Sergei Krikalev: The Man Who Saw His Country Collapse from Space

Spring 1991 had arrived, but Kazakhstan’s steely winter still gripped the steppe. Amid the chill, a Soviet cosmonaut stepped off a bus at the Baikonur Cosmodrome—dubbed the “Soviet Cape Canaveral.”

Baikonur was the launch site of history: Sputnik, Laika, and Yuri Gagarin had all begun their journeys from here nearly three decades earlier. That day, Sergei Krikalev was ready to continue the Soviet space program.

After liftoff, Krikalev spent 312 days in orbit without ever breathing Earth’s air. From roughly 320 kilometers above the ground, he watched his country crumble. Presidents changed, his hometown Leningrad reclaimed its historic name of St. Petersburg, and the world’s communist superpower splintered into 15 independent nations.

Krikalev became, in a way, the loneliest man on Earth—a citizen of a country that no longer existed.

On the morning of March 25, 1992, Earth called him home. Near Arkalyk in newly independent Kazakhstan, Krikalev landed and was helped from the Soyuz capsule by four assistants. No longer did he carry the heavy responsibility of the Mir space station. Years later, he reflected: “Despite the difficulty of readjusting to Earth’s gravity, it was an incredibly rewarding experience. Emotionally, a great weight was lifted. Maybe it wasn’t joy, but it felt very good.”

Months after his return, U.S. and Russian presidents met at the White House and approved the Shuttle–Mir program, paving the way for joint missions that would eventually lead to the International Space Station.