The 1975 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project version of the Soyuz spacecraft (Soyuz 7K-TM) served as a technological bridge to the third generation Soyuz-T (T - транспортный, Transportnyi meaning transport) spacecraft (1976–1986).
The Soyuz ASTP spacecraft was designed for use during the Apollo Soyuz Test Project as Soyuz 19. It featured design changes to increase compatibility with the American craft. The Soyuz ASTP featured new solar panels for increased mission length, an APAS-75 docking mechanism instead of the standard male mechanism, and modifications to the environmental control system to lower the cabin pressure to 0.68 atmospheres (69 kPa) prior to docking with Apollo. The ASTP Soyuz backup craft flew as the Soyuz 22 mission, replacing the docking port with a camera.
Missions
There are only five spaceflights of the Soyuz 7K-TM spacecraft, mostly in support for the joint US-Soviet Apollo–Soyuz mission. Excess hardware that flew on its final flight (Soyuz 22) were sometimes referred to its own unique configuration called the Soyuz 7K-MF6 Mission Crew Launch Landing Duration Notes Kosmos 638 None 3 Apr 1974 13 Apr 1974 First test flight of the APAS-75 docking system Kosmos 672 None 12 Aug 1974 18 Aug 1974 Second test flight of the APAS-75 docking system Soyuz 16 Anatoly Filipchenko Nikolai Rukavishnikov 2 Dec 1974 8 Dec 1974 Third and final dress rehearsal of testing the APAS-75 docking system for the subsequent ASTP mission Soyuz 19 Alexei Leonov Valery Kubasov 15 Jul 1975 21 Jul 1975 Part of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, the first international crewed spaceflight in history Soyuz 22 Valery Bykovsky Vladimir Aksyonov 15 Sept 1976 23 Sept 1976 Earth sciences and (possibly a) reconnaissance mission. Final crewed Soyuz spaceflight to not visit a space station
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References
External links RSC Energia: Concept Of Russian Manned Space Navigation Development Mir Hardware Heritage David S.F. Portree, Mir Hardware Heritage, NASA RP-1357, 1995 Mir Hardware Heritage (wikisource) Information on Soyuz spacecraft OMWorld's ASTP Docking Trainer Page NASA - Russian Soyuz TMA Spacecraft Details Space Adventures circum-lunar mission - details