When Apollo Intercepted Soyuz

Pictured: Fake vodka labels on tubes of beet soup as the Soviets and Americans toast to a historic meeting in Space.

Despite being in the thick of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union once decided to put aside their differences and planned a joint space mission.

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, launched on July 15, 1975, was the first crewed international space mission. Its goal was to dock an American Apollo command and service module with a Soviet Soyuz space capsule.

Over two days, the American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts performed a series of scientific experiments and technology demonstrations.

But the mission took a more significant purpose as the relations between both countries began to improve at the end of the Vietnam War.

It was seen as a political symbol of peace, and the conclusion of the Space Race with a friendly handshake in microgravity.