The Soyuz-Apollo Project in Soviet (Russian) and American newspapers: content analysis

Grebenchenko Irina Viktorovna Post-graduate student, Department of Historical Information Science, History Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University 129515, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Lomonosovskii Prospekt, 27 k. 4 grebenchenkoirina@mail.ru Other publications by this author

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched into outer space the First artificial satellite of the Earth, which opened a new Era in the history of mankind – the space age. In addition to the obvious breakthrough in the aerospace industry, scientific achievements and strengthening of the protective potential of the state, this event marked the beginning of the so–called "space race" - intense rivalry in the field of space exploration between the USSR and the United States, which lasted for a long 30 years until 1988. Both powers tried to get ahead of the rival: launch the first satellites, then send animals into space, conduct experiments, develop and build space rockets with an increasing range and load, send a person into outer space, increase the duration of stay in orbit of astronauts, build space stations, send research vehicles to other planets of the Solar System. The "space race" became an important part of the cultural, technological and ideological confrontation between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War. This was due to the fact that space research was not only of great importance for scientific and military developments, but also a noticeable propaganda effect.Despite the fact that the confrontation in space between the two strongest powers continued, it gradually became obvious that fruitful cooperation would bring more benefits than rivalry, despite the fact that in trying to get ahead of the rival in less than 20 years, both countries have achieved phenomenal success in space exploration.

This is how the joint Soviet-American program "Soyuz–Apollo" or the experimental flight "Apollo"–"Soyuz" (abbreviated EPAS) was born.

The role of this project in the history of space exploration, and in world history as a whole, there is little to compare with. Several years of preliminary preparation and the flight, for the implementation of which the close joint work of the teams of both countries was extremely necessary, contributed to the removal of tension between the states and the expansion of further cooperation in outer space by creating the MIR orbital space station (and the implementation of the MIR–Shuttle project) and the International Space Station, the work on which it continues together to this day.

The joint Soviet-American space flight on the Soyuz-19 and Apollo spacecraft became a symbol of detente and the end of the Cold War between the USSR and the United States.

The press all over the world and especially in the USSR and the USA showed great interest in the project.

The purpose of this work is to analyze the reflection of the first Soviet-American space cooperation – the Soyuz–Apollo program on the pages of Soviet (Russian) and American newspapers using content analysis.

This paper examines two Soviet (Russian) newspapers "Izvestia" and "Pravda" and the American newspaper "Times" from 1970 to 2021. By the keyword search method in the East View online database system, which contains electronic versions of leading Russian journals, including journals on socio-political and humanitarian sciences, independent scientific publications, as well as literary and artistic journals, the issues of Soviet (Russian) newspapers were selected, in particular which were mentions of the joint flight of the Soviet and American ships Soyuz and Apollo.

In the course of the work, 571 issues of the newspaper Pravda and 512 issues of the newspaper Izvestia were selected, so 1083 issues of Soviet newspapers were considered in the work, which amounted to 1,156 articles (516 in the newspaper Izvestia, 640 in the newspaper Pravda) with a total volume of 1,379 A4 pages or 5,022,606 signs.

The issues of the newspaper "The New York Times" were also used for the work. By searching for keywords on the website of the newspaper archive, newspaper issues were selected, in which there were mentions of the joint flight of the Soviet and American Soyuz and Apollo ships. 410 such issues (and articles) were published during the specified period, which amounted to 379 A4 pages or 999,052 characters.

To determine which topics were important for Soviet (Russian) and American newspapers in the framework of the study of the Soyuz-Apollo project, a frequency analysis of the content of articles was carried out and two similar category systems were formed.

Table 1. System of categories and indicators for Soviet (Russian) newspapers

Category

Table 2. System of categories and indicators for an American newspaper

Category

For a more detailed picture, a comparative analysis of the coverage of the Soyuz-Apollo program in the press from both sides was carried out for individual periods related to changes in the international situation and relations between countries:

The first period was 1970-1979. In the 1970s, during the period of detente, relations between the two superpowers were restrained. In 1971, the "Agreement on measures to reduce the risk of nuclear war between the USSR and the USA" was signed, in 1973 – the "Agreement between the USSR and the USA on the prevention of nuclear war". Interstate cooperation developed in many areas, a consulate was reopened in Leningrad in 1972, and the first project of Soviet-American cooperation in outer space was successfully implemented in 1975.

The second period was 1980-1984 . At the end of December 1979, relations between the two countries cooled primarily due to the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan.

The third period was 1985-1994 . When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1985, relations between the countries began to improve. In the same 1985 year in Geneva, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan adopted a statement saying: "Nuclear war is unacceptable," because "there can be no winners in it," which was a signal to end the nuclear arms race. On December 3, 1989, during a meeting in Malta, George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev officially announced the end of the Cold War.

The fourth period is 1995-2010 . During these years, a number of military conflicts took place, in which both the United States of America and the Russian Federation became participants, and both the United States and Russia withdrew from arms limitation treaties. Also during this period there were separate events that caused some warming of relations between states: cooperation in the framework of the "war on terror" after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The fifth period, 2011-2021, represents a new stage of tension between the countries, characterized by increased confrontation in political, economic and other spheres.

We will conduct a frequency analysis of the occurrence of semantic categories for these periods in order to test the hypothesis about the influence of the nature of relations between the USSR and the USA on the content of newspaper publications about the EPAS project.

Table 3. Frequency analysis of categoriesin Soviet newspapers by period

Table 4. Frequency analysis of categories

in the Times newspaper by period

In tables 3 and 4, the 5 largest values are highlighted in color, that is, the most mentioned categories in each period.

The frequency analysis of the occurrence of categories shows that for all analyzed newspapers the most significant are the categories "flight results", "political bloc", "flight" and "space". These categories usually account for 50 to 60% of all articles devoted to the Soyuz-Apollo project in each period.

The Izvestia newspaper writes that the project participants are unanimous in their appreciation of the results of joint work in space and its impact on strengthening international cooperation:

"Apollo crew members T. Stafford, D. Slayton and V. Brand, who took part in the first joint Soviet-American space expedition, are flying to Moscow today with their families. A TASS correspondent contacted the Manned Flight Center in Houston (Texas). "We are finishing the final preparations for leaving for Moscow," Donald Slayton said, who answered the phone, "my colleagues and our families are looking forward to meeting on Soviet soil, especially with our space friends Leonov and Kubasov.

Our joint experiment in space was successful from all points of view, D. Slayton continued. The Soviet Soyuz spacecraft proved itself well throughout the entire flight, confirming its good reputation. I think, the American astronaut continued, that the joint space experiment was beneficial not only in the sense of further exploration of outer space. I hope that we will expand the areas of our cooperation in every possible way, and not only in space, but also in other areas. In other words, – D. Slayton finishes already in Russian, – as a result of our joint flight, mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries has strengthened. And this is the main result of a joint space odyssey."^[1]The attention of the American side to the development of further fruitful cooperation in space projects against the background of the success of the joint flight is reflected in the following publication of The New York Times:

Washington and Moscow announced the other day that their scientists will soon begin joint studies for two types of possible cooperative space ventures, One will explore the potentiality of using our space shuttle and the Soviet Union's Salyut space station for joint projects in the early 1980's; the second concerns the possible later usefulness of a Soviet?American station in space.The new undertaking reflects the satisfaction of both Governments with the pathbreaking mission last year of the American Apollo and the Soviet Soyuz.

Some grumbles came from those who thought the United States was so far ahead in space technology that we learned too little and the Soviets learned too much. That criticism was misguided. The American civilian space program has been open from the start; the most intimate details have been available to any Russian who reads American publications. It was the Soviet program that had been secret—and it was only because of the Apollo?Soyuz effort that American observers were finally able to visit key Soviet space installations—a major shift to openness on the Soviet side.The costs of cooperation seem slight, the potential benefits considerable.

Joint ventures could cut costs on both sides. Scientific knowledge can be compounded. And, most important, cooperation in space?or even planning for it?helps to improve relations on earth. ^[2]And 10 years after the flight, the evaluation of the project remains as an example of scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries in the interests of peace and progress, Izvestia emphasizes: 

"The Soviet-American space flight under the Soyuz–Apollo program, which took place ten years ago, became an example of constructive business cooperation between the two countries with different political systems, the commander of the Soviet spacecraft Alexey told TASS Leonov. Together with his flight engineer Valery He returned to Kubasov from the USA, where a meeting of Soviet cosmonauts with the crew of the Apollo, Thomas, took place Stafford, Donald Slayton, Vance Brandom. Our meetings with our American colleagues, with whom we have worked together for a long time – both here in Star City and in Houston, with whom we exchanged a friendly handshake in space orbit, were friendly and joyful, A. Leonov said. In Washington, at the Cosmonautics Museum, near the Soyuz and Apollo models, our Earth orbits crossed again, we walked into a shady alley located nearby. The trees that both crews planted after the flight rose five meters, and we thought: this is how our contacts and business cooperation would go uphill. Full of impressions from the meetings, V. Kubasov supported the crew commander, we returned to working days and will try to do everything so that only for the sake of scientific progress, for the sake of peaceful projects, spaceships and stations would launch from Earth. Space should be clean and free of weapons of any kind."^[3]The top three in terms of frequency of occurrence in all newspapers consistently includes the category "Political bloc", reflecting for each period the primary attention of the press to the positive impact of flight on international relations.

The categories "Flight results", "Flight" and "Space" occupy the first five or six places in frequency of occurrence, since they accumulate information in both the Soviet and American press about the main goals and results of cooperation in space exploration. However, the priorities of mentioning these categories show that in Soviet newspapers the specific "Results of the flight" are clearly ahead of the more general tasks of space exploration ("Cosmos") and more specific tasks of the project ("Flight"). In Soviet newspapers, the results of the flight are constantly in 1-2 place in frequency of occurrence, whereas in the Times newspaper they usually close the top five. On the contrary, in the Times newspaper, the categories "Cosmos" and "Flight" occupy 1-3 and 2-4 places in frequency of occurrence, and in Soviet newspapers they are in 5-7 place.

Noticeable differences are visible in the priorities of mentioning the Soviet/ American space program and the Soviet/ American crew – obviously, Pravda and Izvestia pay more attention to the achievements of the Soviet side, and the Times pays more attention to the American side, and the contribution of the American program to the implementation of the project is especially emphasized. Differences in the presentation of the material are also visible for the position of the category "Handshake in space" (emphasis on cooperation), which has a lower frequency of occurrence in the Times newspaper than in Soviet newspapers.

Regarding technical issues, that is, the categories "Space Technology", "Experiments", "Docking", in general, these issues are not covered in such detail, although in Soviet newspapers "Space Technology" is in the top five in terms of frequency of mentions, and the Times pays significantly more attention to the specific task of "Docking".

Comparing the periods, it can be noted that already the first period shows generally similar, positive assessments of the Soyuz-Apollo project, although it outlines different priorities for covering certain aspects of space cooperation in the Soviet and American press. In the second period, there is a growing tendency to emphasize in newspaper materials the contribution of their country to the implementation of the project. The priorities of the third period largely repeat the first period, since in general both periods are positive for the relations of both sides and probably therefore the motive of cooperation ("handshake in space") again occupies a more prominent position in comparison with the second period. The difference between the coverage of the Soyuz-Apollo project for the third period in the Times newspaper is the increase in the frequency of occurrence of the category "experiments", possibly in connection with the preparation for the implementation of a new Russian-American cooperation project in space – MIR-Shuttle.

The fourth period has obvious similarities with the second period in the sense that newspapers are different from each other, although in both periods great attention is paid to the categories of "flight results" as long-term results of cooperation.

The fifth period is characterized by attention to the categories "Political bloc" and "Flight Results", which are present in all newspapers. At the same time, it seems important to explain how the "Soviet Crew" category got into the top 5 categories of the Times newspaper. This is due to the fact that cosmonauts who took part in the Soyuz-Apollo project are passing away and there are memoir articles in the newspapers that recall their contribution to the history of cosmonautics and the Soyuz-Apollo program.

All categories that are consistently in the leading positions in the analyzed newspapers show a high frequency of interrelations. First of all, these are the categories of "Flight Results", actually "Flight" and "Political bloc", more precisely, the impact of the Soyuz-Apollo project on relations between countries.

The analysis revealed four aspects of the reflection of the Soyuz-Apollo program in the analyzed newspapers: cooperation in space, the impact of the project on international relations, the impact of the program on the further development of the world manned cosmonautics, as well as the role of Soviet and American participants of the program in its successful implementation.

***

Speaking about the dynamics of the coverage of the flight by period, the first period shows the interest of newspapers in all the above aspects, the second period focuses on technical issues, the third period seems to be more balanced, since the articles emphasize the importance of international cooperation in the space arena and its impact on international relations in general. About the fourth period, we can conclude that the primary attention to the achievements of our own side and the emphasis on technical aspects. The last fifth period is characterized by the maximum positive attention of both sides to the personalities of the flight participants.

A lot of materials devoted to the personality of Alexey Leonov and his contribution to the space cooperation program appeared after his passing away. He was remembered on the pages of both Russian and American newspapers:

«Aleksei Leonov, the Russian cosmonaut who became the first person to walk in space, a thrilling feat that nearly cost him his life but raised Soviet prestige during the Cold War space race against the United States died on Friday in Moscow. He was 85.His death was announced by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, on its website.

The milestone achievement by Mr. Leonov, a major in the Soviet Air Force at the time, showed that men could survive in space outside the confines of their craft and presumably walk on the moon one day.

His spacewalk, in March 1965, was seen by television viewers in the Soviet Union and Europe on videotape.

Later in the mission, a live telecast showed Mr. Leonov and a fellow cosmonaut strapped in their seats in the cabin.The spacewalk enabled the Russians once again to upstage the United States in space; they had launched the first satellite, Sputnik, in October 1957 and the first manned spaceflight into orbit, with Yuri Gagarin, in April 1961.

Edward H. White II of the United States Air Force carried out America’s first spacewalk some two and half months later, leaving his two-man Gemini 4 capsule for 20 minutes.

NASA said in a statement that Mr. Leonov’s “venture into the vacuum of space began the history of extravehicular activity that makes today’s Space Station maintenance possible.»

Mr. Leonov would have likely been the first Russian to walk on the moon had the Soviet Union not given up on its lunar ambitions.

In 1975, he took part in a pioneering linkup in orbit of Soviet and American spaceships that ultimately led to creation of the International Space Station.In July 1975, Mr. Leonov, flying with Valery N. Kubasov, took part in the good-will mission in which his Soyuz 19 spacecraft docked in orbit with an American Apollo spaceship carrying three astronauts.

The cosmonauts and the astronauts exchanged gifts and spent nearly 50 hours together, conducting scientific experiments.Mr. Leonov, an accomplished amateur artist, presented the astronauts — Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand and Deke Slayton — with sketches he had drawn of them during joint training.

The cosmonauts were later greeted by President Gerald R. Ford on a visit to the White House and the American spacemen toured the Soviet Union as guests of the cosmonauts.

In 1969, Mr. Leonov was sitting in front of a television when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first moonwalkers as part of the Apollo 11 flight.

Though he knew he would never fulfill his dream of walking on the moon, he saw a larger picture that day.«Everyone forgot, for a few moments, that we were all citizens of different countries on Earth.» he wrote in «Two Sides of the Moon.» «Thatmomentreallyunitedthehumanrace.» ^[4]

The similarity revealed in the positions of all three newspapers is based not on political differences between the parties, but on cooperation and positive results of the flight as a whole.

And the differences that are revealed in the newspapers are the different degree of attention to the technical aspects of the flight, the preparation of the project and the assessment of the role of its own side in the implementation of the Soviet-American cooperation program in the Soyuz-Apollo space.

***Despite the political difficulties, the idea of cooperation remained one of the highest priorities for the two states.

This was discussed by politicians and participants of the flight and preparation for it: designers, scientists, cosmonauts.

The UN Secretary-General K. has also spoken about this . Waldheim, who noted that the historic Soyuz–Apollo flight opened a new era in space exploration. He also stressed that "the flight was made in the name of humanity, for the benefit of all people on the planet."^[5]

Thomas Stafford was also "happy to be working in space today under the EPAS program. The success of the flight, which is now being observed by America, the USSR and the rest of the world, is the result of the will, cooperation and efforts of the governments of our countries, the leaders of this program, as well as engineering and technical workers and other specialists. Yesterday, when I opened the hatch for the first time and said "hello" to Alexey and Valery, I thought that by opening hatches in space we are opening a new era in the history of mankind. How this era will develop further will depend on the will, efforts and faith of the peoples of both countries, the peoples of the whole world. I am sure that this faith has a good future. It is a real pleasure for me to participate in this flight, to work with Soviet cosmonauts." ^[6]

Alexey Leonov also recalled: "This joint flight of the ships of the USSR and the USA allowed our peoples to understand each other more deeply. And this is the main thing in strengthening good relations."^[7]

The American technical director of EPAS, Glen Lanny, will say 20 years after the launch: "The Soyuz-Apollo project was a miracle." ^[8] And, perhaps, it really is. The flight of the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft with docking in orbit became an event from different points of view: political and professional, social and historical.^[8]