In May 1991 Soviet cosmonauts Anatoly Artsebarksy and Sergey Krikalev visit space station Mir in space mission Ozon. Artsebarski, the commander, returns to Earth according to plan 5 months later. Krikalev has to stay in space for ten months because of the chaotic political situation in his home country. He left the USSR to return to Russia. The 1991 coup ends an important era.