The Dark Side of the Earth'TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN . . .' On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union begins its countdown. From the steppes of Kazakhstan, the first human Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin launches into space. In that moment, another countdown begins. How could it be that a single generation just three decades would separate the USSR's crowning achievement from the collapse of the Soviet empire? More than a history lesson, The Dark Side of the Earth is a testament to the