the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975. ASTP was particularly significant for the USSR's policy of keeping the details of their space program secret from the Soviet people and the world at large, especially Americans. The ASTP was the first Soviet space mission to be televised in a live fashion during the launch, while in space, and during the landing. Soyuz 19 was also the first Soviet spacecraft to which a foreign flight crew had access before flight; the Apollo crew were permitted to inspect it and the launch and crew training site, which was an unprecedented sharing of information with Americans about any Soviet space program. Not all reactions to ASTP were positive. Many Americans feared that ASTP was giving the USSR too much credit in their space program, putting them on equal footing with the sophisticated space exploration efforts of NASA. More feared that the apparent peaceful cooperation between the USSR and the United States would lull people into believing there was no conflict at all between the two superpowers. Some Soviet publicists called American critics of the mission "demagogues who stand against scientific cooperation with the USSR". In general, tensions between the United States and the USSR had softened, and the project set a precedent for future cooperative projects in space. Apollo crew Backup crew Crew notes It was American astronaut Deke Slayton's only space flight. He was chosen as one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts in April 1959, but had been grounded until 1972 for medical reasons. Jack Swigert had originally been assigned as the command module pilot for the ASTP prime crew, but he was removed before the official announcement as punishment for his involvement in the Apollo 15 postal covers incident. Support crew Karol J. Bobko, Robert Crippen, Robert F. Overmyer, Richard H. Truly Flight directors Pete Frank (Orange team), Neil Hutchinson (Silver team), Don Puddy (Crimson team), Frank Littleton (Amber team) Soyuz crew It was the last space mission for Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who had become the first person to walk in space during the March 1965 Voskhod 2 mission. Backup crew Mission summary Background The ASTP entailed the docking of an American Apollo command and service module (CSM) with a Soviet Soyuz 7K-TM spacecraft. Although the Soyuz was given a mission designation number (Soyuz 19) as part of the ongoing Soyuz programme, its radio call sign was simply "Soyuz" for the