"Remembering NASA Astronaut and Space Pioneer Tom Stafford"
Thomas P. Stafford, the astronaut who commanded the first U.S.-Soviet space mission in 1975, has passed away at the age of 93. His historic mission, which saw an American capsule dock with a Soviet spaceship, marked a significant moment of cooperation in space exploration during the Cold War era. Stafford's legacy includes flying four times in space and orbiting within nine miles of the moon's surface in 1969, contributing to President John F. Kennedy's space race ambitions.