Pete Conrad, the third man on the Moon with Apollo 12, is in Russia, in Yuzhno-Salkhalinsk, Siberia, for work. He is approached by the head of the American consulate, who asks him to meet an elderly woman who has been waiting for hours. “I’m Irina. My son is a cosmonaut. You don’t know him, but he knows you. His name is Viktor Patsayev.” Pete takes his hands: “I know who he is; we don’t forget.” Viktor Patsayev flew on Soyuz-11 in June 1971, setting the record for longest stay in space, until Conrad’s Skylab broke it. Upon reentry, Soyuz-11 depressurized due to a faulty valve, and all three cosmonauts died.
