Sergei Krivalev broke the record of being the person who has spent the longest time in space, but not because he wanted to, but because he was abandoned.
These are some of the adventures that Sergei had to endure while he was stranded in space.
- He was abandoned for 312 days in space
Sergei Krikalev was an astronaut from the Soviet Union who traveled to the “Mir Space Station” for five months on a mission of the Soviet space program.
But while Sergei was 300 kilometers from earth, his country had dissolved and no longer existed, therefore there was no one to bring him back.
- They tried to sell the Space Station to NASA to bring it back
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the economy was so destroyed that they had no money to return Sergei back.
In their desperation they did the unthinkable: Try to sell the space station to NASA, the archenemies of the Soviets.
- They signed contracts with Coca-Cola to get some money
The region’s economy was so destroyed that contracts were even signed with Coca-Cola, to show their astronauts drinking this soft drink (on the ground) and thus be able to raise some money.
It was quite ironic to see communism failing, asking capitalism for help.
- Sergei’s wife contacted him to give him bad news
Unfortunately for Sergei, his wife was suffering the consequences of the crisis and she complained that his astronaut salary was now not even enough to buy a kilo of meat.
The nation was so devastated that astronauts earned the same as an average taxi driver.
- Sergei talked to strangers to stay sane
Sergei communicated by radio with hundreds of radio amateurs on the ground.
He did it to keep up with the news and to keep his sanity.
- His ship suffered blackouts from time to time
The Soviet ship was in terrible condition, experiencing blackouts and failures several times that only contributed to the terrible experience that Sergei had in space.
Fortunately, none of these failures put his life at risk, but they undoubtedly deteriorated his mental health.
- Sergei watched the day and night pass hundreds of times
Sergei just looked out his window as the day began every hour and a half and after 45 minutes it was already sunset.
Seeing how the days passed hundreds of times in such a short time was one of the most traumatic experiences he had to live through.
- Sergei returned to earth pale and weak
On March 25 he finally returned to earth, thanks to the 28 million dollars that Germany paid to bring him back.
Sergei was very thin, confused and could barely stand.
- It took him months to recover
Sergei confessed that when he returned he was happy, but it was physically impossible for him to express anything. He was shocked.
It took several weeks for him to physically recover from the prolonged exposure to space and months of psychological treatment.
- Sergei returned to space after this
If you thought that Sergei had enough and he decided to spend the rest of his life on dry land, you are wrong.
Sergei returned to space on several occasions to continue working as an astronaut.
