During the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission, to help USA/USSR relations, astronauts and cosmonauts played smuggled audio recordings of glasses clinking, laughter, and many female voices. Houston radioed to ask what’s going on. “Oh nothing,” they said. “We finished work, just having a party up here.”
cosmonauts
When the Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov…
When the Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov visited the US in 1962, the American press initially portrayed him as affable and polite. But when he said, “I saw neither angels nor God up there. I believe in man,” the press quickly turned on him and accused him of spreading “anti-religious propaganda.”
From the 1960s to the 1970s…
From the 1960s to the 1970s, Russian cosmonauts were issued alcohol rations to drink in space. While it is still officially banned, it is widely believed that cosmonauts still smuggle some into space.
Russian cosmonauts pee on…
Russian cosmonauts pee on the rear bus tire before a space launch. The tradition was started by Yuri Gagarin who did it out of necessity and Russians have since emulated him. Female cosmonauts bring along their urine in vials ready to dump on the tire so they can be part of tradition too.
Several long-duration Russian cosmonauts have reported…
Several long-duration Russian cosmonauts have reported that months after coming back to Earth, they occasionally let go objects in mid-air, still expecting them to float.