Bonus: Soviet Cosmonaut Anthem
Soviet Cosmonaut Anthem
Oskar Fetlsman and Vladimir Voinovich wrote and composed the song "I Believe My Friends" (also known as 14 Minutes to Launch) in 1960 (Smith 2018). Voinovich became renowned in the Soviet Union for this song, which he wrote for Radio Moscow (Smith 2018). It became a popular anthem and favorite of Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev, and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (Smith 2018). This song became an anthem for the Soviet cosmonaut program, and made citizens excited about the nation's technological achievements.
Lyrics
Packed into the tablets
Are the space maps
And the Navigator checks
The route for one last time.
Let us, guys,
Smoke before launching:
We still have fourteen minutes
Left until the launch.
Chorus:
I believe, friends,
Caravans of rockets
Will head us forward -
From a star to a star.
On the dusty paths
Of the distant planets
Our footprints'll be left as our marks.
And after many years
We'll remember with the friends,
How on the stellar roadways
We were the first to venture,
How we were first to manage
To reach the cherished goal
And from the greater distance
Look at Mother Earth.
Long are we awaited
By the distant planets,
Cold worlds,
Silent fields.
But not one of the planets
Is waiting for us as this
Precious planet
Named the Earth.