Uploaded June 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
While the Americans had beaten the Soviets to the Moon, the Soviets poured their efforts into their space station program, pioneering long-term stays in space. Their biggest and most advanced space station, Mir, was the pride of the Soviet space program. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union meant that the now-Russian space program lost most of its funding, forcing them to push the Mir and its crews harder then ever envisioned. In 1997, these factors almost led to disaster when a Progress cargo craft collided with the Mir. Only the quick thinking and experience of the cosmonauts would avert a catastrophic end to Mir.
Please note that this programme was made in 1998. Mir was deliberately deorbited in 2001, after funding for the space station was cut off. Space Station Alpha eventually became the International Space Station. Its core module, Zarya, was launched in November 1998.
While the Americans had beaten the Soviets to the Moon, the Soviets poured their efforts into their space station program, pioneering long-term stays in space. Their biggest and most advanced space station, Mir, was the pride of the Soviet space program. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union meant that the now-Russian space program lost most of its funding, forcing them to push the Mir and its crews harder then ever envisioned. In 1997, these factors almost led to disaster when a Progress cargo craft collided with the Mir. Only the quick thinking and experience of the cosmonauts would avert a catastrophic end to Mir.
Please note that this programme was made in 1998. Mir was deliberately deorbited in 2001, after funding for the space station was cut off. Space Station Alpha eventually became the International Space Station. Its core module, Zarya, was launched in November 1998.
