[ASTP] PRE-LAUNCH PREPARATIONS. VINTAGE NASA "RED NUMBER" PHOTOGRAPH, 2 JULY 1975.

The Vintage NASA Photo Collection of Philip Kulpa

[ASTP]

PRE-LAUNCH PREPARATIONS. 2 JULY 1975.

Vintage NASA “Red Number” chromogenic color photograph, 10 by 8 inches, “This Paper Manufactured by Kodak” watermark to verso. NASA image ID “NASA S-75-28387” printed in upper left margin in red; minor toning.

A nighttime view of Pad B, Launch Complex 39, at Kennedy Space Center, which shows the ASTP Apollo/Saturn 1B space vehicle during Apollo-Soyuz Test Project prelaunch preparations. 

The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the first joint U.S.–Soviet space flight, and was meant to serve as a symbol of the policy of détente that the two superpowers were pursuing. The mission involved the docking of an Apollo CSM and a Soviet Soyuz 19 capsule. The Apollo vehicle that was used was left over from canceled Apollo missions, and was the last Apollo CSM to fly. This ASTP mission ceremoniously marked the end of the Space Race, which had begun in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik.