The Crew of the Apollo-Soyuz

There were five crew members upon the Apollo-Soyuz- three Americans and two Soviets

 

Tom Stafford-(1930-Present) Born in Oklahoma, Stafford graduated with honors from the US Naval Academy in 1952. He was the commander of the ASTP flight, and was the first general officer to fly in space. In addition to ASTP, he also flew on Gemini 6A and was also the commander of Gemini 9. After the ASTP mission, he was promoted to Major General and served on several advisory boards relating to space exploration and the Airforce Systems Command.

Vance Brand-(1931-Present) Born in Colorado, Brand received a Bachelor of Arts in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Colorado. He was one of 19 astronouts selected by NASA in 1966, and among other roles, was a support crewman for the Apollo 8 and 13 missions. After the ASTP mission, Brand would go on to command other space missions, such as Columbia for STS-5 and later Challenger and Columbia flights. He retired from NASA in 2008, and has an airport named after him in Longmont, Colorado.

Deke Slayton-(1924-1993) Born in Wisconsin, Deke received a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He was named a Mercury Astronaut in 1959, and was originally assigned to the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission, but a heart condition kept him grounded for several years. The ASTP mission was his first flight in space, where he served as a docking module pilot. He retired from NASA in 1982.

Alexei Leonov-(1934-Present)- The commander for the Soviet side of the mission. Was the first man to conduct a spacewalk, in 1965. After his work on the flight, he was the deputy director of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, and retired in 1992. In addition to his work in space, he’s also famous for his art, influenced by his missions and local scenery.

Valery Kubasov-(1935-2014) Born in Vyazniki, Soviet Union, he gradated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1958. He was initially chosen for the Soyuz 11 mission, but was grounded for health reasons. Kubasov was also known for conducting the first welding experiment in space. He flew his final flight in 1980, and retired soon after to help lead “Russian spacecraft manufacturer RKK Energia”.

 

(Images courtesy of NASA and   Information obtained from NASA, https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/stafford-tp.html,  https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/brand.html, https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/slayton.html, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Valery-Kubasov, http://www.astronautcentral.com/LEONOV/AlexeiLeonov.html and Russia’s Cosmonauts: Inside the Yuri Gagarin.