Apollo and Soyuz docked in space 17 July 1975

On July 17, 1975, the U.S. spacecraft Apollo and the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 19 docked in space. The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project was the first joint U.S.–Soviet space flight, and the last flight of an Apollo spacecraft. Its primary purpose was as a symbol of the policy of detente that the two superpowers were pursuing at the time, and it marked the end of the Space Race between them that began in 1957.