MUSEUM OF COSMONAUTICS

Description

Essentials about the Museum of Cosmonautics in brief

A visit to the Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow is an absolutely rewarding experience not only for space and rocket fans. The museum documents the history, technology and social implications of Soviet spaceflight through numerous vivid and world-famous exhibits.

The location of the Museum of Cosmonautics

The museum is located right next to the huge grounds of the VDNKh. Although the museum is a low-rise building, it can be seen from afar, as on its roof the sculpture To the Conquerors of Space rises almost 110 meters into the sky of Moscow. The monument, which tapers parabolically upward, depicts a symbolic rocket and its exhaust jet after launch.

The history of the Museum of Cosmonautics

The origin of the Museum of Cosmonautics is the adjacent VDNKh (Exhibition of the achievements of the national economy). One of the highlights of the exhibition since the 1950s was the Space Exhibition Pavilion. Here the citizens of the Soviet Union could marvel at the achievements of Soviet spaceflight, including an exhibit of the Sputnik satellite, space suits of cosmonauts and parts of the Soyuz rockets.

In 1964, to complement the exhibition, the monument To the Conquerors of Space was built to reflect the growing popularity of spaceflight following Yuri Gagarin’s success in 1961 as the first man in space. The idea to establish a dedicated space museum under the monument came from Sergei Korolyov, the chief designer of Soviet rocketry and one of the key personalities in Soviet spaceflight. However, it took until 1981 for Korolyov’s idea to be implemented. The Museum of Cosmonautics was finally inaugurated on the 20th anniversary of Gagarin’s circumnavigation of the globe in space. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Museum of Cosmonautics continues to remain, in contrast to the VDNKh.

The exhibition of the Museum of Cosmonautics

By 2009, the Museum of Cosmonautics had undergone extensive renovation and modernization. Since then, the museum has approximately three times the exhibition space. The technology, history and personalities of Soviet and Russian spaceflight are presented extensively on two floors. Special highlights of the exhibition are the walk-in base block of the Mir space station, the Russian space shuttle Buran, modules of the Soyuz spacecraft, the famous dogs Belka and Strelka (who were the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a space capsule), a model of Sputnik (the first satellite to orbit the Earth), parts of Yuri Gagarin’s landing capsule (who was the first man to circumnavigate the Earth in a space capsule), and replicas of the Lunochod lunar robot and various probes from various lunar and planetary programs. In addition, visitors to the museum can view film documentaries on the history of Soviet under Russian spaceflight.

The exhibition in the Museum of Cosmonautics is highly interesting mainly because of its interactive design. The training equipment on display in the museum corresponds to the equipment used in preparing cosmonauts for their missions. There is a training airlock, which the cosmonauts use to practice exiting into open space, and a helicopter, which is used to practice searching for the landing capsule of a spacecraft. In the miniature replica space control center, it is possible to see the International Space Station (ISS) in real time and it is even possible to organize live circuits with the cosmonauts.

The Cosmonaut Avenue

After visiting the museum, it is recommended to take a walk along the so-called Cosmonaut Avenue. On the avenue, which is open only to pedestrians, there are busts of Soviet space pioneers and cosmonauts, including Sergei Korolyov, Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova.