Russian Cosmonaut's YouTube Channel Goes Viral After Getting Reddit's Attention

Users of the self-described 'front page of the internet' sent the popularity of Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev's YouTube page into orbit.

Discovering that the cosmonaut, who has published dozens of videos, had very few views on his official YouTube channel, Reddit users stepped into action to give Artemyev's channel a much-needed boost in popularity.

The clips, which feature handy subtitles added by volunteers, include videos showing unique insights into the operation of the International Space Station, where Artemyev is presently stationed. One of them, made particularly popular thanks to the Reddit effect, features a tour of the longest path through the ISS, showing Artemyev as he floats from one end of the station to the other.

Other videos include eerily beautiful shots of space vehicles as they travel to and dock with the ISS. 

The Reddit post on Artemyev's YouTube channel has received over 83,000 likes in a single day. Redditers were grateful for being made aware of the space blogger's videos, with his channel picking up tens of thousands of subscribers overnight.

"We need Reddit to help us find more underrated interesting content on YouTube because YouTube apparently can't," one user noted. 

"Man this is awesome, this guy definitely deserves more attention," another added.

Taking an interest in the fact that that the cosmonaut's videos even include seemingly mundane things like unboxing of cargo delivered by resupply vessel, one user joked that "unboxing videos on the ISS need to become a thing."

Artemyev continues to add several new videos each week, and doesn't seem to shy away from even the most delicate of topics, such as the operation of the ISS's space toilet.

The cosmonaut mission commander's third mission aboard the ISS kicked off in March, and is expected to conclude in September.