April 12, 2023 • 23 mins
The collapse of the Soviet Union heralds a new era in international space travel and leads to the arrival of Lance Bass in Star City. But what happens when Lance’s mission goes wrong?
Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
As y'all already know, going from Orlando, Florida to Star
City in Russia in the early two thousands was a
bit of a shock. The gray buildings, the summer mosquitoes,
no air conditioning, the endless bowls of soup. Sometimes it
all became too much. I longed for just a few
(00:40):
hours with my family, my friends, my dogs. And then
one day I arrived at this house in the middle
of Star City. I walked down some steps and opened
the door, and I cannot believe my eyes. Right there
(01:05):
in the middle of Russia is an old time American
dive bar. There's a jukebox, whiskey, Chris Hadfield on the guitar,
the whole shebaine. I am in heaven. I'm doing shots,
(01:25):
shooting the shit, and I begin wondering, how on earth
did I end up in an American bar with NASA
astronauts and a walled off Russian military town in the
middle of a forest. May it just start and lived
(01:48):
on the launch of a rocket's carrying the first stage
of the International Space Station. In this final episode, we
tell the story of how the Americans and Russians overcame
seventy years of Cold War within six years. The station
will be a virtual village in the sky with people
(02:10):
living and working in space to build humanity's most expensive
and ambitious piece of real estate. All these nations are
coming together the utilized technology not to blow up humanity.
And how I nearly got to go. And this twenty
three year old Southern boy wants to be more than
a pop star. He wants to be among the stars.
(02:32):
And it's one step closer to achieving that drive. I'm
Lance bass And from Kaleidoscope and iHeart and Exile Media.
This is the last Soviet The collapse of the USSR
nineteen ninety one changed the world. One political scientist called
(02:56):
it the end of history. Is Francis Fukuyala argue that
the end of communism might presage what he called the
end of history, the end of history. The great ideological
battles between East and West, between communism and capitalism, were over,
or so the story goes in space. The end of
(03:17):
the Cold War was a massive opportunity for America to
finally catch up with their old enemy and to create
a symbol for a new era of peace and cooperation.
In nineteen ninety three, Russia joined the United States and
its international partners in the largest cooperative space exploration effort
in history. In September nineteen ninety three, American Russia announced
(03:41):
to the world that they were going to build a
space station together, an international space station. By joining our efforts,
we are able to create a whole that is greater
than the sum of its parts. I was in the room.
I think we all recognize we were seeing something of
history racle significance in the idea that the former Cold
(04:04):
War advert series were going to pledge to try to
work together. That's John Lockston, Professor of Space policy at
George Washington University. Wasn't a done deal yet. There are
a lot of obstacles that had to be negotiated out
of the way, and we got the brand trust of
everybody that had ever worked with the Russians to help
(04:25):
promote us. Ken Wrtler again, the guy from the last
episode who helped Sarage choose his breakfast cereal. Ken knew
that if this mad idea was going to work, he
need one thing, and the first request that I made
was to have Sergey work for me. Sarage had returned
(04:47):
from his flight with NASA and was now back home
in Russia. Welcome home Discovery, Prekrasnage. You've paved the way
for a new era of cooperation in human space flight
leading to our International space station. Great job. He had
a lot of sway on the Russian program. He understood
how to build space stations, which we didn't. He knew
(05:09):
more about space stations than maybe all of NASA put together.
He'd spent almost an entire year on one. He was
the guy you wanted for this job. We would work
together on every aspect. Ken in Houston and Sarageate and Moscow.
What kind of language where we were going to speak?
What kind of clock were we going to work on
(05:29):
Moscow time or we're going to work on Houston time?
Or what kind of food would we eat? Chicken with
prunes or burgers? But it wasn't just the dinner menu
that needed to be hashed out. They needed to talk
about how they were going to build the damn thing,
because this is not just another better space station. What
they had in mind would be four times the size
(05:51):
of mirror the Soviet space station. It would be the
size of an entire football pitch, and it would be
a group project made of thousands and thousands of parts,
some made by Russia, some by America, and they would
all have to fit perfectly and be assembled in space.
(06:11):
When the whistle blew orbiting hard hats, Jerry Ross and
Jim Newman got right to work, becoming the first car
carrying members of the Union of International Space Station Workers,
and over the next two years it grew peace by
peace into a six bedroom house weighing about three and
twenty cars. They passed over a brilliant lightning storm over Africa,
(06:33):
didn't even see it because they were so engrossed in
their work. With more than fifty computers and eight miles
of cable to make the thing run. A triumph of
diplomacy and engineering, the International Space Station is the largest
ever peaceful technological cooperation, and in two thousand, at the
(06:57):
turn of the New century, the International Space was ready
to receive its first ever crew. The first crew of
the International Space Station arrived at their new home for
the next four months. From the American side, Bill Shepherd,
and from the Russian side Urigzenko and Seragei Krecolatation Commander
NASA's Bill Shephard announced he would allow his Russian crewmatee
(07:18):
Ury Genzenko to float over the threshold. First, their task
was to bring the station to life. They have trained
for a long list of chores, activating computers, life support
systems and the toilet, and repairing some failed Russian batteries.
Now that they have arrived, the hard work of making
their place in space ship shape begins. Since then, it
(07:40):
has been constantly occupied by astronauts the world over. The
first Japanese astronaut to live aboard the International Space Station,
German astronaut will be responsible for conducting about forty experiments.
Fifty three year old Swedish physicist has already visited the
iss as for real and tim floated aboard the first
British astra on the space station. It is a remarkable
(08:04):
technical and political achievement to create this facility as a
partnership now among fifteen countries and have it operate now
for twenty three years, in the face of changing political relationships,
particularly between the United States and Russia. This magical place
(08:26):
is where I was training to go to learning Russian,
spending hours in flight simulators, until one day it all
went wrong. The insynct pop Star's dreams of going to
space have been crushed today as funding for his trip
has been thrown into question. When I went to Moscow
(08:54):
in two thousand and two, it was two years after
Sarage Cricleff had kick started the International Space Station into gears,
two years after Putin took power in Russia. Today, the
clear winner of the Russian presidential election of Vladimir Putin
began to establish the Putin Era, the street shootings, law
and disorder in the USSA, professors hawking pies in the metro.
(09:14):
I don't even know what I can do. I'm going
to have to go back to the train station and
spend the night there. The wild nineties they were over.
The Moscow I arrived in was shiny with optimism, riding
high on the oil price boom and its promise of
prosperity and stability. IKEA had opened its first store. Putin
(09:36):
was hugging Tony Blair and Bono and Davos. We have
co operation today that would have been really unthinkable just
a short time. Again, First, I'd like to congratulate President
Putin for being the only person that caught a fish.
Today there were in sync CDs in the shops, fancy
(10:00):
cocktail bars, Broadway type musicals of a sudden great wealth
was in reach of a happy few. Wealth became fashionable
bees with the new Russians, Russians with money, and just
a reminder about why I was there in the first place.
CBS wanted to do a reality TV show where contestants
(10:21):
train as cosmonauts in Star City and the winner gets
to actually go to space. Well, they wanted the host
of the show that was going to be me to
have gone to space as well. This is the pioneering stage,
you know, we don't know where it's going to go,
but eventually everyone should and we'll have the opportunity to
travel into space. So in two thousand and two, I
put my life on pause and started the six month training,
(10:44):
and I took it really seriously. I knew a lot
of the people there thought I was just some dumb
pop star, and I get that, but I was determined
to prove them wrong. So after training for the day,
I spend most evenings watching the Russian version of Sesame
Street to pick up some Russian words, pouring over space manuals,
(11:07):
doing pushups. Slowly, I was getting there, and then one
day I get called in for a meeting with a
Russian big dog from the Space Agency and he says, look, Lance,
you have to leave Star City. I'm like, what, what
the hell are you talking about? He told me to
(11:27):
pack up my gear and leave. That very day. I
left from Moscow confused, trying to find out what the
fuck happened. Lance believes very much that he will fly
and we hope to have discussions in the next couple
of days. It turned out the TV networks in Hollywood
hadn't reached a deal with the Russian Space Agency. There
(11:50):
were problems with a contract. This was a very strong
message from our Russian colleagues saying, hey, time is running out.
Bottom line is everyone had bailed on me, and I
was learning this only now there was going to be
no reality TV show, no going to space, nothing. It
(12:12):
was a dark moment in my life. I worked so
hard and suddenly it was all pulled away from me.
I was crushed, but I was also pissed at my
agents at the TV networks. I was here in good
faith training to be a cosmonaut, putting my ass on
(12:33):
the line every single day, doing my part, and they
didn't seem to care. So yeah, I was feeling pretty
desperate alone in a Moscow hotel room But then the
Russians reached out to me. They said, there is another
(12:54):
way for you to complete your training, but it'll cost
you one million dollars out of your own pocket. That's right,
one million. I know it sounds crazy, but I coughed
it up. Okay, I wasn't going to space, but I
would have that certificate. I would finish what I'd come
here to do. So I went back to Star City
(13:16):
for a few weeks and I finished the training on
my dime for my own satisfaction. So today I can
proudly say I am a certified cosmonaut, and I still
hope to go back to Russia one day and finally
fly to space, even though now that dream seems further
and further away. All Right, our top story today, Russia
(13:37):
has launched its invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin has just
addressed the Russian people a moment ago, announcing what Putin
called the start of a military special operation. Vladimia Putin
is calling this a quote special military operation to protect
on Bass. This morning, the International Space Station in political
crosshairs as Russia retaliates against American sanctions. The head of
(14:00):
the Russian Space Agency Dmitry Vergosen posting this video on
social media threatening to abandon American astronaut Mark van de
High at the station. He's supposed to return home on
a Russian ship in just three weeks. In February twenty
twenty two, Putin upended the world order and space became
a battleground once again. When Russian invaded Ukraine in twenty
(14:36):
twenty two, it felt like the three decades of relative
cooperation between American Russia had been a blip, and the
International Space Station they operate together became a target. Russia's
war is putting years of collaboration at risk and the
astronauts in the situation they did not ask for. Soon
after the invasion and a series of wild tweets, the
(14:57):
then head of the Russian Space Agency, a man called Regosan,
actually threatened to crash the International Space Station into Earth.
Regosan also making an ominous threat that without Russian help
to move the ISS away from space junk, the ISS
would crash into America or other countries. Then he said
Russia would no longer sell rocket engines to the US.
(15:19):
On TV, he said, in a situation like this, we
can't supply the United States with our world's best rocket engine.
Let them fly on something else. They're broomsticks. I don't
know what he traded insults with NASA astronauts Scott Kelly
sparred with Elon Musk overnight SpaceX firing back as it
(15:43):
launched its Falcon rocket carrying satellites to orbit. Time to
let the American broomsticks fly. It was all a bit unhinged.
In autumn last year, an American and Russian crew arrived
at the International Space Station, and one day, as they
were preparing to go for a spacewalk, they discovered a
(16:05):
leak in their capsule. Russian flight controllers and the flight
controllers here Admission control in Houston had been noticing a
stream of particles coming out of the sous MS twenty
two vehicle. A small meteorite had probably hid it a
micro meteoroid, a tiny space rock, just one millimeter across,
(16:26):
but flying fifteen thousand miles per hour, And now there
was a big problem. Temperatures inside the cabin could climb
above one hundred degrees during a return flight, potentially overheating
flight computers, and meant that they couldn't get back to
Earth as planned. Russian space officials determined the damage craft
is unsafe to fly, essentially stranding its crew. They were stuck,
(16:51):
and as I record this, they're still up there doing repairs,
gazing down at the chaos below, wondering when they're going
to finally come home. Sounds familiar, right for the astronauts
stuck in space right now. Things might be hard. They're
losing muscles, their bones are getting weaker. They're probably sick
(17:13):
of peeing into a funnel, and of course they miss
their families and the comforts of home. But more than that,
the political situation is worrying. The station their own is
manned by Russia and America, who are not being friendly
with each other right now. There are growing tensions between
the US and Russia following the downing of an American
(17:34):
drone earlier. Russian President Vladimir Putin says this country will
now station tactical nuclear weapons right on NATO's doorstep. This
trip to Moscow also sends a strong message to Washington,
as tensions between both countries and the US remain high.
But these astronauts, they have a secret weapon, someone on
the ground who knows exactly what they're going through. Sarage
(17:57):
Cricklif is the guy planning their rescue, always there, always dependable,
totally dedicated to the dream of space. This man who
watched as his country collapsed two hundred and fifty miles
below him. I bade the chaos of street clashes. It
was obvious to reinforce that position, the hardliners would have
(18:19):
to resort to violence, And today is trying to keep
above the fray, above the chaos and the politics, to
bring both American and Russian astronauts back home. Good evening, everyone,
Welcome here to the launch pad and our live launch coverage.
Soyus MS twenty three launching from the Biken Or Cosmodrome
(18:42):
in Kazakhstan, launching up to the International Space Station for
a ross Cosmos rescue mission, replacing the leaky soy Use
spacecraft up at the International Space Station. When I think
about Saragei's story, it gives me hope, because I believe
that space can be a utopia, a place where the
(19:04):
impossible happens, where a chemist from the Mars bar factory
ends up going to Russia to be a cosmonaut for
the Russians. It was another small step, but from Miss
Shaman and her British backup team. It had been a
giant plea where a woman from suburban Australia becomes friends
with Soviets floating in space. So I am such a
(19:24):
happy person. I have been waiting two years to talk
to you where a Vietnam war vet flies with his
former communist enemy. We were both the same way. We
wanted a peaceful world. We wanted a world in which
people work together collaboratively for the good of humankind. A
place that brings people together, where you see things as
(19:48):
never before. Oh my God, look at that picture over
there on a truly cosmic mind expanding scale. A good night,
and God Boy, follow you, all of you on the garth.
(20:14):
This dream of space is something Serage experienced in his bones.
As he wrote to his friend Maggie from space, the
Earth is like a map, but in contrast to a map,
there are no borders seen. It is pleasant when there
are fewer borders. People can rub shoulders, be friends, travel
freely among each other, and get to know one another more.
(20:38):
If rigid borders between neighboring people appear, then that will
be bad. This is what space can do. It allows
us to see our planet for what it is and
all its complexity to see the Earth the human race
(20:59):
as one whole. But for all that, in order to
understand everything and get used to it, it is necessary
to return and plunge into this life, and then to
come back and build something new out of the ashes
(21:21):
of the old world and the colors unbelievably useful and
electric blue. Thanks Crunch Cards, Lord for the last time
comes to an end to our International Space Station. Great job.
(21:43):
Reality The Last Soviet is a Kaleidoscope production in partnership
(22:24):
with iHeart Podcast and Exile Media, produced by Sama's Dad
Audio and hosted by me Lance Bass Executive produced by
Kate Osbourne and Mangesh Hadakador with Oz Wallashan and Kostas
Linos from iHeart Executive Produced by Katrina Norvelle and Nikki
(22:45):
E Torre from Sama's Dad Audio. Our executive producers are
Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisiticina. Produced by Assia Fuchs, Dasha
Litzitzina and Joe Sykes. Writing by Lydia Marchant, Research by
Mika gola Boski and Molly Schwartz, Music by Will Epstein,
Themed by Martin Orstrich, Mixing and sound design by Richard Ward,
(23:09):
and special thanks to Nando Villa Well, Lissa Pollock, will Pearson,
Connel Byrne, Bob Pittman, and Isaac Lee. If you want
to hear more shows like this, nothing is more important
to the creators here at Kaleidoscope than subscribers, ratings, and reviews,
so please spread the love wherever you listen.
As y'all already know, going from Orlando, Florida to Star
City in Russia in the early two thousands was a
bit of a shock. The gray buildings, the summer mosquitoes,
no air conditioning, the endless bowls of soup. Sometimes it
all became too much. I longed for just a few
(00:40):
hours with my family, my friends, my dogs. And then
one day I arrived at this house in the middle
of Star City. I walked down some steps and opened
the door, and I cannot believe my eyes. Right there
(01:05):
in the middle of Russia is an old time American
dive bar. There's a jukebox, whiskey, Chris Hadfield on the guitar,
the whole shebaine. I am in heaven. I'm doing shots,
(01:25):
shooting the shit, and I begin wondering, how on earth
did I end up in an American bar with NASA
astronauts and a walled off Russian military town in the
middle of a forest. May it just start and lived
(01:48):
on the launch of a rocket's carrying the first stage
of the International Space Station. In this final episode, we
tell the story of how the Americans and Russians overcame
seventy years of Cold War within six years. The station
will be a virtual village in the sky with people
(02:10):
living and working in space to build humanity's most expensive
and ambitious piece of real estate. All these nations are
coming together the utilized technology not to blow up humanity.
And how I nearly got to go. And this twenty
three year old Southern boy wants to be more than
a pop star. He wants to be among the stars.
(02:32):
And it's one step closer to achieving that drive. I'm
Lance bass And from Kaleidoscope and iHeart and Exile Media.
This is the last Soviet The collapse of the USSR
nineteen ninety one changed the world. One political scientist called
(02:56):
it the end of history. Is Francis Fukuyala argue that
the end of communism might presage what he called the
end of history, the end of history. The great ideological
battles between East and West, between communism and capitalism, were over,
or so the story goes in space. The end of
(03:17):
the Cold War was a massive opportunity for America to
finally catch up with their old enemy and to create
a symbol for a new era of peace and cooperation.
In nineteen ninety three, Russia joined the United States and
its international partners in the largest cooperative space exploration effort
in history. In September nineteen ninety three, American Russia announced
(03:41):
to the world that they were going to build a
space station together, an international space station. By joining our efforts,
we are able to create a whole that is greater
than the sum of its parts. I was in the room.
I think we all recognize we were seeing something of
history racle significance in the idea that the former Cold
(04:04):
War advert series were going to pledge to try to
work together. That's John Lockston, Professor of Space policy at
George Washington University. Wasn't a done deal yet. There are
a lot of obstacles that had to be negotiated out
of the way, and we got the brand trust of
everybody that had ever worked with the Russians to help
(04:25):
promote us. Ken Wrtler again, the guy from the last
episode who helped Sarage choose his breakfast cereal. Ken knew
that if this mad idea was going to work, he
need one thing, and the first request that I made
was to have Sergey work for me. Sarage had returned
(04:47):
from his flight with NASA and was now back home
in Russia. Welcome home Discovery, Prekrasnage. You've paved the way
for a new era of cooperation in human space flight
leading to our International space station. Great job. He had
a lot of sway on the Russian program. He understood
how to build space stations, which we didn't. He knew
(05:09):
more about space stations than maybe all of NASA put together.
He'd spent almost an entire year on one. He was
the guy you wanted for this job. We would work
together on every aspect. Ken in Houston and Sarageate and Moscow.
What kind of language where we were going to speak?
What kind of clock were we going to work on
(05:29):
Moscow time or we're going to work on Houston time?
Or what kind of food would we eat? Chicken with
prunes or burgers? But it wasn't just the dinner menu
that needed to be hashed out. They needed to talk
about how they were going to build the damn thing,
because this is not just another better space station. What
they had in mind would be four times the size
(05:51):
of mirror the Soviet space station. It would be the
size of an entire football pitch, and it would be
a group project made of thousands and thousands of parts,
some made by Russia, some by America, and they would
all have to fit perfectly and be assembled in space.
(06:11):
When the whistle blew orbiting hard hats, Jerry Ross and
Jim Newman got right to work, becoming the first car
carrying members of the Union of International Space Station Workers,
and over the next two years it grew peace by
peace into a six bedroom house weighing about three and
twenty cars. They passed over a brilliant lightning storm over Africa,
(06:33):
didn't even see it because they were so engrossed in
their work. With more than fifty computers and eight miles
of cable to make the thing run. A triumph of
diplomacy and engineering, the International Space Station is the largest
ever peaceful technological cooperation, and in two thousand, at the
(06:57):
turn of the New century, the International Space was ready
to receive its first ever crew. The first crew of
the International Space Station arrived at their new home for
the next four months. From the American side, Bill Shepherd,
and from the Russian side Urigzenko and Seragei Krecolatation Commander
NASA's Bill Shephard announced he would allow his Russian crewmatee
(07:18):
Ury Genzenko to float over the threshold. First, their task
was to bring the station to life. They have trained
for a long list of chores, activating computers, life support
systems and the toilet, and repairing some failed Russian batteries.
Now that they have arrived, the hard work of making
their place in space ship shape begins. Since then, it
(07:40):
has been constantly occupied by astronauts the world over. The
first Japanese astronaut to live aboard the International Space Station,
German astronaut will be responsible for conducting about forty experiments.
Fifty three year old Swedish physicist has already visited the
iss as for real and tim floated aboard the first
British astra on the space station. It is a remarkable
(08:04):
technical and political achievement to create this facility as a
partnership now among fifteen countries and have it operate now
for twenty three years, in the face of changing political relationships,
particularly between the United States and Russia. This magical place
(08:26):
is where I was training to go to learning Russian,
spending hours in flight simulators, until one day it all
went wrong. The insynct pop Star's dreams of going to
space have been crushed today as funding for his trip
has been thrown into question. When I went to Moscow
(08:54):
in two thousand and two, it was two years after
Sarage Cricleff had kick started the International Space Station into gears,
two years after Putin took power in Russia. Today, the
clear winner of the Russian presidential election of Vladimir Putin
began to establish the Putin Era, the street shootings, law
and disorder in the USSA, professors hawking pies in the metro.
(09:14):
I don't even know what I can do. I'm going
to have to go back to the train station and
spend the night there. The wild nineties they were over.
The Moscow I arrived in was shiny with optimism, riding
high on the oil price boom and its promise of
prosperity and stability. IKEA had opened its first store. Putin
(09:36):
was hugging Tony Blair and Bono and Davos. We have
co operation today that would have been really unthinkable just
a short time. Again, First, I'd like to congratulate President
Putin for being the only person that caught a fish.
Today there were in sync CDs in the shops, fancy
(10:00):
cocktail bars, Broadway type musicals of a sudden great wealth
was in reach of a happy few. Wealth became fashionable
bees with the new Russians, Russians with money, and just
a reminder about why I was there in the first place.
CBS wanted to do a reality TV show where contestants
(10:21):
train as cosmonauts in Star City and the winner gets
to actually go to space. Well, they wanted the host
of the show that was going to be me to
have gone to space as well. This is the pioneering stage,
you know, we don't know where it's going to go,
but eventually everyone should and we'll have the opportunity to
travel into space. So in two thousand and two, I
put my life on pause and started the six month training,
(10:44):
and I took it really seriously. I knew a lot
of the people there thought I was just some dumb
pop star, and I get that, but I was determined
to prove them wrong. So after training for the day,
I spend most evenings watching the Russian version of Sesame
Street to pick up some Russian words, pouring over space manuals,
(11:07):
doing pushups. Slowly, I was getting there, and then one
day I get called in for a meeting with a
Russian big dog from the Space Agency and he says, look, Lance,
you have to leave Star City. I'm like, what, what
the hell are you talking about? He told me to
(11:27):
pack up my gear and leave. That very day. I
left from Moscow confused, trying to find out what the
fuck happened. Lance believes very much that he will fly
and we hope to have discussions in the next couple
of days. It turned out the TV networks in Hollywood
hadn't reached a deal with the Russian Space Agency. There
(11:50):
were problems with a contract. This was a very strong
message from our Russian colleagues saying, hey, time is running out.
Bottom line is everyone had bailed on me, and I
was learning this only now there was going to be
no reality TV show, no going to space, nothing. It
(12:12):
was a dark moment in my life. I worked so
hard and suddenly it was all pulled away from me.
I was crushed, but I was also pissed at my
agents at the TV networks. I was here in good
faith training to be a cosmonaut, putting my ass on
(12:33):
the line every single day, doing my part, and they
didn't seem to care. So yeah, I was feeling pretty
desperate alone in a Moscow hotel room But then the
Russians reached out to me. They said, there is another
(12:54):
way for you to complete your training, but it'll cost
you one million dollars out of your own pocket. That's right,
one million. I know it sounds crazy, but I coughed
it up. Okay, I wasn't going to space, but I
would have that certificate. I would finish what I'd come
here to do. So I went back to Star City
(13:16):
for a few weeks and I finished the training on
my dime for my own satisfaction. So today I can
proudly say I am a certified cosmonaut, and I still
hope to go back to Russia one day and finally
fly to space, even though now that dream seems further
and further away. All Right, our top story today, Russia
(13:37):
has launched its invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin has just
addressed the Russian people a moment ago, announcing what Putin
called the start of a military special operation. Vladimia Putin
is calling this a quote special military operation to protect
on Bass. This morning, the International Space Station in political
crosshairs as Russia retaliates against American sanctions. The head of
(14:00):
the Russian Space Agency Dmitry Vergosen posting this video on
social media threatening to abandon American astronaut Mark van de
High at the station. He's supposed to return home on
a Russian ship in just three weeks. In February twenty
twenty two, Putin upended the world order and space became
a battleground once again. When Russian invaded Ukraine in twenty
(14:36):
twenty two, it felt like the three decades of relative
cooperation between American Russia had been a blip, and the
International Space Station they operate together became a target. Russia's
war is putting years of collaboration at risk and the
astronauts in the situation they did not ask for. Soon
after the invasion and a series of wild tweets, the
(14:57):
then head of the Russian Space Agency, a man called Regosan,
actually threatened to crash the International Space Station into Earth.
Regosan also making an ominous threat that without Russian help
to move the ISS away from space junk, the ISS
would crash into America or other countries. Then he said
Russia would no longer sell rocket engines to the US.
(15:19):
On TV, he said, in a situation like this, we
can't supply the United States with our world's best rocket engine.
Let them fly on something else. They're broomsticks. I don't
know what he traded insults with NASA astronauts Scott Kelly
sparred with Elon Musk overnight SpaceX firing back as it
(15:43):
launched its Falcon rocket carrying satellites to orbit. Time to
let the American broomsticks fly. It was all a bit unhinged.
In autumn last year, an American and Russian crew arrived
at the International Space Station, and one day, as they
were preparing to go for a spacewalk, they discovered a
(16:05):
leak in their capsule. Russian flight controllers and the flight
controllers here Admission control in Houston had been noticing a
stream of particles coming out of the sous MS twenty
two vehicle. A small meteorite had probably hid it a
micro meteoroid, a tiny space rock, just one millimeter across,
(16:26):
but flying fifteen thousand miles per hour, And now there
was a big problem. Temperatures inside the cabin could climb
above one hundred degrees during a return flight, potentially overheating
flight computers, and meant that they couldn't get back to
Earth as planned. Russian space officials determined the damage craft
is unsafe to fly, essentially stranding its crew. They were stuck,
(16:51):
and as I record this, they're still up there doing repairs,
gazing down at the chaos below, wondering when they're going
to finally come home. Sounds familiar, right for the astronauts
stuck in space right now. Things might be hard. They're
losing muscles, their bones are getting weaker. They're probably sick
(17:13):
of peeing into a funnel, and of course they miss
their families and the comforts of home. But more than that,
the political situation is worrying. The station their own is
manned by Russia and America, who are not being friendly
with each other right now. There are growing tensions between
the US and Russia following the downing of an American
(17:34):
drone earlier. Russian President Vladimir Putin says this country will
now station tactical nuclear weapons right on NATO's doorstep. This
trip to Moscow also sends a strong message to Washington,
as tensions between both countries and the US remain high.
But these astronauts, they have a secret weapon, someone on
the ground who knows exactly what they're going through. Sarage
(17:57):
Cricklif is the guy planning their rescue, always there, always dependable,
totally dedicated to the dream of space. This man who
watched as his country collapsed two hundred and fifty miles
below him. I bade the chaos of street clashes. It
was obvious to reinforce that position, the hardliners would have
(18:19):
to resort to violence, And today is trying to keep
above the fray, above the chaos and the politics, to
bring both American and Russian astronauts back home. Good evening, everyone,
Welcome here to the launch pad and our live launch coverage.
Soyus MS twenty three launching from the Biken Or Cosmodrome
(18:42):
in Kazakhstan, launching up to the International Space Station for
a ross Cosmos rescue mission, replacing the leaky soy Use
spacecraft up at the International Space Station. When I think
about Saragei's story, it gives me hope, because I believe
that space can be a utopia, a place where the
(19:04):
impossible happens, where a chemist from the Mars bar factory
ends up going to Russia to be a cosmonaut for
the Russians. It was another small step, but from Miss
Shaman and her British backup team. It had been a
giant plea where a woman from suburban Australia becomes friends
with Soviets floating in space. So I am such a
(19:24):
happy person. I have been waiting two years to talk
to you where a Vietnam war vet flies with his
former communist enemy. We were both the same way. We
wanted a peaceful world. We wanted a world in which
people work together collaboratively for the good of humankind. A
place that brings people together, where you see things as
(19:48):
never before. Oh my God, look at that picture over
there on a truly cosmic mind expanding scale. A good night,
and God Boy, follow you, all of you on the garth.
(20:14):
This dream of space is something Serage experienced in his bones.
As he wrote to his friend Maggie from space, the
Earth is like a map, but in contrast to a map,
there are no borders seen. It is pleasant when there
are fewer borders. People can rub shoulders, be friends, travel
freely among each other, and get to know one another more.
(20:38):
If rigid borders between neighboring people appear, then that will
be bad. This is what space can do. It allows
us to see our planet for what it is and
all its complexity to see the Earth the human race
(20:59):
as one whole. But for all that, in order to
understand everything and get used to it, it is necessary
to return and plunge into this life, and then to
come back and build something new out of the ashes
(21:21):
of the old world and the colors unbelievably useful and
electric blue. Thanks Crunch Cards, Lord for the last time
comes to an end to our International Space Station. Great job.
(21:43):
Reality The Last Soviet is a Kaleidoscope production in partnership
(22:24):
with iHeart Podcast and Exile Media, produced by Sama's Dad
Audio and hosted by me Lance Bass Executive produced by
Kate Osbourne and Mangesh Hadakador with Oz Wallashan and Kostas
Linos from iHeart Executive Produced by Katrina Norvelle and Nikki
(22:45):
E Torre from Sama's Dad Audio. Our executive producers are
Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisiticina. Produced by Assia Fuchs, Dasha
Litzitzina and Joe Sykes. Writing by Lydia Marchant, Research by
Mika gola Boski and Molly Schwartz, Music by Will Epstein,
Themed by Martin Orstrich, Mixing and sound design by Richard Ward,
(23:09):
and special thanks to Nando Villa Well, Lissa Pollock, will Pearson,
Connel Byrne, Bob Pittman, and Isaac Lee. If you want
to hear more shows like this, nothing is more important
to the creators here at Kaleidoscope than subscribers, ratings, and reviews,
so please spread the love wherever you listen.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!