The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first manned space flight conducted jointly by two nations. Starting with the launch of the Soviet Soyuz on July 15, 1975, followed by the U.S. Apollo launch on the same day, docking of the two craft occurred on July 17, and joint operations were conducted for two full days.

The attached are heat shield fragments removed by North American Rockwell Recovery Team member Ossie Reid after the Apollo command module was hoisted out of the Atlantic Ocean and onto the deck of the USS New Orleans.