Development of the ASTP project

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Development of the ASTP project

Because of the extraordinary exposure of the Soviet space program to the outside world, the Soviet industry also took some unprecedented steps to ensure the success of all aspects of the project.

Previous chapter: Managing the ASTP project (INSIDER CONTENT)

US and Soviet crew members inside the simulator of the Soyuz' Habitation Module.

To tackle the challenges of the ASTP project, the two sides formed five working groups of specialists on various aspects of the future mission. At the center of everything was the development of a completely new docking mechanism. On the Soviet side it was handled by Vladimir Syromyatnikov, an engineer from TsKBEM (later NPO Energia). V.P. Legostaev was responsible for the rendezvous system, B.V. Nikitin took care of communications, Soviet specialists I.V. Lavrov and Yu.S. Dolgopolov worked on resolving the incompatibility of the life-support systems and the problems of crew transfer. A veteran of several Soviet space missions, Aleksei Yeliseev was charged with organizing the interaction between the Soviet ground support complex and NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas. Deputy Designer General at NPO Energia Konstantin Bushuev was appointed the Director of the ASTP project on the Soviet side. On the American side, Dr. Glynn Lunney, a Flight Director from NASA's Johnson Space Center took charge of the project.

docked

In October 1972, NASA awarded North American Rockwell a $64-million contract for the development of the Docking Module, DM, the only new module to be used in the joint mission. On October 9, the two sides set the launch date of the mission for July 15, 1975, which was ultimately held.

In total, there were more than 20 meetings between Soviet and US specialists during the active development of the ASTP project from May 1972 until July 1975. They included 11 joint tests of various hardware and six joint training sessions of mission control personnel. More 1,500 documents on various aspects of the mission were produced.

Crew training included three mutual visits by cosmonauts and three by astronauts to each others facilities for familiarization with respective equipment. NASA astronauts made three visits to the Soviet Union, where they worked with Soyuz simulators at Star City and also got Russian language instruction. In turn, the Soviet cosmonauts worked on Apollo simulators in Houston and studied English. Counting the six exchange visits, the crews spent around 700 hours training for joint activities. (1120)

Test flights

The launch of the Soyuz-19 mission, assigned to dock with Apollo, was preceded by three test flights of the custom-built Soyuz TM variant (a.k.a. Soyuz-M): the unpiloted Kosmos-638 (INSIDER CONTENT) in April 1974 and Kosmos-672 (INSIDER CONTENT) in August of the same year. The test flight program was completed with the Soyuz-16 mission, piloted by Anatoly Filipchenko and Nikolai Rukavishnikov in December 1974.

For the actual joint flight, Soviet engineers at NPO Energia were preparing two Soyuz vehicles (Production No. 75 and 76) which could launch in short order from each other from Site 1 (Facility No. 135) and Site 31 (Facility No. 353) in Tyuratam to perform the same mission. Subsequently, four crews were trained for the flight. There was also Vehicle No. 74 in high state of readiness, but with only partially completed upgrades in fire safety mandated for the ASTP project. (52)

On June 30, 1975, Sergei Afanasiev, the Minister of the General Machine Building, MOM, which oversaw the rocket industry, issued a secret order mandating 24-hour operations at all key organizations involved in the development of the Soyuz spacecraft and at flight control (INSIDER CONTENT) during the entire period of the joint mission from July 15 to July 21, 1975, in order to quickly resolve any potential problems. (1110)

From Feb. 11, 1975, a special inter-agency group formed by a special decree of the Soviet government and involving officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID), the Academy of Sciences (MOM), the military and the Soviet of Ministers worked on special promotional events and on the unusually open coverage of the mission. The Soviet cosmonauts were also coached for a joint press-conference aboard the docked spacecraft with the American crew, because for the first time in Soviet space history, their words were expected to be broadcast on live TV. (50)

Also, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the KGB security apparatus were ordered to screen Soviet "journalists" to be accredited at NASA's press-center in Houston, Texas, for coverage of the joint flight. (1112)

Next page: ASTP launch campaign (INSIDER CONTENT)

The article by Anatoly Zak; Last update: July 18, 2025

Page editor: Alain Chabot

The ASTP crew members inside the Command Module simulator of the Apollo spacecraft. Credit: NASA

The ASTP crew members inside the Docking Module simulator of the Apollo spacecraft. Credit: NASA