Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

228 reMeMBerING the SpaCe aGe
and the actions of the crew in that incident. By letting an engineer tell his story
unopposed, encyclopedia editors in efect presented a vary partial view of that
controversy, placing the blame on the crew. 79 When a personal perspective is
thus validated and becomes a major reference source, this “counter-memory” of
a previously hushed-up episode literally turns into a new master narrative.
the NOStaLGIC pOetICS OF pOSt-SOVIet SpaCe MeMOrY
In today’s russia, which has lost its former Communist ideals and is still
searching for a unifying “national idea,” Gagarin’s pioneering fight—the pinnacle
of the Soviet space program—often stands as a symbol of history that the russians
could really be proud of, despite the trauma of losing the superpower status. “If
we did not have Gagarin, we would not be able to look into each other’s eyes.
It seems, we blew everything that we could. But we still have Gagarin. We
will never lose him,” writes one russian journalist. “Gagarin is the symbol of a
russian victory over the entire world. a symbol for ages to come. We don’t have
another one and perhaps never will. Gagarin is our national idea.” 80
Sociological studies confrm that the russians today rank Gagarin’s fight
as their second proudest historical achievement (91 percent), right after the
victory in World War II (93 percent), and followed by Sputnik (84 percent). 81
Other Soviet symbols of national pride are falling far behind: the Stalin-era
creation of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, the Khrushchev-era Virgin Lands
campaign, and the Brezhnev-era Baikal-amur giant railroad construction are
all tainted by various historic revelations that cast a dark shadow over the former
showcase projects.
the russian space program occupies such a prominent place in collective
memory that any critique of its past or present is often viewed as unpatriotic. the
deorbiting of the Mir space station in March 2001 caused a public outcry. the loss
of Mir was portrayed in the media as a major blow to the national psyche. radical
Communist opposition viewed the destruction of Mir as part of a sinister Western
plot to bring down russia, and accused president putin of bowing to Western
demands. Street protests were held, with signs reading, “Send the government to
the bottom!” and “If you drown Mir, we’ll drown you!” 82
79. For an alternative account by the Soyuz 15 crew see Mikhail rebrov, “Gor’kii privkus slavy,”
Krasnaia zvezda (September 9, 1994): 2; for an english translation, see “Cosmonauts Unfairly
Blamed for Failure of Soyuz-15 Flight,” JprS-USp-94-007 (October 5, 1994): 3.
80. Ivan Iudintsev,“rossiia stremitsia v kosmos …na skripuchei telege proshlykh uspekhov,”HotCom.
ru, vol. 16 (april 12, 2001) (available at http://www.hotcom.smi-nn.ru/main/art.phtml?id=5888).
81. russian public Opinion research Center, press release 612, January 18, 2007 (available at
http://wciom.ru/arkhiv/tematicheskii-arkhiv/item/single/3864.html).
82. Vladimir plotnikov,“rubikon prezidenta,” Sovetskaia Rossiia (March 22, 2001) (photo of street
protests available at http://sumpaket.webzone.ru/listwka.html).