In 2011 NASA launched the space shuttle Atlantis from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canveral, Florida. The next flight from US soil launced in 2020.

During the decade in between, dozens of US astronauts rode atop Russian rockets launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Khazakstan.

What happened?

After winning the space race, how did we become dependent on Russia?

How could two very different techno-cultures trust each other and work together effectively?

What was life like for US crews and families in Moscow, Star City and Baikonur?

How did the two countries' space programs remain friendly when their governments clashed?

Should we have paid $4 billion to Russia?

What did we learn that might change everything?

From Cape Canaveral to Baikonur has the answers—and reasons for hope that cooperation can triumph.