The tragedy of Krikalev, the astronaut that the USSR abandoned in space for a year for money

by time news

Trapped on the International Space Station (ISS). This is how the two Russian astronauts and the American from NASA have stayed after the spectacular leak of coolant suffered by the ship Soyuz MS-22 in December. A mishap that seems to be taken from the script of a Hollywood blockbuster, but which has become a very real nightmare for Sergei Prokopiev, Dmitri Petelin and Frank Rubio, whose return to earth was scheduled for this Tuesday, but who finally had to delay, at least, until September, as Roscosmos made public this Wednesday in a statement released by Tass, the Russian news agency.

Incredible as it may seem, an even more unusual episode occurred in the USSR in 1991, just a few months before the disintegration of the socialist republics and the end of the Cold War. The news shocked newspapers around the world, which reported for months on the anguish that Sergei Krikalev was experiencing in space, without being fully sure when the Russian government was going to rescue him, under the pretext that it could not send the planned ship due to “economic problems”.

In the current episode, the aforementioned leak was broadcast live on television, because just at that moment the cosmonauts were carrying out a spacewalk through the station, which was immediately called off. At that moment all the alarms went off. The leak lasted for hours, causing the radiator to drain of coolant used to regulate the temperature inside the crew compartment. The problem was solved momentarily by keeping a hatch open to the ISS, but in that state it was impossible to bring it back with crew on board, as the initial plan contemplated.

They have finally decided that it will have to be another ship, the Soyuz MS-23, the one that goes for them in September. The Russian agency assures that this extension does not pose any danger to the health of the crew, which “perceives the extension positively.” A very different situation from the one Krikalev experienced in 1991, both emotionally and physically, as well as politically, as well as in terms of his own survival. Two headlines very well summarize the tension that the then Soviet astronaut had to live through. One, on March 4, 1992: ‘The former USSR abandoned a hero of the conquest of the cosmos to his fate’. Another, from the 25th of that same month: ‘The cosmonaut Krikalev abandoned an empire and returns today to its ashes.’

News about the abandonment of Krikalev

ABC

“No adequate food”

The first piece of news reflected their complicated situation: «The severe living conditions on board the MIR station make the wait even longer, which has lasted since May 20. The serious economic problems that the former Soviet Union is going through have postponed his return […]. Without adequate food, with poor communications and under overwhelming pressure, Krikalev watches the stars from his space exile, while he exercises his muscles to overcome the negative effects of weightlessness ».

The real problems for our protagonist really began on October 2, 1991. At six in the morning the mission takes off SoyuzTM-13 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in the USSR. Inside the capsule were the Soviet Alexander Volkov, the Kazakh Toktar Aubakirov and the Austrian Franz Viehböck. Their destination was the MIR Space Station, which they arrived at two days later and where Krikalev was already, having arrived five months earlier. In July, while the USSR was falling apart down there, he had already been told that he had to stay there for ten months instead of five, since the next two missions had been merged into one due to the economic problems that the communist giant was going through. .

That implied that the crew had to remain in orbit for twice the planned time. «There was no money for ships, nor to go up, nor to go down, so a week later, on October 10, the Austrian and Kazakh return to Earth, since they were not prepared for long-term stays and their missions were practically of diplomacy between countries. Therefore, two cosmonauts stayed in the MIR with an uncertain future and without knowing when they would return to Earth, “says Pedro León in ‘That was not in my book on space exploration’ (Guadalmazán, 2021).

Krikalev, in the MIR

The disappearance of the USSR

Krikalev and Volkov remained at the station carrying out experiments and maintenance work on the complex, being baptized at that time by the press as “the men abandoned in space”, as this newspaper pointed out. Neither of them knew anything about his return as the days passed. In this situation, on December 26, 1991, what is possibly, along with World War II, the most important event of the 20th century, took place: the disappearance of the USSR and the arrival of the new Russia with a bunch of independent republics. around it.

The two astronauts, forgotten in space, survived oblivious to everything that was happening. The little information that reached them was the official one, which hardly informed them of anything. The unofficial news was obtained thanks to radio communications with fans from all over the world, who informed them of the evolution of the political situation and the uncertainty that the Soviet giant was experiencing. As if that were not enough, Krikalev’s wife worked in the control center and told him on several occasions that they were completely bankrupt.

«All due to the devaluation of the currency, which left them almost without money to eat, since the astronaut salary had remained at the equivalent of about 2.5 dollars a month. On the verge of depression and in very poor health, on several occasions they thought of getting into the return capsule on their own and leaving the MIR. However, due to their responsibility, they did not do so, because something like that would have caused the suspension of the space program and the definitive abandonment of the ailing station, which at that time was already plagued with leaks and failures, “adds León.

“Will they sell to us?”

This is how ABC reported on March 25: “After staying aboard the Mir station for 313 days, Krikalev returns to Earth today. He will again experience the effects of gravity when he picks up the small body of his daughter Olía, who turned two years old during her long stay in space. However, this will not be the only novelty to which he will have to get used to in the coming weeks. The country that he left on May 20, 1991 has undergone decisive transformations: the convulsive political events of recent months have caused the disappearance of the once all-powerful Communist Party ».

And he continued: “Krikalev recently asked on the radio if it was true that the leaders of the new Commonwealth of Independent States were going to sell the orbital station. Later, as a reflection of the concern felt by a large part of his compatriots about the possible influx of foreign capital into their country, Serguei added: ‘Will they also sell us in the same lot?’». However, after unsuccessfully trying to sell the station to NASA to take over, the Russian Space Agency announced that it had reached an advertising deal with Coca-Cola and had sold an astronaut seat to Germany.

Thanks to this, after a few days they were told that they could return to earth at the end of March. When they finally touched the ground on March 25 with the Soviet flags on their arms, a bewildered Volkov and a pale and sweaty Krikalev found too many changes difficult to assimilate. At that time, the country they left behind no longer existed, the Baikonur Cosmodrome was foreign territory for them, and our astronaut’s hometown had ceased to be Leningrad to be renamed St. Petersburg.

They even tried to process a desertion order for Krikalev when he was in orbit. He had gone into space as a Soviet and landed as a Russian, so both were dubbed “the last citizens of the Soviet Union.”

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