This is CBS, I on the world. I'm John Batchelor. Hotel Mars, episode N, my colleague and co-host and friend and co-pilot, Dr. Space, David Livingston, joins, and we're in a time machine to travel back 50 years, December of 1974, we're joined by the impresario of that 50-year

time travel expedition. Anatoly Zach, who keeps the Russian space web.com. I highly recommend because

Roscosmos was supreme in the 1970s and 1960s.

The first Russian manned space program was always out front of the Apollo program.

And now the mission is to dock with the Apollo program.

But because Soyuz Cruz and the Roscosmos apparatus

I learned from Anatoli, were very careful at the time. They do dress rehearsals, and that's

why we go to the liftoff of 70, and a Soyuz 7K TM number number 73 spacecraft December 2nd, 1974, midday Moscow time.

Anatoly, a very good evening to you.

Thank you very much for this write-up.

What was the mission of Soyuz 7K TM number 73 and who was on board?

Good evening to you.

Hello, John, David.

Nice to see you again.

Yes, so what was officially announced as Soyuz 16, even though it has its own production number,

which you just mentioned, which engineers use for their purposes.

But it was launched on December 2nd, 1974, almost exactly half a year before this very

important historic mission between Soyuz and Apollo, Docking mission, was planned.

And this space mission was kind of dress rehearsal for the Soviet Union for this

upcoming docking, which they were preparing for.

And they were preparing not just new equipment, but they actually modified the Soyuz.

They put the newest, most advanced systems which they had at that

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