Apollo-Soyuz Handshake

The words

1. Arkalyk

   Soyuz 19 landed northeast of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan on July 21, 1975. Leonov and Kubasov signed autographs beside their descent capsule while the American Apollo crew remained in orbit.

   NASA archive: Soyuz 19’s landing (opens a new tab)

2. Borscht

   At their first shared meal aboard Soyuz, Leonov offered Stafford and Slayton tubes carrying vodka labels. Inside were borscht and blackcurrant juice, rather than spirits.

   NASA: Apollo-Soyuz’s first crew visits (opens a new tab)

3. Conway Twitty

   At Stafford’s request, Conway Twitty recorded a Russian version of his song “Hello, Darlin’.” The recording, called “Privet Radost,” was played from orbit before the spacecraft parted.

   NASA: Conway Twitty’s musical greeting (opens a new tab)

4. Detente

   A relaxation of tensions between rival countries.

   Apollo-Soyuz grew out of the easing of Cold War tensions in the early 1970s. Shared engineering work turned that diplomatic opening into a mission involving both countries’ spacecraft and crews.

   NASA: the 1972 space-cooperation agreement (opens a new tab) · State Department: détente in the 1970s (opens a new tab)

5. Gerald Ford

   President Gerald Ford called from the White House after the first crew exchange on July 17, 1975. He congratulated the astronauts and cosmonauts on docking their spacecraft and meeting in orbit.

   NASA: Apollo-Soyuz’s first crew visits (opens a new tab)

6. Handshake

   Thomas Stafford and Aleksei Leonov shook hands on July 17, 1975, after their spacecraft docked. The greeting brought the American and Soviet crews together at the start of their shared activities.

   Did you know?

   Each spacecraft carried half of a commemorative plaque. After meeting, Stafford and Leonov fitted the two pieces together, turning the separate souvenirs into a symbol of their joint mission.

   Smithsonian: the handshake in space (opens a new tab) · NASA: Apollo-Soyuz’s first crew visits (opens a new tab)

7. Kaliningrad

   The town was renamed Korolev on July 8, 1996.

   The Soviet mission-control center for Apollo-Soyuz stood in Kaliningrad, outside Moscow. The American astronauts visited it on April 19, 1975, to meet controllers and learn about their console positions.

   NASA: training and mission-control visits (opens a new tab) · Korolev city: the 1996 renaming (opens a new tab)

8. Kosygin

   Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin and President Richard Nixon signed the space-cooperation agreement in Moscow on May 24, 1972. It called for compatible docking equipment, laying the groundwork for Apollo-Soyuz.

   NASA: the 1972 space-cooperation agreement (opens a new tab)

9. Kubasov

   Valeri Kubasov was the Soviet crew’s flight engineer, partnered with commander Aleksei Leonov. His earlier mission, Soyuz 6 in 1969, gave him spaceflight experience before Apollo-Soyuz.

   NASA: Apollo-Soyuz’s crew assignments (opens a new tab)

10. Orbital Module

    Soyuz’s orbital module was the setting for the first crew visit. Stafford and Slayton joined Leonov and Kubasov there after passing through the docking module between the two spacecraft.

    NASA: Apollo-Soyuz’s first crew visits (opens a new tab)

11. Soyuz Nineteen

    Soyuz 19 launched on July 15, 1975, carrying Leonov and Kubasov. Two days later, it docked with Apollo, connecting the Soviet and American spacecraft for visits and joint scientific work.

    NASA: the Apollo-Soyuz mission timeline (opens a new tab)

12. Soyuz Sixteen

    Soyuz 16 rehearsed the Soviet half of Apollo-Soyuz in December 1974. Anatoli Filipchenko and Nikolai Rukavishnikov tested modified life-support equipment and a docking ring that simulated the Apollo interface.

    Did you know?

    The rehearsal included teams on the ground. Soviet officials supplied Soyuz 16’s orbital information so NASA’s tracking network could follow it, practicing the cooperation needed for the joint flight.

    NASA: Soyuz 16’s rehearsal flight (opens a new tab)

13. Spruce Seeds

    American white spruce seeds were exchanged for Soviet tree seeds during Apollo-Soyuz. The gifts were intended to grow into living reminders of the first cooperative human spaceflight.

    NASA: the Apollo-Soyuz gift inventory (opens a new tab)

14. Star City

    The American astronauts trained with their Soviet counterparts at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City. In April 1975, they rehearsed the joint mission’s phases inside Soyuz simulators.

    NASA: training and mission-control visits (opens a new tab)

15. Vance Brand

    Vance Brand served as Apollo’s command module pilot alongside commander Thomas Stafford and docking module pilot Deke Slayton. Apollo-Soyuz was Brand’s first spaceflight, following years of preparation for other missions.

    Did you know?

    Before Apollo-Soyuz, Brand trained as the backup command module pilot for Apollo 15. He also prepared as backup commander for the Skylab 3 and Skylab 4 missions.

    NASA: Apollo-Soyuz’s crew assignments (opens a new tab)