
The last Soviet citizen: The cosmonaut who was left behind in space - new_guy
https://www.rbth.com/history/330415-last-soviet-citizen-cosmonaut
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meredydd
If you like this, you should definitely read "Dragonfly: NASA and the crisis
aboard Mir" by Bryan Burrough. It's an amazing portrait of the disintegrating
immediately-ex-Soviet space program, and the disintegrating space station they
were trying to keep flying.

This article mentions other countries buying seats on Mir. The book explains
how this was a deliberate international effort to keep the Russian space
program alive with infusions of hard cash. This was to avoid huge numbers of
scientists with, effectively, high-level missile experience dispersing across
the world in desperate need of money (rockets==missiles; that was the point of
the whole original space race).

It's an eye-opening look at an astonishing time, and it culminates in heart-
stopping descriptions of the various in-flight accidents, including the mid-
space collision with a supply craft that knocked a hole in the station and
nearly killed everyone aboard.

If you prefer video, the author gave an extended interview about it when it
was released: [https://www.c-span.org/video/?115419-1/dragonfly-nasa-
crisis...](https://www.c-span.org/video/?115419-1/dragonfly-nasa-crisis-
aboard-mir)

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eps
He is now a VP of the Russian principal space corporation (Energia) and in
charge of the manned flight programs and cosmonaut/astronaut training. Much
respected person in the space industry.

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avmich
Krikalev has a good article on Wikipedia on him:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Krikalev](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Krikalev)

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mr_toad
> Krikalev holds the record of most time dilation experienced by a human

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mac01021
Wait, is that time dilation the reason he was the "last" soviet citizen?

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inflatableDodo
Made me immediately think of Captain Korolev from the story 'Red Star, Winter
Orbit' by Gibson and Sterling. I knew already, but still had to go double
check that the story came first.

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dane-pgp
When I first heard of Krikalev's story, I wished that someone would write an
alternative universe historical novel where being "the last Soviet citizen"
became more significant for him.

Imagine some legal quirk in the interpretation of Article VIII of the Outer
Space Treaty:

"A State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into outer
space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over such object, and
over any personnel thereof, while in outer space or on a celestial body."

where the International Court of Justice required the UN to treat the Soviet
Union as still existing, with Krikalev as its only citizen (and thus
government).

He could nominate himself as the Soviet representative to the UN, and exercise
his country's veto, while also having to pay the country's contribution to the
UN budget. Things would be even more complicated if some members of the Soviet
armed forces, and ambassadors, accepted him as their rightful leader.

It would effectively be an extreme case of the odd situation regarding the
status of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

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LoSboccacc
> someone would write an alternative universe historical novel

well in Italy we took the story and made an advertisement out of it

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=gEg6G0PmHDw](https://m.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=gEg6G0PmHDw)

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klez
Hah! I'm too young to remember it, but it was frankly funny and well played.

I'm not sure I understand the final joke about America. Did they lose
territory after the collapse of the Soviet Union or is it just a joke like
"ah, this is so good it might as well be America"?

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codezero
I was a kid when this happened and I’m still surprised I’ve never heard this
amazing story! Thanks for sharing here :)

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Bakary
I strongly watching Out of the Present (1997) which chronicles the story.

