later joked that there were three languages spoken on the mission: Russian, English, and “Oklahomski.”

The two craft spent 44 hours docked together, in a mission that brought about increased technical and scientific collaboration between the two formerly opposing nations. Later, several American space shuttles docked with the Soviet space station Mir, which remained in orbit after the Soviet Union fell.

Today, the two countries work together routinely on International Space Station research and maintenance.

Bottom line: The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project reached its dramatic climax on July 17, 1975, when Soviets and Americans accomplished the first joint space docking between two nations. It marked the cooling of a long era of tense relations between the two world superpowers. Russian Soyuz and American Apollo flights launched within seven-and-a-half hours of each other on July 15, and docked on July 17. Three hours later, the world watched on television as the two mission commanders, Tom Stafford and Alexey Leonov, exchanged the first international handshake in space through the open hatch of the Soyuz.