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Androgynous Peripheral Attach System
The terms Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS), Androgynous Peripheral Assembly System (APAS) and Androgynous Peripheral Docking System (APDS)[1][2] are used interchangeably to describe a Russian family of spacecraft docking mechanisms, and are also sometimes used as generic names for any docking system in that family. A system similar to APAS-89/95 is used by the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft.[3] Overview[edit] The name of the system is Russian in origin, and is an acronym, АПАС, in the Cyrillic alphabet, from the Russian Андрогинно-периферийный агрегат стыковки (Androginno-periferiynyy agregat stykovki).
[5] To evaluate the docking system concept and to ensure the establishment of compatibility at an early point in the development, the men planned to build a two-fifths-scale test model, the exact details of which would be decided at the next joint meeting. [11] After the team had a thorough look at the American two-fifths-scale docking system, which helped the designers discuss the operation of the mechanism and decide on refinements, they scheduled joint model tests for December. Under the direction of Syromyatnikov, the Soviet team had readied their documentation in both English and Russian and had prepared their two-fifths-scale model of the docking system for the joint meeting.
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