Featured Image Credit: NASA / Getty Images
Topics: Science, Space, World News, NASA
Joshua Nair
A cosmonaut who was once stranded in space as his country dissolved while he was up in the stars opened up about what it was like to finally splash back down to earth.
It's a story that loosely echos that of the saga with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, with the NASA astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station for nine months.
This was due to a technical fault with their return capsule, and ultimately SpaceX ended up getting involved to provide the pair transport back to Earth's surface last month.
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But in the case of Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, he found himself stuck in space for a very different reason entirely - his country simply stopped existing.
Krikalev was a cosmonaut for the Soviet Union when he was sent into space for a routine mission in May 1991 and docked aboard the Mir Space Station, only for politics to get involved and extend his stay indefinitely.
While in the Earth's orbit, the Soviet Union dissolved, leaving his immediate plans hanging in the balance.
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Two months after his mission began, he agreed to be a flight engineer for the next crew, but by December, he was still on board.
Both the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the landing area that were in the now-disbanded nation were then in the newly independent Kazakhstan, with Krikalev unsure of when he could return.
Because of the political upheaval, the cosmonaut spent twice as much time in orbit than planned, before returning to Earth on 25 March 1992.
He is known to this day as the 'last Soviet citizen', having only step foot in Russia months after its formation.
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Shockingly though, this wasn't the cosmonauts last time in space, having returned to orbit in 1994, being part of the first joint Space Shuttle Mission between the US and Russia.
He also became the first person to enter the International Space Station along with NASA astronaut Robert Cabana, as the pair were responsible for turning on the lights in US module Unity.
Due to the sheer amount of time that Krikalev spent in space, where he was travelling for long periods of time at high velocities, he experienced the rare phenomenon known as time dilation.
Basically, this can be described as a 'slowing down of clocks'.
The concept is from Einstein's theory of relativity, where time passes differently for observers in different states of motion or gravitational fields like space. Essentially, this means that he is 0.02 seconds younger than people who were born at the same time as him.
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In a 2015 interview with The Guardian he revealed what was going through his mind while stuck in space, revealing: "It was a long process and we were getting the news, not all at once, but we heard about the referendum, for example.
“I was doing my job and was more worried about those on the ground - our families and friends - we had everything we needed!”
Recalling how he felt about returning to Earth, Krikalev continued: “I think I felt satisfaction that I had done my job, and done it well. The second one was a sort of relief as I had held a huge responsibility for many months.”
Users online were shocked to learn the story of his maiden trip, taking to social media to share their thoughts.
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One simply posted: “Well, that's terrifying,” while another pointed out: “Worst case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
A third joked: “Um, MOM cAn YoU pICk mE up FrOM SpAcE?”
A different user said: “So for a short amount of time, the USSR own [sic] the space,” while a fifth said what we were all thinking: “I definitely don't want to be in that position.”