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This archive edition episode of History Daily originally aired on February 10th, 2022.

It's May 1st, 1960. High above the Soviet Union and American U2 spy planes soars through

cloudless skies. The U2 is a single-seater airplane operated by the American Intelligence Agency,

the CIA. In its cramped cockpit, sits 30-year-old pilot Gary Powers.

Powers is surrounded by switches and dials. It's not just the plane he has to control,

but the onboard cameras, tape recorders, radars, and radios.

As he flies over the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains,

Powers reaches down to a small joystick at his side. It controls the cameras beneath the plane.

He adjusts the focus and squeezes the shutter button to take a photograph of the enemy territory

below. The United States and the Soviet Union were allies during the Second World War.

But in the 15-year since their joint victory over the Nazis, mutual suspicion between the

superpowers has fueled a global cold war. It's a conflict that always teeters on the edge of violence.

Both powers have atomic bombs in their arsenals. Any misjudgment or provocation could lead to

nuclear armageddon. With trust in short supply, both America and the Soviet Union are desperate

to find out what the other is up to. For the CIA, the U-2 spy plane is a key asset.

It cruises at 70,000 feet well beyond the range of any Soviet aircraft, and as far as the

Americans know, the Russians can't strike that high with their anti-aircraft missiles either.

The pilot of this U-2, Gary Powers, has flown over 27 missions in the spy plane,

but this is his most daring yet. Gary's objective is to fly all the way across the Soviet Union

...