With the easing of relations between the US and USSR in the early 1970's and the US winning the race to the moon, the two countries turned to cooperation rather than competition. The cooperation led to the exchange of ideas resulting in major benefits for the future of mankind.
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (1975)
The ASTP was designed to establish to test space-base rescue techniques. NASA
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Both sides saw a benefit for a joint flight. NASA would be provided with valuable spaceflight experience and the Soviets would have better public relations by demonstrating that their space technology is as superior to the U.S. American and Soviet planners built a Docking Module that served as an airlock module between the different atmospheres of the spacecraft’s and a docking interface. Soviet and American representatives visited each others countries and American astronauts trained at the Russian Star City complex and Soviets trained at Johnson Space Center. Three hours after making physical contact the Apollo hatch opened and the crew members shook hands. The hand shake signified to nations able to demonstrate social, cultural, and political obstacles can be overcome peacefully.
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Click the images above to expand and explore Apollo-Soyuz Schematics
“As a part of this international agreement, NASA also gained access to the Russian space station Mir, launched in 1986. The first docking mission took place in July 1995 when the space shuttle Atlantis STS-71, docked with Mir. This was the first of nine shuttle/Mir link‑ups between 1995 and 1998, including rendezvous, docking, and crew transfers…..These missions signaled a new age of cooperation in space, where exploration of the universe would be measured more in terms of what a coalition of states had accomplished rather than what a single nation had done…..Perhaps the hardest part of space flight is not the scientific and technological challenges of operating in an exceptionally foreign and hostile environment but in the down-to-earth environment of rough-and-tumble international and domestic politics.”
- Roger D. Launius, Senior Curator in the Division of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum and Author |
The Apollo mission would be coming to an end soon and the U.S had already won the Space Race. “Khrushchev sent Kennedy a letter raising the possibility of space cooperation on a modest level after John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth on Feb. 20, 1962.
An agreement led to the opening of cooperation in three areas: 1) the exchange of weather data from satellites and the eventual coordinated launching of meteorological satellites; 2) a joint effort to map the geomagnetic field of Earth; and 3) cooperation in the experimental relay of communications. This link became a primary forum for subsequent U.S.-U.S.S.R. interaction on space." - Roald Sagdeev, University of Maryland and Susan Eisenhower, The Eisenhower Institute |
Technology
“We see the transformative effects of the Space Economy all around us through numerous technologies and life-saving capabilities. We see the Space Economy in the lives saved when advanced breast cancer screening catches tumors in time for treatment, or when a heart defibrillator restores the proper rhythm of a patient’s heart…. We see it when weather satellites warn us of coming hurricanes, or when satellites provide information critical to understanding our environment and the effects of climate change. We see it when we use an ATM or pay for gas at the pump with an immediate electronic response via satellite. Technologies developed for exploring space are being used to increase crop yields and to search for good fishing regions at sea.”
- Michael Griffin, NASA Administrator |
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International Space Station
The International Space Station was launched in 1998 and serves as a research laboratory to conduct experiments and test equipment for future missions to the Moon and Mars. Included in the ISS is Canada, Japan, Russia, and eleven states of the European Space Agency. The ISS crew provides the opportunity for students on earth to conduct experiments that happen in the ISS. They provide educational demonstrations and directly engage students using radio, video link, and email. The Space Station is a symbol of international cooperation in space.
"Led by the U.S., the International Space Station will be the largest, most complex international cooperative science and engineering program ever attempted. Taking advantage of the technical expertise from participating countries, the International Space Station will bring together scientists, engineers and researchers from around the globe to assemble a premier research facility in orbit."
- Amiko Kauderer, NASA |