Soyuz 16 served as a comprehensive rehearsal for the Soviet contribution to Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP).

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The American astronauts acknowledged the necessity of enhancing their Russian language proficiency. They observed that their Russian counterparts, had demonstrated a remarkable commitment to learning English, dedicating 6 to 8 hours each day to individual language instruction.

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For the first time, the Soviet Union publicly announced the crew assignments for a Soyuz mission before the flight. Previously, cosmonaut identities were kept secret until after their flights.

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According to George Low, the Soviet mission operations control room was quite large – it contained 16 two-man consoles, thus allowing them 32 flight controllers. In addition, there was a back row of consoles which were used for personnel such … Continue reading →

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In April of 1972, George Low returned to Washington from Moscow and briefed Henry Kissinger. He conveyed NASA’s assessment that a joint space mission in 1975 was feasible.

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In a re-evaluation of the proposed test mission, the Soviets concluded that utilizing the Salyut spacecraft would not be technically and economically viable.

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Finally Kraft and Gilruth told the Soviets that if they were unwilling to agree to the telephone conversations then the NASA delegation might as well pack up and go back to Houston. After some hesitation, the Soviets decided to try … Continue reading →

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The spacecraft designers led by Caldwell Johnson faced a demanding task. Director Gilruth urged them to accelerate the development of the docking adapter design, aiming to have a functional model ready for the upcoming November meeting with the Soviets.

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Two options were presented: Apollo docking with Salyut/Soyuz or Soyuz with Skylab/Apollo. Caldwell Johnson was taken aback by the Soviets’ eagerness to immediately pursue the development of a universal docking mechanism.

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On January 20th, 1971 in private negotiation, Low and Frutkin met with Keldysh and Feoktistov to discuss rendezvous and docking. NASA proposed developing compatible systems for Apollo and Soyuz rather than future spacecraft, aiming to give specialists something concrete on … Continue reading →

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A critical problem emerged during the separation and ignition of the third stage approximately five minutes into the flight.
A failure in the electrical system responsible for releasing the locks securing the core stage of the booster to the third stage resulted in only one side of the locks disengaging. Continue reading →

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