 |
|
|
|
|
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
Agreements
- Text of the agreement signed by U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin concerning ASTP
during the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) talks on May 24, 1972.
- Background material on the ASTP mission and chronologies of discussions between the U.S. and the Soviet
Union on ASTP released shortly after the ASTP agreement was signed.
- Press release on the signing of the ASTP agreement during the SALT talks.
Correspondence
1969 – March 14: Secretary of State William Rogers to President Richard Nixon. Discusses future possibilities in
space cooperation with other countries, including the Soviet Union; enclosed is a staff study entitled,
“New Initiatives in Space Cooperation”, which suggested space rescue as an area of future
cooperation.
- September 15: NASA Administrator Thomas Paine to President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Mstislav
Keldysh. Discussed the possibility of Soviet involvement in NASA science missions.
- October 10: NASA Administrator Thomas Paine to President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Mstislav
Keldysh. Forwarded copy of Space Task Group report and suggested undertaking “major
complementary tasks to the benefit of both our
countries”.
1970 – July 31: NASA Administrator Thomas Paine to President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Mstislav
Keldysh. Discussed meeting to determine possibility of mutually compatible docking systems in
spacecraft of each country.
- September 25: NASA Acting Administrator George Low to President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences
Mstislav Keldysh. Discussed future meeting in Moscow for preliminary technical discussions on docking systems.
1971 – January 25: NASA Acting Administrator George Low to President Richard Nixon. Reports the completion of
an agreement with the Soviet Union to conduct cooperative activities in space exploration and
research, including development of compatible docking systems.
1972 – January 12: Memorandum for the Record regarding meeting with President Nixon by NASA
Deputy Administrator George Low. President approved ASTP as a subject for early policy level
discussion with the Soviet Union.
- February 17: National Security Decision Memorandum 153, Assistant to the President for National Security
Affairs Henry Kissinger to NASA Administrator James Fletcher, et al. Directs NASA Administrator to
make his best effort to ensure an agreement on ASTP is ready before the Moscow summit in May
1972.
- May 17: Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger to President Richard Nixon.
Informs the President that NASA Administrator Fletcher had concluded an agreement on principles
with the Soviet Union regarding ASTP, clearing the way for a formal agreement to be signed during
the Moscow summit. Kissinger enclosed a possible draft agreement.
- August 15: NASA Deputy Administrator George Low to President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Mstislav
Keldysh. Set out the responsibilities of the Project Directors and noted the steps taken to
implement the ASTP mission in the wake of the May 1972 summit in Moscow.
1973 – August 14: NASA Deputy Administrator George Low to President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Mstislav
Keldysh. Suggests an ASTP midterm review to discuss the exchange of information on systems
failures with bearings on ASTP, joint pre-flight testing of interfacing equipment, and the ability to
meet the remaining pre- flight milestones.
1975 – March 24: NASA Deputy Administrator George Low to President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Mstislav
Keldysh. Proposed ideas for future space cooperation between the US and the Soviet Union,
including the possibility of a docking between the Space Shuttle and a Salyut space station.
- April 7: NASA Administrator James Fletcher to US Senator William Proxmire. Discussed the failure of the
Soyuz 18 flight and the potential impact on ASTP.
- June 16: NASA Deputy Administrator George Low to ASTP Program Director Chester Lee. Discussed
remaining open issues from the Flight Readiness Review in Moscow.
Design Characteristics
Drawings and Diagrams
Mission Transcripts
1. Command Module Recorder
2. Technical Air to Ground Recording
3. PAO Mission Commentary
ASTP US
4. USSR Mission Commentary (Soviet Mission Control Center)
ASTP USSR
Objects Exchanged
Press Kits
Press Conferences
1972 – May 24: Announcement of signing of agreement to conduct the Apollo Soyuz Test Project by President
Richard Nixon and President Alexei Kosygin. Also provides basic information on the project.
Participants were James Fletcher, Dale Myers, and Glynn Lunney.
- June 15: White House press conference on ASTP progress since May summit and prospects for future
cooperation with the Soviet Union. Participants were James Fletcher, John Young, and Charles
Duke.
1973 – February 1: Apollo crew named. Participants were Thomas Stafford, Donald Slayton, Vance Brand,
and Glynn Lunney.
- March 30: Second joint press conference with American and Soviet participants. Discussed the meetings of
the ASTP working groups and the progress made in the meetings. Participants were
Konstantin Bushuyev, Glynn Lunney, Alex Tatistcheff, and John Riley.
- July 20: First joint U.S. press conference with the Apollo and Soyuz crews. Participants were Glynn Lunney,
Konstantin Bushuyev, Thomas Stafford, Donald Slayton, Alexei Leonov, Valeriy Kubasov, Vladimir
Shatalov, Alexei Yeliseyev, Alex Tatistcheff, and John Riley.
- November 19: Update on October ASTP working group meetings in Moscow and on ASTP testing at the
Johnson Space Center. Participants were Glynn Lunney and Milton Riem.
1974 – April 26: Second joint U.S. press conference with the Apollo and Soyuz crews. Discussed the progress of
crew training and mission planning for ASTP. Participants were Alexei Leonov, Valeriy Kubasov,
Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand, Donald Slayton, and Alex Tatistcheff.
- May 3: Update on progress of ASTP working groups. Participants were Glynn Lunney, Konstantin Bushuyev,
and Alex Tatistcheff.
1975 – February 26: Press briefing on launch, rendezvous, and docking of Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft.
Participants were Kenneth Young and Milton Riem.
- February 26: Press briefing on joint crew activities following docking. Participants were Richard Truly and
Milton Riem.
- April 11: Overview of mission and spacecraft. Participants were Chester Lee, Vance Brand, and William
O’Donnell.
- July 14: Prelaunch press conference. Discussed launch conditions and space rescue possibilities.
Participants were Arnauld Nicogossian, Ellery May, Glynn Lunney, Walter Kapryan, John Young,
William Solomon, and Jerry David.
- July 14: Press conference on the gift of tree seeds from the U.S to the Soviet Union which would take place
during the ASTP flight. Participant was John McGuire, head of the U.S. Forest Service.
- July 19: Briefing on the science experiments taking place during the ASTP mission. Participants were
Thomas Giuli, Farouk El Baz, Friedrick Vonbun, Robert Snyder, Thomas Donohue, Robert Hudson,
and David Garrett.
- August 9: Post flight Apollo crew press conference. Discussed the ASTP mission and experiments.
Participants were Thomas Stafford, Donald Slayton, Vance Brand and William O’Donnell.
- October 13: ASTP crew joint press conference on U.S. leg of goodwill tour. Participants were Thomas
Stafford, Donald Slayton, Vance Brand, Alexei Leonov, Valeriy Kubasov, John Donnelly, and Maxwell
Peterson.
Project Approval Document
Rendezvous Book
Recovery Requirements
Reports of Trip and Working Group Meetings
1970 – November 5: Trip report by Glynn Lunney. Discussed initial meeting in Soviet Union on the possibility of a
joint docking mission, Lunney also notes his impressions of the Soyuz spacecraft and of the Soviet
Union.
1972 – May 30: Trip report by George Low. Discussed April 1972 meeting in Soviet Union to work out remaining
technical details in order for an agreement to be signed during the SALT talks in May. An addendum
by Low describes the process by which the text of the ASTP agreement signed by Nixon and Kosygin
was put together.
1973 – July 24: Report of working group meeting at JSC by Chester Lee. Discussed the meetings, the status of
agreements on various aspects of the mission, crew training, and recent Soviet space accidents.
- July 31: Trip report by David Scott. Discussed the status of working group activities, logistics of trips to
Soviet Union, and impressions of the trip.
- November 1: Trip report by George Low. Midterm review of ASTP, visits to Baikonur and the Soviet mission
control center, and general impressions of the trip.
1975 – June 5: Trip report by George Low. Flight Readiness Review for ASTP, visit to Baikonur, his impressions
of the trip, and discussion of future cooperative efforts with the Soviet Union.
Science Reports
Technical Translations
Transcripts
1975 – February 27: US and Soviet ASTP crew meeting with employees of the Johnson Space Center.
Participants were Thomas Stafford, Donald Slayton, Vance Brand, Alexei Leonov, Valeriy Kubasov,
Vladimir Shatalov, and Christopher Kraft.
1975 – July 17: President Ford's conversation with ASTP astronauts/cosmonauts.
|
Authors: Elizabeth Suckow and Colin Fries, 2010
|
|
|
|
|
