History of Space Travel, Episode 13: The Mission of Apollo-Soyuz

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello I'm Jim Bernett of NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland Ohio in this final program of our series we'll see a film about a combined US and Soviet space program now the mission of Apollo so here Roger Apollo Houston I got two messages for you Moscow is go for docking Houston is go for docking it's up to you guys have fun all righty sounds good mid July 1975 an American Apollo spacecraft and a Soviet sa spacecraft prepare to join an Earth orbit 140 Mi above the Atlantic near Portugal during their two-day joint flight astronauts and cosmonauts transferred between spacecraft they conducted space experiments and they tested a compatible rendevu and docking system evaluating its potential as the universal standard on future spacecraft for docking and rescue the mission climaxed more than 3 years of planning and preparation a time during which differences in language in technology in political Creed were set aside in favor of the common goal this was the mission that opened the door to international Man space flight the mission that set the course for joint flights of the future this was the mission of Apollo [Music] saus [Music] in the pre-dawn calm of July 15th the methodical countdown of Apollo moved with customary Precision toward a mid-afternoon launch of lesser note was the fact that this would be the last flight of Apollo Saturn and as the countdown narrowed chances are that more than one member of the launch Team reflected on other proud days of Apollo like its nine flights to the Moon six of which resulted in landing men there it's three flights to Skylab transporting Crews to the orbiting space station and now in 9 days the entire Apollo program would pass into history Apollo would make way for two-way reusable vehicle the space shuttle scheduled for its orbital flight debut in 1979 but today it is Apollo saus and as Dawn approaches the Florida coast a similar drama is nearing climax half a world away the scene by canu launch complex in Kazakhstan Central USSR the SAU spacecraft its crew approaching the end of pre-launched X is about to Signal the start of this historic [Applause] mission at Mission Control Moscow white controllers monitor S as it gathers momentum on route to orbital altitude less than 9 minutes after launch saus powered by triple booster stages is inserted into its assigned orbit this is a pocer launch control the countdown is proceeded smoothly uh this morning and the uh flight crew here at the Kennedy Space Center were alerted about 10:30 they're right now in the suit room at the man spacecraft operations building uh Downing their space suits and they're scheduled to leave the suit room about 12:37 for the trip out to pad B the weatherman continues to be cooperative a near perfect day for the launch made to order for the thousands lining the roadsides and beaches to witness this Apollo Saturn finale [Music] engine sequence starts at 3.1 seconds in the countdown we'll hold down till thrust builds up 11 engine ready light on 10 9 8 7 6 4 3 2 engine sequence start 1 zero launch commit we have a liftoff all engines building up trust moving out clear the tower all Roger Tower clear 100 time you got good thrust on all inch you're right on the money 30 seconds we're on the way stand by for mode one Bravo One Bravo One Bravo G coming down Roger Houston your go for [Applause] [Music] station okay and that light is out on the 4B we got acceleration Apollo is placed in orbit 6 gooo and before the flight is 3 hours old the docking module is smoothly extracted from the second stage booster left trailing behind during the next 40 hours Apollo through a series of Maneuvers will slowly close the orbital Gap with suus the two Crews will meet again not as members of this or that National ity but as friends who for three years shared their separate cultures and customs and a part of [Music] [Applause] [Music] themselves in preparing for their mission Soviet and American Crews spent a good deal of time together in formal Mission training in learning about the other man's culture in getting to know the man himself arrive in the United States I want to visit Hollywood Alex leono Su Commander because I want to be a movie star colonel in the Soviet Air Force no I don't want Tom staffer want in 1965 on the flight of VOD 2 he became the first man to walk in space right now we're we're optimistic we'll meet the launch schedule the hardware is in good shape as far as astronaut and Cosmonaut train were in good shape when he put the whole thing together AP Commander Air Force General Thomas St concern before this Mission he had flown three times in space he was commander of Apollo 10 the mission that orbited the moon and qualified the lunar module for subsequent lunar Landings a civilian and a veteran of the US Space Program Donald K deck Slayton one of the original Seven astronauts he was scheduled to Pilot the Fourth Man Mercury flight a slight heart irregularity interrupted his flight career he was returned to full flight status in 1972 and assigned to Apollo saus as docking module pilot another civilian crew member Valeri kubasov aged 40 the saus flight engineer on saou 6 he successfully performed the first welding experiments in the zero gravity of space rounding out the American Crew Vance brand civilian aeronautical engineer former test pilot he's been a backup crewman on previous flights but this was was his first trip into space he is the Command Module pilot as this was a time of mission preparation it also brought together engineering and Technical Specialists from both sides heading up the teams were Dr Glenn lny the American Project Director and his Soviet counterpart Professor Constantine Wu under the direction of these two an atmosphere of cordiality and mutual respect developed that pervaded the many months of meetings and negotiations joint groups were assigned to five general areas Communications and tracking life support and crew transfer Mission planning control and guidance and mechanical Design This latter category included the building of the first Universal docking system the system's development its ultimate testing in space constituted the specific goal of the Soviet American space agreement signed in Moscow in 1972 by the chief Executives of both Nations although each Nation designed and built its own half of the docking system the interface that is the physical mating of the two was a single design considering the language barrier the differing Technologies to diverse political systems the development program moved with relative easee there were differences to be sure but none that was above negotiation and compromise perhaps Professor buuf put those differences in the proper light he said in our joint work there has been only one contradiction Dr Lenny drinks black coffee and I drink mine with [Applause] cream on the TV okay copy this is Apollo control apparently the DPI maneuver was indeed successful Tom Stafford reported from Apollo that he was station keeping with saus both control centers Moscow and Houston have given a go for docking hon can you see the S he's behind the doing aha here he comes uh just above the docking module looks real [Music] pretty Good's I approaching so please don't forget about your engines less than 5 m distance 3 m contact capture we also have capture Roger to wheel pass it on shaking hands now hou Apollo go ahead Tom uh go professor professor it was a soft ducking around the world Millions watch and listen as the two spacecraft become one now they wait for the next dramatic event the meeting of Soviet and American Crews all right on show I'll Val you luk free the [Applause] cam got it it'll stay [Music] open go ahead go ahead Lexi okay turn on the camera hit the remote okay [Applause] here to see [Applause] [Applause] you in the first crew transfer astronaut Stafford and Slayton are hosted in suus by cosmonauts Leon and Vance brand remains behind to monitor apoll in the name of the Soviet people and from myself personally I am the occasion leaders of both the USSR and the United States relay there congratulations the Soviet spacecraft new possibilities are opening up for Fruitful development of scientific cooperation between countries and the peoples in the interests of of peace and progress of all Humanity I wish you successful completion of the planed program and a safe return to Earth Leonid brv astronauts on L gentlemen let me call to express my very great admiration for your hard work your total dedication in preparing for this first joint flight it's taken us many years to open this door to useful cooperation in space between our two countries and I'm confident that the day is not far off when space missions made possible by this first joint effort will be more or less common place and may I say in signing off here's to a soft Landing thank you thank you Mr President among ceremonies scheduled for this first day of joint flight are the exchanges of national flags by the spacecraft commanders later they signed certificates of docking for the paris-based Federation artique International the organization that validates all Aviation and space flight records finally they sit down to dinner in space Russian style right now I've just finished some strawberries reconstituted Dick's eating some too we're getting ready to eat some B you can see [Music] here following breakfast in their separate space craft the crews begin the second day slate of activities which includes working on the joint experiments an electric furnac is aboard for high temperature testing of metal alloys and Crystal material samples one of these samples is a joint experiment investigators believe that uniform mixtures of metals and perfect lattice structures can be consistently achieved in materials in the non-gravity of space in the day's first transfer Vance bran visits Keri kubasov in suus and Colonel leonov is hosted by astronauts Stafford and Slayton in Apollo hello American people activities begin with a tour of both spacecraft KU show s to the American audience Tom Stafford explains Apollo to Soviet viewers it's been a most rewarding two days here in space working with the Apollo soes project soon after the third transfer the Spacemen field questions from the Soviet and American and the rest of the world has seen as a results of the determination the cooperation and the efforts by the government of the two countries by the managers Eng engineers and all the workers involved it's been a very rewarding experience Roger it's moscow's turn to ask the questions that have been proposed by the Press there thank [Applause] you comfortable do you consider the Apollo spacecraft to be and how do you like the American food uh old philosopher says the best part of a good dinner is not what you eat but with whom you eat today north of New England as the workday ends Tom Stafford presents Alexia leonov spruce tree seeds to be planted in Russian soil a gift from from the American people to the people of the Soviet Union to provide a living Memorial to the flight the spacecraft commanders also join the two halves of an Apollo saus medal one half launched with cus and the other half with Apollo to symbolize the link up in orbit when time comes to retire to their own craft it's dasf and good by The Joint experiments would resume the following day but only by voice the next pH to face meeting would be in Moscow in September this is Apollo control at acquisition here we should have confirmation of undocking and a real-time television picture of uh so us from Apollo as it backs away preparation for the solar eclipse experiment solar eclipse occurs briefly and infrequently on Earth giving scientists Too Short a time for adequate study but with two-man spacecraft and proper maneuvering a solar eclipse can be simulated thus with Apollo blotting out the solar disc the saus crew train their cameras on the solar Corona recording pictures for later study [Music] they dock again providing yet another test of the compatible docking mechanism Apollo Houston uh it was a beautiful docking we had a good picture we can see it only coming up in the Mediterranean right [Music] now follow Houston through at and we're hearing your calls Roger everything was on time after some 3 hours the two spacecrafts separate for the last time and Apollo Maneuvers into position for the final joint experiment ultraviolet absorption the measurement of oxygen and nitrogen particles in the upper atmosphere Hollow directs light beams of special wavelengths to a reflector mounted on suus the beam bounce back to Apollo and are there analyzed by a spectrometer it is the first such measurement by this method results that have given investigators a clearer knowledge of outer atmospheric makeup including the quantities of ozone in the upper atmosphere termination of the experiment signals the end of The Joint phase of the mission and the separation between spacecraft grows more distant with each successive orbit Apollo will fly solo for four more days but the crew of saus makes ready for return to Earth good morning again Jim Harts and Alan Shepard from the Mission Control Center in Houston Texas live this morning the Soviet spacecraft is about to land in the Soviet Union the S recovery a focal point of media coverage is typical of worldwide interest in the mission not since the first landing on the moon 6 years earlier as the Houston News Center seen this much press activity beneath its single striped parachute sa settles to Earth in Soviet Central Asia retro Rockets pushing the [Music] impact the first three memorable years have ended Alex leonov and valieri kubasov have secured yet another place in the history of space FL a poo continues in orbit carrying out the remainder of the 27 experiments in space Sciences life sciences and applications among the less notable passengers aboard are numbers of killer fish sealed in seawater they are in Key stages of maturity scientists want to pursue an earlier investigation in which fish taken into orbit on Skylab had orientation difficulties in zero gravity while those that were hatched in orbit adapted quite well on return to Earth the specimens will be compared to similar stages of Earth raised fish through highly refined instruments they look out in our galaxy and Beyond a new source of radiation is found the extreme ultraviolet which many scientists thought would remain forever invisible others felt it didn't exist at all the discovery ranks high in importance and may open a new branch of a astronomy for studying the universe they attempt to locate the sources of soft x-rays they probe the temperature and abundance of the interstellar medium they test ways of long-term monitoring of aerosol particles in the atmosphere which may have profound effects on our weather and environment they look back on Earth on those features that will yield the greatest results geological features the oceans the deserts pollution patterns weather formations all the phenomena that comes under the general heading of Earth Resources as the mission comes down to the wire the docking modul is jettisoned and it too becomes part of an experiment with the two instrumented spacecraft close together in the same orbit it is possible to measure their relative movements caused by variations in Earth's gravity the technique provides a means of accurately mapping the Earth's mass structure on a global basis go g go retro go GNC go flight Apollo control 99 hours 29 minutes phase elapse time flight director Frank Litton pulsing his flight controllers Ecom reports everything looks fine go for the bird okay everything's up great sheep up here the only we're concerned about is that you've got all your splash down parties coordinated over well I've uh been working on that okay sounds [Music] [Applause] [Music] good to in Pacific waters west of Hawaii Apollo reaches the end of its journey and the end of an [Music] [Applause] era leaving to the assembled here on the hanger deck of the USS New Orleans Bren giving him a few more words of briefing about the ceremony which will take place in just a few moments now will walk down a red carpet for thank you I don't customarily say that it's great to be back or happy to be here we didn't know it at the time but during re-entry gas from the attitude thrusters had entered the Command Module creating a hazard quick action by the crew in recognizing and correcting the problem avoided a potentially tragic [Music] [Applause] incident they were later hospitalized in Hawaii for observation and treatment the symptom cleared in a few days and the crew was released the spirit and the letter of the 1972 joint agreement had been dramatically fulfilled hopefully it represents a Prelude to the Future to a time when all mankind will share the work and the dividends of space the space shuttle is a major step in that direction the shuttle will transport into orbit a European development called space lab with 10 countries of Europe sharing construction and cost men and women of many nationalities will be able to apply their creative talents aboard space lab for the benefit of the world Community but for space lab for shuttle for all the Cooperative space efforts to come the groundwork has been laid by Apollo sause the model for the future [Music] and that brings us to the end we hope you've enjoyed this series on the history of space travel as much as we have enjoyed bringing it to you I'm Jim berett saying goodbye from NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Ohio