Page 22 - Intro to Space Sciences Spacecraft Applications

Introduction and History 9

doned after a total of 171 days in use, Skylab’s orbit gradually decayed
until it finally reentered the atmosphere in July 1979 and was destroyed.

Apollo-Soyuz. As an act of dCtente, the United States and the Soviet
Union agreed to a joint space operation involving the docking of an Apol-
lo capsule with a Soyuz spacecraft. Scientists, engineers, and crews from
both countries worked together to design a universal docking adapter to
enable the two ships to dock and give direct access between the space-
craft. Both craft were launched on the same day in July 1975 and docked
two days later. In addition to ceremonies and interviews for television, the
crews conducted joint experiments using facilities on board both space-
craft. Though not technologically critical, the Apollo-Soyuz mission
demonstrated that the two superpowers could cooperate in the peaceful
use of outer space.

Space Shuttle. From 1975 to 1981, no American manned missions were
launched. NASA focused on the development of the reusable space trans-
portation system (STS) commonly referred to as the Space Shuttle. The

Figure 1-5. Three crews visited Sky/ab between May 1973 and February
1974. (Photograph courtesy of NASA.)