The book talks about the collective work of specialists from Russia and France on a space project. On the beginning of declassification of the Soviet space industry. The first steps towards uniting the creative and production efforts of different countries and their vanguard - technical specialists. The project of the flight of the French cosmonaut on a Soviet ship and station with a program of on-board space experiments coincided with the beginning of perestroika. This period was difficult for Russian cosmonautics. In conditions of insufficient funding, it was necessary not to lose experience and personnel. But there were other “internal” problems: views, concepts and approaches to solving extraterrestrial problems changed. It was not easy to decide on such a risky step as a Frenchman going into outer space and working on the outer shell of the station. It was necessary to move from opposition and competition with foreign specialists to openness of business cooperation and contacts.