Echoes Among the Stars: The Original Website
Echoes Among the Stars — Chapter Ten
ASTP: A Handshake Across the Heavens
“Momentarily distracted by his uncharacteristically spry partner in space diplomacy, a bespectacled Leonid Brezhnev, President of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, looked over at U.S. President Richard Nixon like a grade-school child attempting to see his classmate’s paper.” -- page 127
• Topics Covered in This Chapter
• Topics for Discussion
• Historical Context
• Possible Writing Assignments
Topics Covered in This Chapter
• Space Diplomacy: U.S.-U.S.S.R. Cooperation
• The Soviets: Unprecedented Media Access
• The Americans: Apollo’s Last Flight
• Linked Flight and Crew Transfer
• The Apollo Victory Lap, and the End of the Apollo Era
Topics for Discussion
It might be difficult for young people who weren’t around during the height of the Cold War to understand the significance of the joint American-Soviet ASTP mission, but it certainly provides a good starting point for discussion of the time, the nature of the Cold War, or in a more general fashion, the way in which future space exploration might naturally tend more toward cooperative international efforts.
Historical Context
The Ford Administration
Ford pardons Nixon
Saigon falls, ending the Vietnam War
Possible Writing Assignments
College
Write an essay that speculates about how the first era of space exploration might have unfolded if the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were NOT involved in the space race, and instead cooperated from the very beginning on the development of space vehicles and systems. Be sure to take into account the nature of each country at the time, their different views of the world, and their vastly different approaches to space travel.
High School
The Apollo-Soyuz project demonstrated that the U.S. and U.S.S.R. could cooperate with each other in developing and planning a space mission. In similar fashion, popular television programs like “Star Trek” usually portray the future of space travel as being a cooperative venture between various types of beings. Write an essay about why cooperation is important to the future of space exploration.
K-8
One of the best things about the Apollo-Soyuz project was the way it allowed Americans and Russians to work together on a space mission. Describe a situation in which you have worked together with someone else that made it easier for both of you to do what you were trying to do.
It might be difficult for young people who weren’t around during the height of the Cold War to understand the significance of the joint American-Soviet ASTP mission, but it certainly provides a good starting point for discussion of the time, the nature of the Cold War, or in a more general fashion, the way in which future space exploration might naturally tend more toward cooperative international efforts.
Historical Context
The Ford Administration
Ford pardons Nixon
Saigon falls, ending the Vietnam War
Possible Writing Assignments
College
Write an essay that speculates about how the first era of space exploration might have unfolded if the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were NOT involved in the space race, and instead cooperated from the very beginning on the development of space vehicles and systems. Be sure to take into account the nature of each country at the time, their different views of the world, and their vastly different approaches to space travel.
High School
The Apollo-Soyuz project demonstrated that the U.S. and U.S.S.R. could cooperate with each other in developing and planning a space mission. In similar fashion, popular television programs like “Star Trek” usually portray the future of space travel as being a cooperative venture between various types of beings. Write an essay about why cooperation is important to the future of space exploration.
K-8
One of the best things about the Apollo-Soyuz project was the way it allowed Americans and Russians to work together on a space mission. Describe a situation in which you have worked together with someone else that made it easier for both of you to do what you were trying to do.
