Skip to main content

U.S. and Soviets Link Up in Space

Author:
Video Rating:
TV-PG
Video Duration:
1:34

U.N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim congratulates the American and Soviet astronauts for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. On July 17, 1975, Commanders Thomas P. Safford and Aleksei Leonov shook hands in space.

FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

RELATED CONTENT

On February 28, 1946, Secretary of State James Byrnes addresses the Overseas Press Club to discuss the purposes of the United Nations. In his speech, Byrnes makes an indirect reference to the Soviet Union when he declares that the United States is prepared to "act to prevent aggression."

U.S.-Soviet Tension Builds

President Kennedy establishes his New Frontier with a challenge to venture into outer space. John Glenn became the first American astronaut to orbit the earth, one step in America's endeavor to land on the moon.

Space: JFK's New Frontier

On April 12, 1981, NASA launched the world's first reusable manned spacecraft. In the minutes before takeoff, Kennedy Space Center launch control communicates with astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen as they prepare to take Columbia on its first test flight into space and back.

First Space Shuttle Launched

An August 22, 1968, a U.S. Democratic Platform hearing is interrupted when Chairman Hale Boggs is handed a bulletin announcing the Soviets' invasion of Czechoslovakia. Rep. Boggs reads the news and Secretary of State Dean Rusk makes a hasty departure to find out what's going on.

U.S. Receives News of Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia

Upon his return to Earth from the International Space Station on May 9, 2001, California millionaire Dennis Tito speaks at a press conference about his experience as the world's first space tourist. The tycoon reportedly paid the Russian space program $20 million for the trip into outer space.

World's First Space Tourist

Just after liftoff of the space shuttle Atlantis on July 8, 2011, Kennedy Space Center Mission Control notes the historic moment. NASA retired the 30-year-old space shuttle program, making this the final space shuttle flight.

Final Space Shuttle Takeoff