1 00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: I'm Lance Bass, and you may know me from a 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: little band called in Sync. What you may not know 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: is that when I was twenty three, I traveled to 4 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: Moscow to train to become the youngest person to go 5 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: to space. Band member is one step closer to saying 6 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: bye bye bye to planet Earth. I spent six months 7 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: learning Russian astrophysics, even flying a fighter jet with a drunk. 8 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: Commanders have named Lance Bass as a member of the 9 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: three person crew. It was the craziest experience of my life. 10 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: And when I was there, as you can imagine, I 11 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: heard some pretty wild stories. But there was this one 12 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: that really stuck with me. It's about a man who's 13 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: traveling two hundred and fifty miles above the Earth at 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: five miles a second. His name is Sergei Krikov. He's 15 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 1: a Soviet cosmonaut, and he's manning the world's only space station, 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: the Pride and Joy of the U. S. S R. 17 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: The year is nineteen ninety one. Sarage has been up 18 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,559 Speaker 1: there for three months. By now, as the days bleed 19 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: into one another, he's starting to feel a bit space sick. 20 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: He's been counting down the weeks till he's due to 21 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: come home to his wife and family, and that's when 22 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: his friend, a Ham radio operator in suburban Australia, tells 23 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: him something shocking. She says, Sarage, something bad is happening 24 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: in the Soviet Union. After months strikes, protests and deepening 25 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: economic chaoss, people are sleeping in train stations. I gave 26 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: them my money, old one. We won't give you your bread. 27 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: Law and order seem to be breaking down bread Almi 28 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: almored personnel carriers on the streets of Moscow this morning 29 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: heading to the Kremlin. The republics that make up the 30 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: Union were starting to break away. They were wild scenes 31 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:17,639 Speaker 1: Guti and three days his handlers on the ground tell him, 32 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: we can't keep this from you anymore. Everything is collapsing 33 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: around us, including the Soviet Space Agency. We've run out 34 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: of money. We can't send anyone to replace you. So 35 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: we're giving you a choice. You can come back down 36 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: to Earth's planned and abandon the station to an unknown fate, 37 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: or you stay as long as it takes and protect 38 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: the station, the final outpost of a falling empire. This 39 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: is the story of the three thirteen days Sergei spent 40 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: circling the Earth three hundred and thirteen days that change 41 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: our world Thanks Christ. Cars like climsy toys. Historians are 42 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: likely to be analyzing the events of this day for 43 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: generation is to come in Moscow, the Hammer and Sickle 44 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: is lord for the last time, and an era comes 45 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: to an end. Of pay changed, a rank or status, 46 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: everything changed. It was rather like he was a time 47 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: traveling I'm Lance bass And from Kaleidoscope and iHeart Podcasts. 48 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: This is the Last Soviet. Listen to the Last Soviet 49 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get 50 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: your podcasts.