Today in History: The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

On this day (July 15) in 1975, the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (begun in 1957) ended with the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project—a symbolic act of détente in which the Soviets launched Soyuz 19 and the U.S. launched an unnumbered surplus Apollo capsule. The two ships would dock together in orbit. The joint scientific mission included an artificially created eclipse of the sun when Apollo maneuvered to block the sun so that Soyuz could photograph the sun’s corona. This was the last Apollo mission. It would be six years before the U.S. returned to orbit with the Space Shuttle Program.