Sergei Krikalev went to space as a Soviet citizen and returned after 311 days to a country that no longer existed.
Political collapse, funding shortages, and Kazakhstan’s independence stranded him in orbit, not technical failure.
Krikalev continued his work professionally, later flying on joint US-Russian missions and becoming a pioneer of the International Space Station.
A cosmonaut from the Soviet Union embarked on a routine five-month mission to the Mir space station in 1991. However, it was extended to 311 days in orbit, with him finally returning to Earth in March 1992 when his country no longer existed. The USSR had collapsed, with its republics declaring independence. Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev was therefore known as the “last Soviet citizen,” who got stranded in space owing to political chaos, funding shortages, and logistical complications back in Kazakhstan after its independence. And when he returned, he landed in what is now a part of the Russian nation.
The assignment to Mir was a routine check launched in May 1991 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which was a part of the Soviet Union back then. The aim of the mission was to repair and maintain the aging Mir station. Krikalev was accompanied by Soviet scientist Anatoly Artsebarsky and British chemist Helen Sharman.
As the mission advanced, Sharman returned to Earth with a two-member crew who were already aboard Mir after eight days in orbit. Krikalev and Artsebarsky were left behind to continue with the mission. Everything was normal in spaceflight at this point, but things were different on Earth, with the Soviet Union being rocked by a turbulent period that would change history.
The USSR was going through intensified political tensions in mid-1991 as several republics were pushing for independence, economic conditions were deteriorating, and Moscow’s authority was weakening. The geopolitical scenario back home was shifting as Krikalev was hundreds of kilometres away from the planet.
This resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 after the resignation of President Mikhail Gorbachev. Republics started declaring their independence one by one, which even included Kazakhstan, which housed the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the planned landing site for Soviet spacecraft.
The chaos created a lot of complications for the space programme, stranding the cosmonaut on the Mir space station. The newly independent Kazakhstan had full control of the infrastructure required for launches and landings, leading to funding from the Soviet state drying up as it ceased to exist. Reports suggest that Russian space officials were working to negotiate these complexities to ensure continued access to Baikonur, disrupting the landing schedule.
The return of Krikalev was delayed owing to political and economic turmoil on the ground and not because of any technical failure aboard the station. As Russia was still in the initial stages of forming its government and institutions, it struggled to fund and organise crew rotations. Later, Moscow agreed to train and send a Kazakh cosmonaut who would replace Krikalev on Mir. This took some time, and when the arrangements were finalised, Krikalev had already been in space for more than 10 months, completing approximately 5,000 orbits around the Earth.
Krikalev faced significant challenges because of the unplanned extended mission. His muscles and bones weakened owing to prolonged exposure to microgravity. When he returned, it made his recovery quite demanding, as he had lost considerable muscle mass and bone density. Adding to this was the psychological strain, as communication with Earth became more limited amid changing institutions and structures. Krikalev no longer found the same friends, colleagues, or even the country he had left behind when he went on the mission.
However, the cosmonaut did not allow all the chaos below to hamper his work aboard Mir. He continued to maintain the station and carry out experiments with professionalism and discipline. Krikalev later said in an interview that his main focus was on completing his job, ignoring the uncertainty that would follow after his return to Earth.
The political upheaval made Krikalev an unexpected symbol of human connection that went beyond science and maintenance, as the cosmonaut used to speak with amateur radio operators around the world through Mir’s radio equipment. This helped in maintaining his mental well-being while creating a global network of contacts. A cosmonaut orbiting Earth became a reminder of shared humanity as borders shifted and identities were renegotiated with time.
Krikalev came back to Earth after spending 311 days in space in March 1992. The country he belonged to no longer existed, making him land in a fundamentally different nation. The Soviet Union had been replaced by the Russian Federation along with several other newly independent states.
Once back on Earth, Krikalev had to go through extensive rehabilitation to regain strength and mobility as he physically tried to readapt to Earth’s gravity. Everything was in chaos, including social and political scenarios, as institutions collapsed, economies fluctuated, and national identities were redefined. In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Krikalev described his emotional state: “It was a long process and we were getting the news, not all at once.” He further added, “I was doing my job and was more worried about those on the ground—our families and friends—we had everything we needed.”
Krikalev then highlighted how his return brought both relief and satisfaction, saying, “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.” The story shows how a man who left Earth representing a superpower found that it no longer existed when he came back, earning him the enduring nickname of the “last Soviet citizen.” It showcases a striking example of how human lives are shaped by forces that go far beyond individual control, even in the vacuum of space.
However, this challenge did not stop Krikalev from returning to space. He continued with his career and returned to orbit again in 1994, this time as part of the first joint US-Russian Space Shuttle mission. This marked a new era of cooperation between the former Cold War rivals.
He went on to make history once again in December 1998 by becoming one of the first two people to enter the International Space Station, along with NASA astronaut Robert Cabana. Krikalev once held the world record for the longest cumulative time off Earth, amounting to 804 days, 9 hours, and 39 minutes in space over the course of his career.
There is also Einstein’s theory of relativity, known as time dilation, which Krikalev experienced, although the effect was measurably quite tiny. This cumulative phenomenon suggests that he is approximately 0.02 seconds younger than people born at the same moment on Earth owing to the high velocities at which he travelled during his missions. This small detail adds a poetic touch to a life spent moving between worlds, capturing a rare moment when history quite literally changed while someone was looking down on it from space.
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