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2168
AND
SPACE
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20546
U.S.A.
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
APR 8 1975
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On April 5, 1975, the Soviet Union launched a manned Soyuz spacecraft
for continuing experiments with the Salyut 4 space station. Liftoff
was successful; however, difficulty with the third stage resulted in
failure to attain sufficient speed to achieve orbit. The mission was
aborted and the spacecraft returned safely to earth within the Soviet
Union.
This failure raises the question of Soviet readiness for our joint
Apollo-Soyuz rendezvous mission. While there have been difficulties
in some of the previous seventeen Soyuz missions, there has not been
a failure to achieve orbit. Our past discussions with the Soviets and
our examination of their technical fixes for earlier difficulties, which
might be related to our joint mission, have given us assurance that the
earlier difficulties have been resolved.
In the regularly scheduled telephone conference today between Professor
Konstantin D. Bushuyev of the USSR and Dr. Glynn S. Lunney of the U.S.
Technical Directors for the Apollo-Soyuz mission, Dr. Bushuyev stated
that the launch vehicle which failed was an earlier version of the booster
used in the Soviet program. Although his analysis is not complete,
Professor Bushuyev stated that there were no suspicions in any system
common to the old and new versions of the booster. He further indicated
that the newer version has been used successfully in previous flights.
He positively assured us that the failure would not affect our joint
program or the July 15 launch date. He has promised to provide further
details when his analysis is complete.
We, of course, are giving paramount consideration to the safety of our
astronauts. The launch failure, should it recur, poses no concern for
the safety of our astronauts because it happened before what would be
the joint phase of the mission. In view of the earlier seventeen success-
ful launches, there should be high confidence in the launch phase of the
mission. As a precaution, however, the Soviets plan a complete backup
spacecraft and crew, giving virtual assurance of successful launch.
FORD
own) a
Document source description
This letter includes information on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a joint U.S.-Soviet Union space mission.
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Document data
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- 7347191
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- Type
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DTO data
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"ocrText": "2168\nAND\nSPACE\nNATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20546\nU.S.A.\nOFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR\nAPR 8 1975\nThe President\nThe White House\nWashington, D.C. 20500\nDear Mr. President:\nOn April 5, 1975, the Soviet Union launched a manned Soyuz spacecraft\nfor continuing experiments with the Salyut 4 space station. Liftoff\nwas successful; however, difficulty with the third stage resulted in\nfailure to attain sufficient speed to achieve orbit. The mission was\naborted and the spacecraft returned safely to earth within the Soviet\nUnion.\nThis failure raises the question of Soviet readiness for our joint\nApollo-Soyuz rendezvous mission. While there have been difficulties\nin some of the previous seventeen Soyuz missions, there has not been\na failure to achieve orbit. Our past discussions with the Soviets and\nour examination of their technical fixes for earlier difficulties, which\nmight be related to our joint mission, have given us assurance that the\nearlier difficulties have been resolved.\nIn the regularly scheduled telephone conference today between Professor\nKonstantin D. Bushuyev of the USSR and Dr. Glynn S. Lunney of the U.S.\nTechnical Directors for the Apollo-Soyuz mission, Dr. Bushuyev stated\nthat the launch vehicle which failed was an earlier version of the booster\nused in the Soviet program. Although his analysis is not complete,\nProfessor Bushuyev stated that there were no suspicions in any system\ncommon to the old and new versions of the booster. He further indicated\nthat the newer version has been used successfully in previous flights.\nHe positively assured us that the failure would not affect our joint\nprogram or the July 15 launch date. He has promised to provide further\ndetails when his analysis is complete.\nWe, of course, are giving paramount consideration to the safety of our\nastronauts. The launch failure, should it recur, poses no concern for\nthe safety of our astronauts because it happened before what would be\nthe joint phase of the mission. In view of the earlier seventeen success-\nful launches, there should be high confidence in the launch phase of the\nmission. As a precaution, however, the Soviets plan a complete backup\nspacecraft and crew, giving virtual assurance of successful launch.\nFORD\nown) a"
}