# What would happen if cosmonauts landed in the USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386 "2016-04-29T01:22:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/21 "2016-04-29T03:51:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Well, I don’t think there would have been a parade. What I meant was how they would have been treated by our government, not necessarily by the public. They would have been given comfortable lodging, possibly at a U.S. air force base. They would have been treated as officers and gentlemen. They would have been given food and clothing and been treated with respect and camaraderie. As was mentioned, there might be some light debriefing. They would have been treated as any U.S. astronaut at the conclusion of a flight. They would not have been arrested or found themselves facing the barrel of a rifle. They would not have been treated as POWs or enemy spies. They would certainly not have been killed. All diplomatic channels would have been used to transport them back to Mother Russia as quickly and safely as was humanly possible. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/22 "2016-04-29T03:57:37Z")
They would have been treated kindly and their needs taken care of. I imagine the first thing a military type would do is offer them the use of a restroom, then give them food, water, and then a place to shower and sleep. Military types know what it is like to be cooped up in a small aircraft for hours and hours! ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/23 "2016-04-29T04:39:40Z")
Treating cosmonauts badly would be a PR blunder at home and abroad. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/24 "2016-04-29T04:42:14Z")
If they landed in the US, presumably this would have been due to some malfunction causing an emergency landing. Given that they were 2 of the largest nations on earth, and right next to each other for part of their borders, I would expect that there have been similar ‘emergency landings’ on less exotic vessels than space capsules. Like boats, or airplanes. What if a Soviet fishing boat loses power and drifts into the waters of Alaska? I expect this has probably happened, and there are procedures planned to handle this, maybe even agreements between the governments (or unwritten ‘understandings’). The US Coast Guard would tow the disabled boat to the nearest port with repair facilities (as they do regularly with othe boats). While being repaired, FBI, CIA, etc. would swarm over the boat, searching for spy equipment and taking notes on all soviet equipment. When the repair is done, US vessels will escort the Soviet boat until it is outside US territorial water, and possibly further. And all this would have been done quietly, with hardly any fuss at all. Which is why we probably never heard about it while it was happening; maybe not even afterwards. I’d expect that s cosmonaut emergency landing would be treated similarly, except that since it would likely have been seen by many civilians, there would be much more publicity about it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/25 "2016-04-29T04:45:50Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Now, suppose the capsule had clobbered in on American soil, leaving only a six-foot crater and some wisps of protoplasm. That could have been an ugly crisis. Or suppose the capsule landed softly, and we opened it up, only to find dead cosmonauts therein. (Recall, some of the Russian space shots _did_ end that way, only on Russian soil.) Likewise, that could have been a nasty crisis. Right, America could have been blamed for their deaths. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/26 "2016-04-29T04:48:50Z")
They would have been treated the same as a shipwrecked Russian sailor rescued at sea. Since I was a tourist in the USSR in the 1960s, I presume there were Russian tourists in the USA, too, who would have been treated the same as any other visitor who was in need of assistance while on US soil. Personally, I was treated very cordially while visiting in Soviet territory. However, I never met a Russian, I don’t think, in the USA in the 1960s, but I spent most of the decade in Canada, and there were plenty of Russians visiting there. Russian seamen on shore leave, wandering around quite freely and comfortably. The Americans are, actually, quite decent and civilized people, and treat others well. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/27 "2016-04-29T05:40:12Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > What if a Soviet fishing boat loses power and drifts into the waters of Alaska? I expect this has probably happened, and there are procedures planned to handle this, maybe even agreements between the governments (or unwritten ‘understandings’). The US Coast Guard would tow the disabled boat to the nearest port with repair facilities (as they do regularly with othe boats). While being repaired, FBI, CIA, etc. would swarm over the boat, searching for spy equipment and taking notes on all soviet equipment. When the repair is done, US vessels will escort the Soviet boat until it is outside US territorial water, and possibly further. And all this would have been done quietly, with hardly any fuss at all. Which is why we probably never heard about it while it was happening; maybe not even afterwards. Such a think would be handled with _much_ less drama than you suggest. There is, and was during the Cold War, general freedom of navigation; Soviet merchant vessels were always free to sail into US ports and vice versa. There were bureaucratic procedures to be gone through, of course - permits to use a berth, visas or other documentation for the crew - but they weren’t insurmountable. Of course once in port they’d have to pay port dues, and could be subjected to customs, etc, inspections like any other (US or foreign) vessel, and in practice they probably did get a slightly higher degree of scrutiny. But the US would proceed on the assumption that, if it really _were_ a spy vessel or carrying militarily sensitive equipment, it would never sail into a US port; if really distressed, it would scuttle itself instead. So they really didn’t expect any visiting Soviet vessels, distressed or otherwise, to turn out to be spy vessels. I doubt the FBI and the CIA would have taken much interest, and certainly wouldn’t have “swarmed all over” the vessel. The crew of a Soviet merchant vessel in a US port would have had the same freedom as the crew of any other visiting vessel; any special restrictions imposed on them would be imposed by the master of the vessel, not the American authorities. The vessel certainly would not have been provided with a US escort when leaving; what would be the point of that? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/28 "2016-04-29T06:02:19Z")
They might have been offered jobs here. NASA always had trouble finding good cosmonauts to hire. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/29 "2016-04-29T06:19:16Z")
First of all, the Vostok spacecraft did not land with a cosmonaut inside. The pilot ejected and deployed his parachute. THEN the spacecraft deployed its parachute. Helicopters were sent to locate and recover the pilot and the spacecraft. When they found the pilot, they’d relieve him of his parachute harness, gather up the chute, and fly him to the spacecraft. Once he was there, he’d crawl into the spacecraft, and then with the cameras rolling, he’d triumphantly exit the spacecraft. That being said, once the initial confusion was over and the cosmonaut was given to the proper authorities he’d be treated as well as they could. There’d be some trouble finding someone to translate. And I’m pretty sure he’d be given a medical examination, a shower, and some clothing to wear. Eventually, the Feds would work their way to the Air Attache at the Soviet Embassy. I think he’d turn out to be the Go To person for something like this. The cosmonaut might very well be given a version of the Hero’s treatment and be invited on a tour of some NASA facilities. My friend’s brother in law was a LT in the USN and when he was a navigator on a P-3 Orion on a sub hunting mission in the Bering Sea, his plane went down. He and the crew were rescued by a Soviet flagged ship and eventually taken in by a Soviet Navy ship. They were treated well and returned to the USA as soon as it could be arranged. I think NASA folks who examined a Vostok spacecraft during that time frame would have been surprised at how primitive it was. To use the manual controls, the pilot had to enter a code to unlock them. The code would have been radioed to him from ground control. Though there probably was a sealed copy of it onboard in case the radio went out. The Vostok cosmonauts were even more passenger/test subjects than the Mercury astronauts were. The main Soviet strength at that time were the rockets, not the spacecraft. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/30 "2016-04-29T06:26:15Z")
Article V of the [Outer Space Treaty](http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/outer_space/text) declares that > [@](#): > > States Parties to the Treaty shall regard astronauts as envoys of mankind in outer space and shall render to them all possible assistance in the event of accident, distress, or emergency landing on the territory of another State Party or on the high seas. When astronauts make such a landing, they shall be safely and promptly returned to the State of registry of their space vehicle. The United States was [an original signatory of the treaty back in 1967](http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/outer_space). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/31 "2016-04-29T10:30:07Z")
The \*\*\*Alien Autopsy \*\*\* approach would be interesting. “But General, they’re obviously human!?” “Maybe on the outside, but we need to see what makes them tick. I can’t understand their babble. Let’s get on with it and open them up.” “But they’re alive!!!” “Doctor, proceed.” ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/32 "2016-04-29T13:03:42Z")
I don’t know about the 1960’s, but from the 1970’s the Soviets had several flights which were partially or wholly devoted to secret military matters; (the US began to do this during the 1980’s with the Shuttle). The [crew of the Soyuz 7K-T](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_7K-T_No.39#Mission_highlights) made an emergency landing near the Chinese border; and they feared that > [@](#): > > . As the cosmonauts were uncertain if they had landed in China, \*\*\*they quickly destroyed \*\*\*\*\*documents relating to a military experiment planned for the flight \*\*(this was at a time when Sino-Soviet relations were extremely hostile). Therefore I can imagine them getting a hard time from U.S personnel looking for information, especially if this stuff is discovered. I suspect the opposite would also hold true. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/33 "2016-04-29T13:12:08Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > …They would have been given comfortable lodging, possibly at a U.S. air force base. They would have been treated as officers and gentlemen. They would have been given food and clothing and been treated with respect and camaraderie. As was mentioned, there might be some light debriefing…They would not have been arrested or found themselves facing the barrel of a rifle. They would not have been treated as POWs or enemy spies. They would certainly not have been killed… > [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > If they landed in the US, presumably this would have been due to some malfunction causing an emergency landing… > What if a Soviet fishing boat loses power and drifts into the waters of Alaska? I expect this has probably happened, and there are procedures planned to handle this, maybe even agreements between the governments (or unwritten ‘understandings’)… Something similar [actually happened](http://www.alaskawingcaf.org/Alaska%20Heritage/February%2026-March%204.pdf) in 1974 with respect to a Soviet reconnaissance plane that ran out of fuel and landed in an Eskimo fishing village in Alaska. The Soviet crew were provided hospitality by locals and by extra Alaska law enforcement that was flown in. The Soviet Embassy in DC asked for fuel to get the plane home to Russia, and we actually gave them fuel and let them go home. Was there some questioning and light interrogation? Of course there was. Was there any real danger that the Soviet crew would be killed or would be sent away to a US prison for a long time? Of course not. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/34 "2016-04-29T14:38:04Z")
Depending on domestic political conditions and the nature of the error that produced the off-course landing, there might have been repercussions of some sort for the cosmonauts after returning home, particularly if there were any reason to believe that the cosmonauts were thinking of defecating. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/35 "2016-04-29T14:40:29Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The INS would have deported them for being illegal aliens… But first - send them to Area 57 for dissection. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/36 "2016-04-29T14:51:11Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The INS would have deported them for being illegal aliens… There’s a longstanding international convention that aliens who arrive as a result of an emergency (shipwreck, crash, navigation error, etc) are not criminals and should be given aid and comfort and sent on their way. The difference between navigational error and spying can be a tad subtle at times, though. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/37 "2016-04-29T15:03:52Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Depending on domestic political conditions and the nature of the error that produced the off-course landing, there might have been repercussions of some sort for the cosmonauts after returning home, particularly if there were any reason to believe that the cosmonauts were thinking of defecating. Yes. The Soviets certainly wouldn’t stand for their cosmonauts defecating on foreign soil. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/38 "2016-04-29T15:17:57Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Yes. The Soviets certainly wouldn’t stand for their cosmonauts defecating on foreign soil. They don’t defecate on any soil at all. Cite: Donovan Leitch, 1973 _The Intergalactic Laxative_: > [@](#): > > Such pride felt they, > Such joy to be > Upon the moon to walk. > My romantic vision shattered, > When it was explained to me, > Spacemen wear old diapers > In which they shit and pee. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/39 "2016-04-29T15:44:54Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Yes. The Soviets certainly wouldn’t stand for their cosmonauts defecating on foreign soil. Of course not. Any materials the cosmonauts might leave behind would be intensely examined for whatever intelligence may be obtained. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386/40 "2016-04-29T16:35:15Z")
The US government had an elite military unit on alert for every launch NASA made, in case the astronauts came down in hostile territory and needed extraction. I’m not sure if it was a platoon of Marines, Army Rangers, or the alert rotated amongst the services, I’ve slept many years since reading about it. I do remember that they were much less uptight about coming down in Soviet territory than Chinese, or that of some little crackpot dictator like today’s Kim Jong Un. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-cosmonauts-landed-in-the-usa/753386.md?page=3)