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Francis Gary Powers, a former USAF captain, joined the CIA's U-2 program after his discharge in 1956. The U-2s operated at altitudes over 70,000 feet, evading Soviet anti-aircraft defenses while capturing high-resolution images of military sites. Although Soviet intelligence was aware of the U-2s since 1956, they lacked effective countermeasures until 1960. On May 1, 1960, Powers' U-2, launched from a military base in Peshawar, Pakistan, was shot down over Sverdlovsk by an S-75 Dvina missile. Unable to activate the self-destruct mechanism, he chose to parachute instead of committing suicide. Eight missiles were fired, with the first successfully hitting the U-2. A MiG-19 interceptor pilot, Sergey Safronov, crashed while trying to engage the U-2. The U.S. government initially claimed Powers was a weather pilot who had crashed due to oxygen issues. However, the U-2 was recovered largely intact, leading to Powers being interrogated by the KGB for months before he confessed. This incident strained U.S.-Soviet relations, delaying diplomatic talks between Khrushchev and Eisenhower. On August 17, 1960, Powers was convicted of espionage, sentenced to three years in prison, and seven years of hard labor. He was held in Vladimirsky Central Prison near Moscow, where he reportedly got along with fellow inmates. Powers was exchanged on February 10, 1962, at Berlin's Glienicke Bridge in a high-profile swap for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fish