July 15 is the day of the first joint space flight between the two countries

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July 15 is the day of the first joint space flight between the two countries

On July 1975, 15, the Soyuz-19 spacecraft, piloted by Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov, took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Eight hours later, the Apollo spacecraft with the Saturn 8-B rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida (USA) flew under the command of American astronauts Thomas Stafford, Vance Brandom and Donald Slayton. In the two days after the flight, the ships moved towards a face-to-face situation, thereby trying to achieve an unprecedented international space event. This turn occurred on July 1 over the Atlantic at an altitude of 17 miles. Three hours after the collision, Leonov greeted Stafford with the words "Glad to see you," meaning "I'm glad to see you." In response, Stafford replied in Russian, "Privet, rad tebe videt," to the British astronaut. The two colleagues then hugged each other. Instead of a symbolic expression, souvenirs and flags were shared. In the sky, the two peoples toured each other’s ships. They were entertained with national dishes. After a two-day flight, they returned to Earth. Both crews returned safely to the ground. The Soyuz parachuted into the former Soviet Union on July 140, and the Apollo landed on July 3 not far from the Hawaiian Islands.