December 26th, 1991. On earth, the Soviet Union, one of two countries to ever reach
modern superpower status and America's longtime Cold War rival, is on the verge of disaster.
By the end of the day, the nation will cease to exist, and the dream of Stalinism will fade
forever along with it. Many people across Eastern Europe celebrate their newfound freedom as their
countries are liberated from Soviet control. Even the former Soviet citizens themselves look
forward to a brighter future- but one man looks down on the earth from above with trepidation.
He is the last Soviet citizen alive, stuck aboard a Soviet space station
that's quickly falling apart around him. And he has no country to return to.
The United States may have beat the Soviets to the moon, but the brilliant minds of the
Soviet space programs had triumphed in much more practical regards. The Soviets were the first to
establish a permanent presence in space with the Salyut program, which saw two civilian research
stations put into orbit as well as two manned military reconnaissance stations from which to
spy on the US and its allies with. As the Salyut program drew to a close though, the Soviets knew
that the next step in space meant going bigger. The Americans may have set foot on the moon,
but the Soviets had plans to build a foundation for true interplanetary travel,
and that would require a permanent manned space station.
The first module that would make up Mir was launched on February 19th, 1986, with follow up
modules in 1989 and 1990. To date nobody had tried to assemble such a massive structure in orbit,
and there were doubts about its feasibility. The Americans had been the first to prove docking
two vehicles in space was possible as part of their pre-Apollo hardware tests in 1966.
This had been no mean feat, as both vehicles were moving at thousands of miles an hour,
one wrong move would spell disaster. Many feared that docking two vehicles in orbit was simply too
difficult for human pilots, and yet with computer assistance the Americans were able to do it.
This would be vital for the Apollo program, as the service and command modules couldn't
be fit onto the Saturn rocket with the delicate lunar module in its correct position, which would
be docked on the 'top' of the command module. In order to protect the delicate lunar module
while getting into orbit, it had to be protected by a fairing at the top of the launch vehicle.
The fairing would extend up to the service module and in effect, seal up the lunar module inside.
Once in orbit, the command and service modules would detach from the launch vehicle then turn
around and gently dock with the lunar module still attached to the top of the launch vehicle.
Then using thrusters, the attached lunar module would be pulled out of the fairing,
firmly docked to the command and service modules. The entire operation was extremely delicate,
and almost failed on Apollo 14.
But the relatively tiny lunar module was one thing- docking together massive structures meant
to be lived in was something altogether different. It was extremely risky- if there was any problem
with the docking procedure the great masses involved could lead to catastrophic results.
One module could tear into the other, at best causing structural damage that would doom the
module as permanently uninhabitable, a loss to the tune of tens of millions of dollars and years of
wasted effort. At worst, a new module could crash into the currently habitated modules,
exposing cosmonauts inside to the vacuum of space.
Yet in 1989 the Soviets proved they were up to the task, and the second module of the Mir space
station was successfully docked. The Soviets may have lost the race to the moon, but they had just
created the largest manmade structure in space. A year later they expanded on that structure
with a third module, creating an orbiting laboratory that was the envy of the world.
But while the Soviet program was achieving revolutionary successes,
the Soviet Union itself was in serious trouble.
In the mid 1980s, the Soviet Union was facing a military crisis in Afghanistan,
and a political one at home. People were growing increasingly resentful of the Stalin-era doctrines
still in effect, and satellite Soviet republics in Eastern Europe were brimming with revolutionary
zeal. Despite the Soviet's best efforts, western influences had deeply penetrated
Soviet culture, and the successful propaganda arm of the Soviet government could no longer keep
up and hide the truth. People in the west were living better lives, had greater personal wealth,
and more freedom- and Soviet citizens wanted a piece of that good life for themselves.
With the Soviet economy stagnating, big changes needed to be made. In 1985, liberal-minded Mikhail
Gorbachev was elected General Secretary, and immediately went to work sweeping out of power
senior officials with deep connections to previous regimes. Gorbachev wanted a clean slate, and to
liberalize the Soviet Union so it could compete with the west in not just economics, but quality
of life. However, many Soviet citizens had grown up for decades brainwashed by Soviet propaganda,
and as Gorbachev implemented his reforms, nationalistic movements sprang up in opposition.
Gorbachev was feeling serious pressure from Soviet republics, who were threatening
outright open rebellion. In order to appease these satellite republics and internal Soviet citizens,
he enacted multiple policies liberalizing the Soviet Union, including easing up on state control
of the economy and even repealing the strict censorship laws that had ruled the Soviet Union
almost since its creation. He even tried to create a more democratic system, where Soviet
citizens could cast secret votes for different nominees elected by the communist party-
it wasn't perfect, but a far cry from what the Soviets had had to endure for generations.
This however, was not enough. All across eastern Europe citizens were marching on
the streets in open defiance of Soviet rule, demanding independence. Demonstrations even
sprung up in the heart of Moscow itself, and to everyone's surprise,
the police and military were ordered not to interfere. The Soviet Union was nearing its end.
In Poland, a successful peaceful internal revolution spread to other nations. Many hard
liners wished for Gorbachev to use military force to squash the revolution, but Gorbachev himself
believed it was no longer possible to maintain the old Soviet empire any longer. The US also
asked Gorbachev directly to not use force, and he abided by that agreement. Soon, many of the Soviet
satellite republics were spinning off, declaring themselves independent. Estonia, Lithuania and
Latvia would be next, and as the end drew nearer and nearer for the Soviet Union, the Communist
party grew increasingly alarmed. Believing drastic action needed to be taken to prevent the
inevitable collapse, senior officials arrested Gorbachev in his home on August 18th, 1991.
For Cosmonaut Sergie Krikalev, the future was far from certain. On May 19th, 1991,
Krikalev had launched for the ninth Mir mission alongside Commander Anatoly Artsebarksy
and the first British astronaut, Helen Sharman. After a week's stay, Sharman along with the
previous Mir crew both returned to earth, leaving Artsebarksy and Krikalev alone on Mir.
Things on board Mir were starting to get a bit grim.
The Soviet space program had suffered from the same financial woes as the rest of the country,
and Mir suffered alongside the space program. There were multiple problems with the station,
including erratic power and flickering lights. Maintenance was a serious issue, and already in
1991 there were serious concerns about the safety of the station. To top it all off, the place
stunk- badly. Astronaut Helen Sharman would recall on her return to earth that the place smelled like
a bad gym locker room, not exactly the type of place you'd want to spend months at a time.
Or be stuck in as your nation collapsed beneath you.
Krikalev and Arsebarsky were keeping tabs on the situation back on earth through ham radio.
Technically not authorized by the Soviet space program, the Cosmonauts nonetheless
had been in communication with ham radio operators around the world.
With news to the cosmonauts carefully filtered by ground control, these ham
radio conversations allowed them to get an uncensored view of what was happening back home.
As the political situation worsened, the next two flights to Mir were scrapped to just one.
Krikalev thus agreed to stay on board Mir for the next crew, to serve as their flight engineer.
When October rolled around, the Soviets had a problem- money had finally run out and there
was no way to send another crew. Yet the Mir required an engineer on board 24/7,
and if the entire crew were to return home the station would fall into disrepair
and eventually plunge back down to the earth.
With an uncertain future ahead for the Soviet Union and its space program,
Krikalev boldly volunteered to remain onboard Mir,
and he said his goodbyes to the departing crew. He was now the only human being in space.
On the morning of December 26th, 1991, the Soviet Union was no more,
and Krikalev was a man with no country. The news was even worse,
not only was there no money for a relief mission, but the entire launch complex
for the Soviet space program was now in the newly independent Kazakhstan and out of Russian control.
As the new year rolled around, things were looking grimmer and grimmer for Krikalev.
He still had access to the emergency Soyuz capsule attached to the Mir, but if he left the station it
would doom the entire structure- and waste an entire decade’s worth of research and effort.
Luckily for Krikalev, the United States would come to the rescue- in part. Wishing to improve
relations with the newly minted Russian Federation and put the Cold War in the past, NASA agreed to a
joint program to operate the Mir. This brought in an influx of American money, which finally
made rescue of Krikalev possible. After almost an entire year spent in space, and at the time
having the record for the longest time spent in space- 311 days- Krikalev was finally relieved.
Heroically choosing to place his nation, and the hopes of all humanity's ambitions in space, over
his own safety and comfort, Krikalev ensured the Mir would last for another decade and give mankind
the expertise it would need to build the Mir's big brother, the International Space Station.
Now go watch 3 men stuck in space when an oxygen tank exploded, or click this other video instead!