The Russian Soyuz Shuttle departed from Kazakhstan on July 15, followed 7.5 hours later by the American Apollo spacecraft lifting off from Kennedy Space Center. The unprecedented objective of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project - to link together two shuttles in space via a specialized docking module.
On the wrists of the three astronauts and two cosmonauts involved in the test project was one watch, the Speedmaster. 12.09 PM EDT- on July 17, the Soyuz and Apollo bridged smoothly 229 km above Metz, France.
