1 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: Two hundred and fifty miles above the Earth, Traveling at 2 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: five miles a second, a man completes a perfect circle 3 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: around the globe. His name is Serge Krakov. He's a 4 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: Soviet cosmonaut, and he's manning the world's only space station, 5 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: the Pride and Joy of the U. S. S R. 6 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: The year Sarage has been up there for three months 7 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: by now on the space station. Every day starts the 8 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: same way, with a call at seven a m. Moscow 9 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: time from michig Control. He reports his stats, blood pressure, 10 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: heart rate, and mood. Sometimes in the evening, when he 11 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,679 Speaker 1: feels lonely, he will tune his hand radio equipment to 12 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: the right frequency and make contact with his friend in Australia, Maggie. 13 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: They chat about what he's done that day, and she 14 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: sends some clippings from the newspapers. That's a pleasure, pleasure. 15 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: As the days bleed into one another, he's starting to 16 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: feel a bit space sick. He's been counting down the 17 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: weeks till he's due to come back to Earth, back 18 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: to his home, his wife and their one year old daughter. 19 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: But then one day, his friend, this woman in Australia, Maggie, 20 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: tells him something troubling. She says, Sarage, something bad is 21 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 1: happening in your country. After months strikes, protests, and deepening 22 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,359 Speaker 1: economic chaos. People are sleeping in train stations. There is 23 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: no food in the shops. I gave them my money 24 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,639 Speaker 1: that they should old woman, we won't give you your bread. 25 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: Law and order seem to be breaking down, the banding 26 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: of the k President Gorbachev's grip on the country is slipping. 27 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: The republics that make up the Soviet Union are starting 28 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: to break away. There were wild scenes, gun fire, and 29 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,239 Speaker 1: three deaths. Soviet forces tried to capture the main center 30 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: of opposition. Surage doesn't know what to think. He asked 31 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: mischion control, what's going on? But they don't tell him anything, 32 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: just parrot the party line. Nothing to be alarmed about. 33 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 1: Everything is fine, And so Sarage is floating around the 34 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: space station, struggling to believe that down there on Earth, 35 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: everything he knows, everything he believes in, is falling apart. 36 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: Wood rippled through the crowds that the army was about 37 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: to launch a major assault. Seventy four years of communism, 38 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: seventy four years of trying to create a different way 39 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: of life, a different society, a different vision of the 40 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: world is on the verge of collapse. It's quite time. 41 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: Uh Sarah still has to do his job. The station 42 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: has to have an engineer on board or it might 43 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: shut down, but he's doing it on autopilot, his minds 44 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: firmly on his loved ones, wondering if they're okay, if 45 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: they're safe. And then one day he wakes up to 46 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: a message from his handlers on the ground. They tell him, 47 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: we can't keep this from you anymore. It's true. Everything 48 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: is collapsing around us, including the Soviet Space Agency. We've 49 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: run out of money. We can't send anyone to replace you, 50 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: So we're giving you a choice. You can come back 51 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: down to Earth is planned and abandon the station to 52 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: an unknown fate, or you stay as long as it 53 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: takes and protect the station the final outpost of a 54 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: falling empire. Sarage knows. The longer you spend in space, 55 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: the more your muscles start to disintegrate, your bones weaken, headaches, nausea, vomity, 56 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: And then there's what might happen to your mind, something 57 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:03,280 Speaker 1: called space horror. We're being up in space so far 58 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: away from home, will literally drive you insane. So what 59 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: is Sarage going to do? Go back to Earth, be 60 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: with his family, his newborn daughter in these truly desperate times, 61 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: or stay in space, save the space station, serve his country. 62 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: The very last Soviet. This is the story of one 63 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,280 Speaker 1: man who lived through the final days of Empire. But 64 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: evening the East Germans of the Knights tarted to tear 65 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: down parts of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of one 66 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: dream all Russia's just wild about urga In the first 67 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:53,040 Speaker 1: man took conquer space and the birth of another future 68 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: for the Russian people. Storians may have trouble describing a 69 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: Davin Chile got resigned as the president of a Soviet 70 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: union from a unique and perhaps ultimate advantage point space 71 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: and the colors are unbelievably beautiful. This incredible bond, thin, 72 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:19,160 Speaker 1: beautiful bond an electric blue. I'm Lance Bass and from Kaleidoscope, 73 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: I heard podcast and exile content. This is the last Soviet. 74 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,799 Speaker 1: Now you may be wondering why am I Lance Bass 75 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: from in synct of all people telling this story about 76 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: a Soviet cosmonaut. Well, yeah, probably won't believe this, but 77 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: I am a trained Russian cosmonaut. Yeah, you heard that right. 78 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: In two thousand two, I was at the end of 79 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:55,600 Speaker 1: an international in SYNCT tour that felt like it had 80 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,359 Speaker 1: been going on forever. I was about to have my 81 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: first real break in years, six months off to do 82 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: what I wanted, like sleep and see my family. And 83 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: then I was sitting at home in Orlando, having a 84 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: little breakfast, probably a green smoothie and pancakes, and I 85 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: get this call on my phone. It's my manager, Lance. 86 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: What would you say if I told you I've got 87 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:24,119 Speaker 1: you a ticket on a Russian space rocket. I almost 88 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: dropped my phone, to be honest, I thought it was 89 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: a prank, but pretty quickly it became clear this was real. 90 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,559 Speaker 1: Thank you, John six fifty seven. Now, finally, this morning, 91 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: one in Sync band member is one step closer to 92 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: saying bye bye bye to planet Earth. I would be 93 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: going to Moscow to train for six months to go 94 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: on a mission to the International Space Station. The final 95 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: deal hasn't been signed yet, but the Russians have named 96 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: Lance Bass as a member of the third At just 97 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: twenty three years old, I was going to become the 98 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: youngest person in history to go to space the Space 99 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: Station in October, and he's too young for you. Now, 100 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: If that sounds crazy to you, crazy that I would 101 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: want to use my precious six months off to take 102 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: part in one of the most intense and grueling experiences 103 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: of my life, then I think there's something you need 104 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: to understand. I am absolutely madly obsessed with the space. 105 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 1: I have been ever since I was a little kid. 106 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: When my family drove from Mississippi to Cape Kernaville in 107 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:35,679 Speaker 1: Florida to watch a rocket launch fourteen hours in a car, 108 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,959 Speaker 1: hot and humid, like someone was breathing on you. We 109 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: arrived in my dad's blue station wagon, pulled up to 110 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: the launch side, and that's when I saw it in 111 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:56,679 Speaker 1: front of me, a gigantic rocket and this big clock 112 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: in the distance, and it starts counting down from two minutes, 113 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: and then as it gets closer to zero, there is 114 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: this rumbling that comes from beneath the ground, and then 115 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: this burst of fire and an unbelievable noise. As the 116 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: rumbling turns into a roar, and the rocket starts rising 117 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:28,959 Speaker 1: up and up. As it keeps climbing, the crowd is 118 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: getting more and more excited, until finally it disappears into 119 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: the atmosphere, up and away into the great Via. It 120 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 1: was that day in Cape Carnavel when the dream of 121 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: going to space took hold of me. It was just 122 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: the coolest thing I've ever seen, and since then it's 123 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: all I've ever wanted to do. Even when I was 124 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: living this incredible life touring within sync, I still had 125 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: this desire, this dream to go to space. And that's 126 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: why when my manager called me that day, I jumped 127 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: at the chance, and just a few months later I 128 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: arrived at Sadoc Star City, the home of Russia's top 129 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: secret cosmonaut training program. When I got there in two 130 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: thousand two, I remember thinking this place, these people are 131 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:28,000 Speaker 1: obsessed with space, even more than we are in America. 132 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: There are these statutes of cosmonauts everywhere, even the metro 133 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: stations are named after them. But back then I didn't 134 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: really get a chance to figure out why this was. 135 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,079 Speaker 1: I hardly even had time to think. I was so 136 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: busy training day and night. So when I first heard 137 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,439 Speaker 1: the story of Saragei Krakolov, I was intrigued. We had 138 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 1: both trained in the same place, but we had come 139 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: from such different worlds. Me an American pop star, him 140 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: a Soviet cosmonaut, and I wanted to know what was 141 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,200 Speaker 1: going through his head when he had to make this 142 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: choice to go back home and protect his family or 143 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: stay in space and protect the station, the crown jewel 144 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: of the Soviet space program. Was it just that he 145 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: loves space so much like me? Or was there something 146 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: bigger driving in Because space isn't just about nerdy kids 147 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: thinking it's cool and wanting to go space, it turns 148 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: out is always about politics. We go into space because 149 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:39,959 Speaker 1: whatever mankind must undertake, three man must. Billionaire Elon Musk 150 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 1: has sent three batches of SpaceX Starlink satellites over Ukraine. 151 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: Russia's war is putting years of collaboration at risk, and 152 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: we will plant our beautiful American flag very soon on 153 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:57,440 Speaker 1: the surface of Mars. Space is a battleground, a symbol 154 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: of power. And that's because of this thing that happened 155 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,120 Speaker 1: before I was even born, when Sarage was three years old. 156 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: And to me, it's the thing that can maybe best 157 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,839 Speaker 1: help us understand Sarage and how he could even consider 158 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: staying in the space station as his country collapsed below him. 159 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: It was the height of the Cold War, and my country, America, 160 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 1: and his country, the Soviet Union, were racing to answer 161 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 1: this one particular question, who would be the first to 162 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:36,479 Speaker 1: put a man into space. The confrontation itself would determine 163 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:42,199 Speaker 1: ultimately which ideology, which worldview, would take over the world. 164 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,679 Speaker 1: Stephen Walker is a journalist who wrote a book about 165 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. 166 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: The battle began in nineteen At the time, Sarage Kraklov 167 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: was a toddler, and the Americans announced to the world, 168 00:12:56,679 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: We're going to put the first man in space, as 169 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:02,240 Speaker 1: if it was a done deal. The Russians weren't even 170 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: on their mind. Here's a nation that, as far as 171 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: they were concerned, the USSR couldn't build refrigerators that work properly. 172 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: It's true Soviet test flights often went wrong. One of 173 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,920 Speaker 1: their spacecraft blew up just seconds after taking off, killing 174 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: a hundred people, But these disasters didn't matter because the 175 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 1: Soviets were determined. They decided they were going to surprise 176 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: the Americans and do it in complete secrecy. They start 177 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: looking at the records of USSR Air Force pilots, most 178 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: of them in the early to mid twenties. All of 179 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: them are sound of limb and mind, incredibly healthy, incredibly 180 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: fit and ideologically committed to the Soviet cause. And these 181 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 1: are the guys that formed the nucleus of the top 182 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: secret Soviet space program. And one of them is this guy, 183 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: Yuri Gagarin. Yuri Gagarin, a man who would end up 184 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: being the most famous person in Russia and Sarage Gargolov's 185 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: hero at the time. He was one of twenty men 186 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: chosen by the Soviet authorities to compete to be the 187 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: first man in space. Twenty men chosen to be put 188 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: through intense physical and psychological training. And when I say intense, 189 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: I mean intense, So I mean they do these horrible 190 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: heat chamber tests, for example, where they kind of baked 191 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: them for hours on end. They put them into pressure 192 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: changlers where they depressurized to see when they pass out. 193 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: They put an into these unbelievable vibration tests where they 194 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 1: actually anny on these stretches, and then they started to 195 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: vibrate the stretcher to the point where you teeth nearly fuller. 196 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: But nothing can compare to the isolation chamber. One by one, 197 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: over a period of months and months, each of these 198 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: twenty men would be introduced into a sealed chamber in 199 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: which they were expected to function without being able to 200 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: see anybody or hear anybody for what could be days 201 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: and days and even weeks totally isolated cuts off. They 202 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: would occasionally put horrible sounds in that shrieks or very 203 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: loud music, or wake you up in the middle of 204 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: the night, you know, anything, so you couldn't sleep properly. 205 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: They would twist time upside down so you didn't know 206 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: whether it was day or night. The test on these 207 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 1: men were so intense because the Soviet space team had 208 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: this problem. They didn't really know what's going to happen 209 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: to human being up there. Up to that point, the 210 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: idea of human beings in space was only something that 211 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: existed in the realms of science fiction. Nothing in the 212 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: station has any weight. No, wait, what a wonderful idea 213 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: you mean? If I went there, I wouldn't wear anything, 214 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: nothing at all. They had this term called space horror. 215 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: If you're divorced from the world, traveling around the world 216 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: above it not part of it the first to do so, 217 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: is there a possibility that you go insane? Because of 218 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: these unknowns, the Soviets knew they needed to find the 219 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: perfect guy, the guy who could withstand anything, and in 220 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: the end it came down to two men. Both were 221 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: pretty much as good and tough as each other, but 222 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: it was Gagarin that one. For one reason, he has 223 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: a perfect communist biography. He's the son of a peasant 224 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: from the country who was an iron foundry student who 225 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,879 Speaker 1: then became a serving military pilot. He was the best 226 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: person to represent the Soviet Union against the United States 227 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 1: because the Soviets knew they needed to beat the Americans 228 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: to score the ultimate victory in the Cold War, and 229 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: so on April twelfth nine, they pressed the gold button 230 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 1: on Gagarin's flight is em bust out and what looks 231 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,240 Speaker 1: like a school bus to the rocket launch site, and 232 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,639 Speaker 1: then everybody says goodbye, and the goodbyes go on forever, 233 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 1: because as far as I concerned, this guy is going 234 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 1: to die. That's right. Odds are. Uri Gagarin is not 235 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: going to survive the first few minutes of the flight. 236 00:17:46,720 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: So many gruesome deaths awaitsed Euri Gagarine. It's almost like 237 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: being on another planet. It just goes on forever and 238 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: ever and ever, and then you reach this sort of 239 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: walled city. It's in the middle of a desert, a 240 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: city with guards standing around the perimeter. You know, you 241 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,919 Speaker 1: get these huge buildings with holes in them, and everything's 242 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: rusting and it's corroded, and then you see it littered 243 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: around the streets, bits of old rocket all over the place. 244 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 1: It really looks like a disused enormous missile site, because 245 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,680 Speaker 1: really that's what it is. It's in Kazakhstan and it's 246 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: called Biknor. It's the place that would have become the 247 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: launchpad for the Soviet space program, but originally it was 248 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: built a house their most advanced and deadly missiles. I mean, 249 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: it's quite extraordinary. They've built the biggest rocket site in 250 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: the world. I mean, the Americans didn't know about it, 251 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 1: had no idea that the site even existed. We're talking 252 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: about a site that is probably about the same size 253 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: as the state of Kentucky. The secret it's a place 254 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:40,199 Speaker 1: where the conditions are extreme. It's incredibly hot in the 255 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: summer and in the winter it goes down to the 256 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:47,360 Speaker 1: minus forties. I mean, it's really horrible. But every year 257 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: in April, something extraordinary happens there. Out of this dead 258 00:19:53,640 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: ground springs something new. Every spring. The whole of the 259 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:10,640 Speaker 1: step is covered with a compit of tulips, these incredible 260 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:14,120 Speaker 1: pink and purple and yellow tulips springing up from the dirt. 261 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 1: And so it was in April, as the tulips started 262 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: to peek their heads out from under the earth, and 263 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: the desert was filled with a riot of color. Jory 264 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,919 Speaker 1: Gagarin stood at the base of an enormous rocket, ready 265 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:42,679 Speaker 1: to change the course of world history. And so he 266 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: walks up to the steel steps and enters the elevator. Up. 267 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: He goes so high up it feels like it takes 268 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: minutes rather than seconds. But eventually he gets there, walks 269 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:58,119 Speaker 1: out of the elevator, and straps himself into his seat. 270 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:05,680 Speaker 1: The hatch is closed, and then he's on his own garret. 271 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: Actually remains really cool through this process. In fact, he 272 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: starts asking for some music from what we would now 273 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 1: call mission control, and they start supplying him with songs 274 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: and music, and there's music that's piped through into his 275 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: headends and he starts singing. He starts singing Lilies of 276 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: the Valley, a popular song about the first flowers coming 277 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: out of the ground, a song about spring, about new horizons. 278 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,639 Speaker 1: And he's quite cool action in there, given what was 279 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 1: about to happen, and then he's ready for launch. He 280 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,120 Speaker 1: could die in the next few seconds. Now, he could 281 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 1: die in the next hour. God only knows the different 282 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,679 Speaker 1: ways he could die. Eight making stranded in space. Seven 283 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: could blow up on launch pad six if he burnt 284 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: to a crisp coming back to Earth. Five, four, three, 285 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: So many systems not properly tested, Some wish he doesn't 286 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: even know about. Two Does he know everything about what 287 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 1: could go wrong in that rocket? One? And then he's 288 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:14,639 Speaker 1: lashed the Garin. Here is a whistling noise, then a 289 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 1: deafening warl. The rocket and everything in it begins to tremble. 290 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 1: Garon's stomach flips and his head feels full of pressure, 291 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: like he's being slowly sucked up into the air. He 292 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: tries to move his arms and legs, but nothing, like 293 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:36,439 Speaker 1: his body's not his anymore. He takes a long, deep breath, 294 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: and then from nowhere he shouts, which means let's go, 295 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 1: and off he went. Upputs and uppoints and uplots, And 296 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: as the rocket heads upwards, the booster rockets fall away. 297 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: The Garin keep gathering speed fifteen thousand miles an hour 298 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: sixteen thousand, seventeen thousand until he reaches eighteen thousand miles 299 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: an hour, the speed of rocket needs to get past 300 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,879 Speaker 1: the pool of Earth's gravity and out of the atmosphere 301 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:25,960 Speaker 1: and down below, the engineers are beside themselves, downing our 302 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: springs like nobody's business down in the bunker. Everybody I've 303 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,520 Speaker 1: spoken to engineers that that talk about being drenched in sweat. 304 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: There was incredible feeling of fear as well as exhilaration. 305 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 1: This this, this excitement, fear, sense of danger, potentially disaster, 306 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: all happening. But Gagarin keeps going nine minutes, ten minutes, 307 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:58,159 Speaker 1: faster and faster, higher and higher until he reaches for 308 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: a bit. Yeah, something completely incredible happens. He suddenly feels 309 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 1: himself lifting from his seat and he's just held in 310 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 1: by the straps. He's experiencing the effects of weightlessness in orbit. 311 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:30,639 Speaker 1: And then he looks to his right and he says, 312 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,880 Speaker 1: I can see the Earth. I can see the Earth, 313 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: and the colors are unbelievably beautiful. This incredible band, thin 314 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 1: beautiful band, a sort of translucent and electric. I think 315 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: he describes it blue. It's the Earth's atmosphere. And he 316 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:02,439 Speaker 1: is the first man ever to see it the first 317 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 1: man to break the shackles of Earth, and it was 318 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 1: a Soviet who had done it. As you can imagine, 319 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: it's not a secret the Soviets want to keep anymore. 320 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 1: They had a very famous announcer called Levitan who would 321 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 1: announced all the very big moments, like the beginning of 322 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: World War two, the death of Stalin, all of that 323 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: he had announced. He was brought in to announce this. 324 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 1: His voice came on the radio and all over Russia 325 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: people were listening to Garin's father, who had no idea 326 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: his son was in space, his wife, who also was 327 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,880 Speaker 1: never told about his flight, and little boys like Sarage 328 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: Cracow crowded around the radio in their homes, their parents 329 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: proudly telling them that the Soviet Union has put a 330 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: man in space. And pretty soon the news starts to rock. 331 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 1: It around the world and it reaches the United States, 332 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:21,040 Speaker 1: where President Kennedy is sleeping. He was working up by 333 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: his butler in the White House to a battery of news. 334 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: All Russia's just wild about Uri Gagarin, the first man 335 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: took conquer space, modest, just a family man. It was 336 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,199 Speaker 1: on every television stage, it was called everywhere. It was 337 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: the news, and later that afternoon he had to go 338 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 1: before members of the press in a massive press conference 339 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: where he was unable even to utter the name Uri Gagarin. Well, 340 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: it is a most impressive scientific accomplishment. And also I 341 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: think that we uh, all of us as members of 342 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:08,000 Speaker 1: the race, have the greatest admiration for the Russian who 343 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,639 Speaker 1: participated in this extraordinary feat. I have already sent to 344 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 1: congratulations to Mr Crucial. In one hour and twenty nine minutes, 345 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: Uriga Garran completes one full orbit of the planet. But 346 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,639 Speaker 1: now the engineers in the control room are biting their 347 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:53,640 Speaker 1: nails again because Uriga Garran has to make it home alive, 348 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,160 Speaker 1: and to do that he has to break back through 349 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:03,439 Speaker 1: the Earth's atmosphere. He starts his descent. Almost immediately, the 350 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 1: porthole window fills with hot orange gas, and Gagarin suddenly 351 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: feels like he's being pushed back into a seat. He 352 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,680 Speaker 1: tries to breathe, working hard to get the air into 353 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: his lungs, his heart rates sores. To calm himself, he sings, 354 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:31,800 Speaker 1: the Motherland, here's the Motherland knows. He sits back and 355 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:36,879 Speaker 1: grips the seat. A rushing noise feels his ears, and 356 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: then he's through. At twenty three feet Gagaran is ejected 357 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 1: from the capsule. He feels the cold air on his 358 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 1: face and a rough tug on his shoulders as the 359 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: parachute is deployed, and he drifts slowly down to a field. 360 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 1: And there he nots a hundred and six minutes after 361 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: he starts, having traveled all the way around the planet, 362 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: in a plowed field, and there's absolutely nobody there to 363 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: greet him except a very old woman and a little 364 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: five year old girl who are planting potatoes, and who 365 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: both see him and start running away. But he shouts 366 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: to the old lady, I'm Soviet, I'm Soviet, I'm Soviet. Comrades, 367 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: and very very cautiously, the grandmother planting potatoes and her 368 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:31,120 Speaker 1: five year old daughter come back. So here's a guy 369 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:33,720 Speaker 1: has gone around the world in a hundred six minutes. 370 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 1: He's been traveling at eighteen thousand miles an hour, you know, 371 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 1: ten times, has been of a rifle bullet. He's seen 372 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: things that no one has ever seen before. Now he's 373 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 1: in a plowed field, and he has only a horse 374 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:54,560 Speaker 1: and cart in which to get to a telephone. Just 375 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: days later, he's back in Moscow, being paraded through the 376 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 1: streets in a convertible covered with hours. The scenes are unbelievable. 377 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: People line the sidewalk, and I'm not just talking thousands 378 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 1: or hundreds of thousands. There are millions of people out there. 379 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,200 Speaker 1: I've seen footage and it looks like there is not 380 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: a single empty space along the whole parade route. People 381 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: are clambering on top of lamp post and leaning out 382 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 1: of balconies and screaming and waving the Soviet flags. White 383 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: doves are set free, Confetti is thrown from helicopters, Women 384 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 1: break the barriers, the hand in flowers. It's thought to 385 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: have been the biggest party in Soviet history. When Gagarin's 386 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,520 Speaker 1: motorcade reaches the Kremlin, he's kissed on the cheek by 387 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 1: the Premier Nikita Kushtev and awarded the title Hero of 388 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union. This was their moment. This was and 389 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 1: it still is probably to this day. This is Russia's 390 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: great moment in history, and they made the most of it. 391 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:59,080 Speaker 1: This was a real feeling of my God, We've beaten 392 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:03,080 Speaker 1: the most powerful and the most technologropy advance nation on us. 393 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: We can do anything. The Soviet Union won the race 394 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: to put the first man in space. It was a 395 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:17,960 Speaker 1: huge deal for everyday Russians, and it turned the cosmonaut 396 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: at the center, Uriga Garon, into an icon. So I 397 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,160 Speaker 1: think it's important for us to understand the level which 398 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,240 Speaker 1: Yuriga Garden was a star, a superstar, at the level 399 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: I don't think we can even imagine. This is Assif Sadiki. 400 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 1: He's a professor of space history at Fordham University. There 401 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 1: were posters of Yuriga Garden. There were magazines, there were postcards, 402 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,920 Speaker 1: there were trinkets, there were toys, there were models, there 403 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:51,240 Speaker 1: were a record albums. Agaren was like the Soviet version 404 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,640 Speaker 1: of Lance Bass and justin timber Lake. Okay, maybe more 405 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: John Lennon and Paul McCartney. They even made Gagaran albums, 406 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:01,080 Speaker 1: although they sounded a little different to Love Me Do. 407 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 1: The Soviet Union essentially created a cult of personality around 408 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: this guy. And I can tell you this is true. 409 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,640 Speaker 1: And Star City and Moscow, I remember seeing statues of 410 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: Gagern everywhere. He became the ideal figure in Soviet society, quiet, 411 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:26,600 Speaker 1: unassuming and totally dedicated to the cause of being a 412 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 1: Soviet cosmonaut. They were a political and they were young 413 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,480 Speaker 1: and dynamic and handsome and good looking, and I think 414 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: they operated on that level a kind of quasi Hollywood culture. 415 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: For young Soviet people. Space was freedom, Space was success. 416 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 1: Space became embedded in the day to day lives of 417 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: Soviet citizens. It was everywhere in the kitchens and bedrooms 418 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: of Soviet men, women and children. Children grew up not 419 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: wanting to be pop stars or soccer players, but to 420 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:04,479 Speaker 1: be cosmonauts. Every Soviet or later Russian cosmic I've spoken 421 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:08,200 Speaker 1: to have all said the same thing. This was the 422 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:13,239 Speaker 1: enduring legend that was for them an inspiration. It was 423 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 1: the thing that helped launch them on this unbelievable career 424 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: of cosmonauts. Sarage was three years old when Gagarin went 425 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:34,480 Speaker 1: to space. His early years were filled with that astonishing success, 426 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,720 Speaker 1: a symbol of what his country, the Soviet Union, was 427 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: capable of, and he would follow in Gagern's exact footsteps, 428 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,479 Speaker 1: becoming one of an elite class of Soviets to go 429 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 1: to space. And so perhaps it's Ury Gageron who Sage 430 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: Cracklf is thinking of as he floats in space, his 431 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:57,840 Speaker 1: country crumbling beneath him, his friends, his family, his fellow 432 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:03,240 Speaker 1: Soviets living through chaos, and now he has to decide 433 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,719 Speaker 1: what to do. Stay in space and man the station, 434 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 1: protect what has left of the Soviet Union, or go 435 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:16,080 Speaker 1: down to a country in crisis. Now, to be upfront 436 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:18,920 Speaker 1: about this, we know a lot about Sir Game. We 437 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 1: had it all set up. We were going to Moscow 438 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:26,480 Speaker 1: to talk to him. It was scheduled for February, and 439 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:30,680 Speaker 1: then Putin's war gotten away. Vladimir Putin has just addressed 440 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,480 Speaker 1: the Russian people a moment ago, announcing what Putin called 441 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:36,719 Speaker 1: the start of a military special operation. And so the 442 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:41,280 Speaker 1: Russian Space Agency, in part a military organization, shut down. 443 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:45,840 Speaker 1: The interview frustrating but fitting for a story about the 444 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:49,920 Speaker 1: way space and politics are so intertwined. Space has become 445 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:53,440 Speaker 1: a political battleground again. Russia's war is putting years of 446 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 1: collaboration at risk, and the astronauts in the situation they 447 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,200 Speaker 1: did not ask for. America and Russia, once more on 448 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:03,840 Speaker 1: opposite sides. The Russia space program has cut ties with 449 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:07,840 Speaker 1: the West on almost every front. It's now unthinkable for 450 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 1: a high profile cosmonaut like Surrogate to go on an 451 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 1: American podcast. But we have spoken to Saragate's friends and 452 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,919 Speaker 1: his colleagues, to people who have worked with him, and 453 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,759 Speaker 1: people who have been to space with him, to try 454 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:24,080 Speaker 1: to understand how he made the decision he did to 455 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:29,320 Speaker 1: stay or to go. And so he spends hours thinking 456 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:34,120 Speaker 1: of what to do about his family, about his baby daughter, 457 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:39,520 Speaker 1: about his country falling apart, but also about the space 458 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:43,280 Speaker 1: station he is manning. It's the first and only space 459 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:48,680 Speaker 1: station orbiting the world. Without him, it will die. He 460 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:51,440 Speaker 1: looks out the window at the world two fifty miles 461 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 1: below him, and then he's ready. He calls down to 462 00:35:56,120 --> 00:36:02,759 Speaker 1: mission control and tells them I'll stay. And now, over 463 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 1: the next seven episodes, we're going to tell the story 464 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:09,480 Speaker 1: of Sergei Krikov, of those three and thirteen days he 465 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:14,600 Speaker 1: spent circling the earth as his country collapsed. Three hundred 466 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 1: and thirteen days that changed our world. Thanks crushed cars 467 00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:24,560 Speaker 1: like flimsy toys. Soldiers used nightsticks, slope bombs. It was 468 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:29,279 Speaker 1: an earthquake. It was a daily earthquake in Moscow. The 469 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,319 Speaker 1: hammer and Sickle is lord for the last time, and 470 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 1: an era comes to an end. Your pay changed, the rank, 471 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 1: the status, everything changed. It was rather like he was 472 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:45,760 Speaker 1: a time traveler. That's coming up on the Last Soviet. 473 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:49,759 Speaker 1: Oh and by the way, we're gonna be telling my 474 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:53,560 Speaker 1: story as well. This is the pioneering stage everyone should 475 00:36:53,560 --> 00:37:14,480 Speaker 1: and we'll have the opportunity to travel into space. The 476 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:17,560 Speaker 1: Last Soviet is a Kaleidoscope production in partnership with I 477 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:22,600 Speaker 1: Heart Podcast and Exile Media, produced by Sama's Dad Audio 478 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:27,439 Speaker 1: and hosted by me Lance Bass Executive produced by Kate 479 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:32,440 Speaker 1: Osbourne and Mangesh had Akador with Oz Wallashan and Kostas 480 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:37,160 Speaker 1: Linos from My Heart Executive produced by Katrina Norville and 481 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:41,600 Speaker 1: Nikki Torre from Sama's Dad Audio are executive producers or 482 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:46,640 Speaker 1: Joe Pikes and Dasha Listina. Produced by Assia Fuchs, Dasha 483 00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:51,640 Speaker 1: Litzitza and Joe Pikes. Writing by Lydia Marchant, Research by 484 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 1: Mika Golubovski and Molly Schwartz, music by Will Epstein, themed 485 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:00,840 Speaker 1: by Martin or Strich, Sound designed by Richard Award and 486 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:05,600 Speaker 1: special things to Nando Villa, Melissa Pollock, Will Pearson, Connel Burne, 487 00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:09,680 Speaker 1: Bob Pittman and Isaac Lee and thanks to Stephen Walker. 488 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:13,000 Speaker 1: His book is called Beyond the astonishing story of the 489 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:15,960 Speaker 1: first human to leave our planet and journey into space 490 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,160 Speaker 1: if you want to hear more shows like this. Nothing 491 00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:23,200 Speaker 1: is more important to the creators here at Kaleidoscope than subscribers, ratings, 492 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:26,640 Speaker 1: and reviews, so please spread the love wherever you listen.