Soyuz Apollo Test Project 2013 May 23 Thursday, Day 143 The
Partnership: A History of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project Press
Kit (PDF Download) The Soviet Union readied two spacecraft, two
rocket boosters and four crews for the ASTP mission. Three of
the crews were at Baikonur for the launch and the other was in
Spaceflight Control Centre at Kaliningrad (now renamed Korolyov)
near Moscow. Apollo took into orbit with it the ASTP docking
module - a compartment which could be used by both crews in
transferring between the oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere in Soyuz 19
and the low pressure oxygen-only atmosphere in Apollo. The
Module was carried into orbit sitting below the Apollo in the
same way the Apollo LM had been launched for the lunar missions.
Using another 'lunar' technique, Apollo turned round after
launch, docked with the Docking Module and pulled it away from
the rocket. The moment of rendezvous is captured in this NASA
painting by Robert McCall Only one incident marred the mission.
During Apollo's return to Ear