The astronaut who was stranded up in space for 311 days after his country ceased to exist has revealed his first emotion after returning to Earth.

Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev spent nearly a year stuck in space after the Soviet Union dissolved during his mission.

What was due to be a five month trip doubled in length as people on the ground tried to work out how they were going to bring him back to Earth.

The cosmonaut was trapped in space (MAXIM MARMUR/AFP via Getty Images)

This was partly due to the fact that the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the landing area were both located in the newly independent Kazakhstan.

This threw up huge uncertainty as to how or when Krikalev could return home.

Trapped aboard the Mir Space Station, he finally made his way back down to Earth in March 1992.

In 2015, the cosmonaut spoke to the Guardian, revealing what his first emotion was when he finally touched down on solid ground.

Talking about his experience of being stranded in space, he said: “It was a long process and we were getting the news, not all at once, but we heard about the referendum, for example.

“I was doing my job and was more worried about those on the ground – our families and friends – we had everything we needed!”

Krikalev went on to say: “I think I felt satisfaction that I had done my job, and done it well. The second one was a sort of relief as I had held a huge responsibility for many months.”

Sergei Krikalev has spent a lot of time in space (NASA)

Because of this unique situation, Krikalev became known as the ‘last Soviet citizen’, but it wasn’t his final time in space.

In 1994, he returned to orbit as he took part in the first joint US and Russian Space Shuttle Mission.

In December 1998, he also became the first person to enter the International Space Station along with NASA astronaut Robert Cabana.

The pair were tasked with turning on the lights in the US module Unity.

The cosmonaut clocked up 804 days, nine hours and 39 minutes in space throughout his career, once holding the record for the most time spent floating above the atmosphere.

But because of the amount of time Krikalev had spent in space where he was traveling at high velocities, he also experienced time dilation.

This basically means a ‘slowing down of clocks’, causing him to be 0.02 seconds younger than other people born at the same time as him.Featured Image Credit: MAXIM MARMUR/AFP via Getty Images/NASA

Published 14:54 2 Oct 2024 GMT+1

Astronaut stranded in space for 311 days after country that sent him no longer existed

His home country dissolved while he was trapped in space

One astronaut was stranded in space for nearly a year after the country that sent him out into orbit ceased to exist.

Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev spent 311 days trapped above our atmosphere in the Mir Space Station.

This is because during his mission, the Soviet Union dissolved, throwing his fate into jeopardy.

The cosmonaut was trapped in space (MAXIM MARMUR/AFP via Getty Images)

His mission into space began in May 1991 and in July, Krikalev agreed to remain onboard as a flight engineer for the next crew.

However, on December 26 1991, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the cosmonaut found himself in a strange situation.

With both the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the landing area both located in the newly independent Kazakhstan, there was a huge amount of uncertainty as to how or when Krikalev could return home.

As a result, he spent twice as much time in orbit than originally planned before finally coming back down to Earth on March 25 1992.

Krikalev is sometimes referred to as the ‘last Soviet citizen’.

Many people were shocked to find out about his story on social media, with some taking to the comment section to share their thoughts.

On YouTube, one person wrote: “Worst case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

While another simply said: “Well, that’s terrifying.”

Sergei Krikalev has spent a lot of time in space (NASA)

A third posted: “I definitely don’t want to be in that position.”

A fourth person added: “Being forgotten by your own comrades. It’s even worse now that you’ve been left behind in space with no way to reach Earth. The USSR is now forever a disgrace! Nobody deserves to be left out in a place we know very little about.”

A fifth said: “Um, MOM cAn YoU pICk mE up FrOM SpAcE?”

And another person wrote: “So for a short amount of time, the USSR own the space.”

This wasn’t Krikalev’s final time in space as he returned to orbit in 1994, taking part in the first joint US and Russian Space Shuttle Mission.

In December 1998, he also became the first person to enter the International Space Station along with NASA astronaut Robert Cabana.

The pair were tasked were turning on the lights in the US module Unity.

Because the cosmonaut had spent so much time in space, where he was traveling at high velocities, he experienced time dilation.

This basically means a ‘slowing down of clocks’, causing him to be 0.02 seconds younger than other people born at the same time as him.Featured Image Credit: MAXIM MARMUR/AFP via Getty Images/NASA

Published 12:02 30 Sep 2024 GMT+1

New research reveals chilling glimpse into how Earth will come to an end

We can now see how the Earth will look as it dies

A new research has given us a chilling glimpse into how the Earth will come to an end.

The recent discovery by astronomers has allowed us to look billions of years into the future at how our planet could one day look.

A newly discovered planet likely once orbited a star similar to our sun before it died and the planet drifted off into space, making it uninhabitable.

A new discovery gives us a glimpse into how the Earth will come to an end (fotograzia/Getty Images)

Studies suggest that a similar fate will await our own sun as it will eventually die in around five billion years’ time.

The planet and its host star are located near the center of the Milky Way galaxy, which is around 4,000 light years away from us.

The star is now a white dwarf, which is what our sun will become after it dies.

The sun’s death will vaporize the Earth’s oceans as it first becomes a red giant, expanding and consuming Mercury and Venus.

Keming Zhang is a lead author of the study and also an astronomer at University of California San Diego.

Zhang said in a statement: “We do not currently have a consensus whether Earth could avoid being engulfed by the red giant sun.

The sun will transform into a red giant as it starts to die (Pr3t3nd3r/Getty Images)

“In any case, planet Earth will only be habitable for around another billion years, at which point Earth’s oceans would be vaporized by runaway greenhouse effect – long before the risk of getting swallowed by the red giant.”

Unfortunately, the fate of Earth looks similar to this planet, whose rocky terrain might have once supported life.

Co-author Jessica Lu, an associate professor and chair of astronomy at UC Berkeley, said: “This system that Keming’s found is an example of a planet – probably an Earth-like planet originally on a similar orbit to Earth – that survived its host star’s red giant phase.”

However, while this planet shows what Earth will possibly look like in billions of years, that does not necessarily mean the doom of humanity.

Zhang went on to add: “As the sun becomes a red giant, the habitable zone will move to around Jupiter and Saturn’s orbit, and many of these moons will become ocean planets. I think, in that case, humanity could migrate out there.”

If humans have the technology by then, we could make new homes on Europa and Enceladus.

The moons orbit Jupiter and Saturn and their icy environment makes them inhabitable, but that could all change in the future.Featured Image Credit: Roberto Machado Noa/MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images

Published 15:18 8 Jul 2024 GMT+1

Astronaut shares ‘enormous lie’ he discovered after seeing the Earth from space

It changes everything you think you know.

Viewing the Earth from above the atmosphere is a spectacle many people can only dream of.

Just a select few have been able to travel up to space, enjoying a glimpse of our planet from orbit in spacecraft or at the International Space Station.

It’s a sight that would really make you question a lot about life back on solid ground, and that’s exactly what happened for one cosmonaut during his time in space.

Seeing Earth from space is known to cause the ‘overview effect’ (Getty Images)

Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who made history by becoming the first human to go to space over 63 years ago.

Once there, he experienced what scientists now refer to as the ‘overview effect’, which is a cognitive shift that some astronauts report to have experienced while viewing Earth from space.

It’s said to cause an overwhelming appreciation and connection to other people and to Earth as a whole and can change the observer’s own value system.

It’s an effect that is known to make worldly worries seem insignificant and displays Earth as one united planet.

Ron Garan is another astronaut who has experienced this phenomenon after spending 178 days in space.

Yuri Gagarin was the first person to enter space (Keystone-France/Getty)

Talking to Big Think, he said: “When I looked out the window of the International Space Station, I saw the paparazzi-like flashes of lightning storms, I saw dancing curtains of auroras that seemed so close it was as if we could reach out and touch them. And I saw the unbelievable thinness of our planet’s atmosphere.

“In that moment, I was hit with the sobering realization that that paper-thin layer keeps every living thing on our planet alive.

“I saw an iridescent biosphere teeming with life, I didn’t see the economy. But since our human-made systems treat everything, including the very life-support systems of our planet, as the wholly owned subsidiary of the global economy, it’s obvious from the vantage point of space that we’re living a lie.”

Astronaut Ron Garan has talked about his experience with the overview effect (Erika Goldring/Getty Images)

Since returning back to Earth, Garan has become passionate in changing people’s mindsets away from the economy and turning their attention to the planet.

Actor William Shatner also wrote about a similar experience when he traveled to space, writing: “It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered.

“The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna … things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind.”

Environmental issues facing the planet are known to become a main concern after viewing Earth from space.

Garan went on to add: “We’re not going to have peace on Earth until we recognize the basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.”Featured Image Credit: Erika Goldring/Getty Images