To be fair this would've worked for the US military up to the Mercury program or the very early Vostok program. We know that the USSR did indeed hide deaths[1]

To be fair this would've worked for the US military up to the Mercury program or the very early Vostok program. We know that the USSR did indeed hide deaths[1]. [1] - http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/1302/lost_in_space.html http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/1302/lost_in_s...