Sarah Keegan
Headquarters, Washington, DC                       July 11, 2000
(Phone:  202/358-1902)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N00-30

ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO SOYUZ TEST PROJECT OBSERVED

     With Russia's launch of its major contribution to the 
International Space Station imminent, NASA today prepares to mark 
Saturday's 25th anniversary of an earlier cooperative human space 
flight endeavor -- the Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP).  ASTP was 
designed to test rendezvous and docking system compatibility for 
American and Soviet spacecraft and open the way for future joint 
human flights.

During the nine-day mission launched July 15, 1975, 
astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand and Donald K. 
Slayton rendezvoused and docked their Apollo spacecraft with the 
Soyuz 19 spacecraft with cosmonauts Aleksey Leonov and Valeriy 
Kubasov onboard.

     Today on its Video File feed, NASA Television will air 
historical footage of mission activities, including the docking of 
the two spacecraft. The NASA Video File normally airs at noon, 3 
p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and midnight Eastern Time.

     The NASA History Office today introduces an ASTP web page 
available on the Internet at: 

   http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/astp/index.html

The site contains a variety of ASTP historical information, 
including mission video and still images, biographical sketches of 
key personnel, and primary-source documentary material about the 
flight.

NASA Television is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees 
West longitude, with vertical polarization.  Frequency is on 
3880.0 megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz.

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