The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project Apollo Command Module, with astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand and Donald K. Slayton still inside, awaits pickup by the prime recovery ship, USS "New Orleans" (LPH-11), following splashdown in the Central Pacific Ocean to conclude the historic joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking mission in Earth orbit. The CM touchdown occurred in the Hawaiian Islands area at 16:18 hrs (CDT), 24 July 1975. A team of U.S. Navy swimmers assists with the recovery operations. A Sikorsky SH-3A "Sea King" recovery helicopter (BuNo 152104) of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 6 (HS-6) "Indians" hovers overhead.