Today, July 15, 2025, it’s been 50 years since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project started. Back on July 15, 1975, an Apollo spacecraft with three NASA astronauts lifted off from the U.S., and a Soyuz spacecraft with two Soviet cosmonauts took off from Kazakhstan. Two days later, on July 17, the two spacecraft linked up in space. That’s when American astronaut Thomas Stafford and Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov shook hands, a first for the two countries who were rivals during the Cold War.
The idea was to see if their spacecraft could connect and help each other if there was trouble. The U.S. put about $245 million into it, adding extra fuel and a docking module to the Apollo. The Soyuz, which the Soviets had been using since 1967, was part of it too. For almost two days, the crews did some experiments and traded small gifts, proving they could work together.
This happened because the U.S. and Soviet Union were starting to get along better. They signed a deal in 1972 to cooperate in space. The spacecraft met up using a method called Hohmann transfer orbits, worked out way back in 1925, moving at 17,500 miles per hour. A delay meant the handshake happened over France instead of England.
The mission wasn’t just a one-off. It led to later teamwork like the Shuttle-Mir program and the International Space Station. The crews, including Donald Slayton, Vance Brand, and Valery Kubasov, stayed friends after. Stafford and Leonov even kept talking for years, and one of Stafford’s grandsons got named after Leonov.
This 50-year mark shows how space exploration has grown. From being enemies to friends, Apollo-Soyuz proved that joining forces can do great things, even out in space
