The ApolloSoyuz Mission

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The Apollo-Soyuz Mission

• An Experiment in International Cooperation

Vance Brand November 30, 2001
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ObjectivesOf Apollo-Soyuz

• Primary
• Demonstrate international cooperation in the Cold
  War environment
• Flight test of a unique new docking system
• Secondary
• 28 flight experiments including 5 joint
  American/Soviet experiments

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Cooperative Events Preceding the Flight

• Signing of joint agreement (1972)
• Meetings to establish ground rules
• Docking system and docking module development
• Spacecraft checkout and experiment development
• Meetings of joint working groups to refine
  mission
• Foreign language study
• Public relations events
• Joint team training exercises

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Mission Timeline

• Soyuz launch at Baikonur, USSR on July 15, 1975
• Apollo launch in Florida, 7-1/2 hours later
• Rendezvous by Apollo (2 days)
• Docked flight (2 days)
• Soyuz deorbit and landing
• Apollo experiment operations
• Apollo deorbit and splashdown near Hawaii

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Lessons Learned

• Two space programs, grown from separate roots,
  can be successfully coordinated to accomplish a
  joint mission
• Strong support on each side from top down was
  vital for program success
• Technical cooperation is probably easier to
  achieve than political cooperation between
  countries
• Keep hardware interfaces as simple as possible
• Keep organizational interfaces simple too
• The Soviet spacecraft was less complicated than
  ours. Soyuz was mature, well-tested, and
  adequate
• The Apollo spacecraft had higher performance,
  more redundancy (backup systems) and onboard
  computational capacity. It was more than
  adequate

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Human Interaction

• Both sides worked hard to make the mission a
  success
• Neither side was pushy. Many compromises were
  easily made. The Soviets honored written
  agreements
• We learned that the Russians should neither be
  feared nor underestimated
• The Soviets respected American technology and
  capabilities
• In the 1970s, we seldom discussed religion or
  politics with the Soviets. They looked at life
  through different colored glasses
• The Soviet people were proud of their space
  program, friendly, and excited about the mission

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BenefitsOf the Apollo-Soyuz Mission

• The Soviets learned how we attack problems and
  train astronauts (Our Apollo technology was old
  and being used for the last time)
• We opened a crack in the door between East and
  West
• We benefited by understanding their space program
  and technical capabilities
• Crewmen learned the other countrys language,
  culture, and traditions. This practical and
  visible demonstration of understanding between
  crews encouraged trust at all levels
• The new Androgenous docking system was developed
  and flight tested
• 28 scientific and engineering experiments were
  performed in space

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Conclusion

• International cooperation may be the best
  strategy for a given program depending on the
  balance of pros and cons
• But-international cooperation is not a panacea.
  At the least, management may lost some control
  over their program and carry along extra
  coordination baggage
• International cooperation is a good option when
  the potential gains completely outweigh the risks
• During the height of the Cold War, Apollo-Soyuz
  was a calculated risk. It opened a crack in the
  door between East and West. In my opinion, the
  political and technical gains from the mission
  were substantial and overwhelmed the cost and
  risks

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Following Apollo-Soyuz there has been an
escalation of cooperation between nations in the
manned space arena
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Backup
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Some Things That Made Apollo A Success - Per
George M. Low

• Strong focus on an easily understood mission
• Strong and consistent support from Washington
• Painstaking attention to detail
• Built it simple, then used redundancy where
  required
• Minimized functional interfaces between complex
  pieces of hardware
• Generally tedious, repetitive tasks performed
  automatically. Selection of best data sources,
  selection of control modes and switching between
  redundant systems best done by the pilot
• Reliability enhanced by tremendous depth and
  breadth of test activity
• Careful control of design changes, no matter how
  small
• Test and flight failures needed to be well
  understood, and (if applicable) some corrective
  action taken
• Step-by-Step buildup of test flights
• Careful mission planning and thorough crew
  training

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Apollo-SoyuzFlight Experiments (Secondary
Objectives)

• Astronomy
• Soft x-ray observation
• Extreme UV survey
• Interstellar helium flow
• Artificial solar eclipse
• Crystal activation
• Earth environment
• Ultraviolet absorption
• Stratospheric aerosol measurement
• Earth observations and photography
• Doppler tracking
• Geodynamics
• Applications
• Electrophoresis technology
• Electrophoresis experiment (German)
• Multipurpose electric furnace
• Surface-tension induced convection

• Life sciences - radiation effects
• Quantative observation of light flash sensations
• Biostock III (German)
• Zone forming fungi
• Life sciences - immune system
• Microbial exchange
• Cellular immune response
• Effects of space flight polymorphonuclear
  lukocyte response
• Life sciences - vesibular systems
• Killfish hatching and orientation
• Interface markings in crystals
• Zero-g processing of magnets
• Crystal growth from the vapor phase
• Halide eutectic growth
• Multiple material melting