Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

  collectSPACE: Messages
  Space Places
  Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics (Moscow)

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics (Moscow)
Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 47556
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-12-2009 07:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Russia reopens enlarged cosmonauts museum

Russia on Sunday (April 12, 2009) reopened its Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics after three years of renovation and expansion work. The Moscow museum, opened on the annual Cosmonauts Day, is four times as large as the previous facility.

Moscow mayor Yuri Luskhov said at the opening ceremonies that Russia now had a museum where people could grasp the "magnificence of space." There was nothing comparable to it anywhere else in the world.

April 12 is celebrated every year as Cosmonauts Day, marking the April 12, 1961 first-ever successful flight in space by a human, when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth.

The 8,000-square-metre Russian space museum features some 3,500 exhibits focusing on Soviet and Russian space exploration and research. Among others, there is a full scale model of the Soviet-era space station Mir, which visitors can walk through.

The museum also includes a cinema and classrooms for visits by schoolchildren, as well as a shop selling space food items.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 47556
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-28-2009 08:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Moscow Times: Revamped Space Museum Offers a Trip to Mir
A screeching group of children excitedly dragged their parents inside a life-size model of the Russian space station Mir.

"You can go inside the exhibits, touch everything," said Olga Redenko, whose son and daughter were some of the first visitors to the newly reopened space museum. "They love it!"

Located under the monument of a rocket permanently swooping into the air, the museum is now three times bigger, with numerous interactive exhibits and, a rarity in Moscow, handicapped access.

"It is even more modern than the [space] museum in Washington," boasted Anatoly Perminov, head of the Federal Space Agency, at the opening earlier this month.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 47556
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 05-26-2009 09:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
TIME Magazine: Can a Space Museum Help Russia Get Its Glory Back?
With a 360-ft.-high (110 m) steel flame swooping up from its roof, topped by a Jetsons-esque rocket, Moscow's Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics has opened again, after more than three years of expansion and renovation -- one small step in Russia's effort to claim a more prominent place on the world stage by highlighting its past glory in space exploration.

"We wanted to build the new museum bigger and better, but the first goal was to remind young people of our glorious history, history that is being forgotten," says Alexander Laveikin, a deputy director of the museum and one of the first cosmonauts to have lived aboard the Mir space station. Besides serving as a memorial to the past, the museum, which reopened in March, is also part of a government effort to get young Russians interested in science and technology. "If five or 10 years ago, everyone wanted to be in business, now they are interested in technology -- and our museum is playing a big part in that," says Laveikin. "After the financial crisis ends, they won't be interested in fast money anymore. Now we need to forget about business and oil and focus on rejuvenating our technology sector."

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 47556
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 06-12-2009 03:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
English Russia: The Russian Space Museum
How about paying a visit to Russian Space exploration museum? If it seems like a good idea then come inside for it.

kucharek
Member

Posts: 38
From: Karlsruhe, Germany
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 09-19-2009 04:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kucharek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I had been at the museum in April 2006 before it was closed and had again been there a week ago. In 2006, the surroundings and the museum itself was a sad look.

Now it is really a place to go. The park is very nice, the monument de-vandalized and the much larger exhibition space and the modern presentation is worth a visit.

kucharek
Member

Posts: 38
From: Karlsruhe, Germany
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 09-30-2009 11:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kucharek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here a photo I took three weeks ago in the park right next to the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow. They have several of these pillars with significant dates in Russian spaceflight history.

I've looked at the photo several times with an uneasy feeling until it just now made "click!" Leonov's ship is incorrectly named "Восток-2" (Vostok 2), that was German Titov's flight. Leonov's was "Восход-2" (Voskhod 2).

Neil DC
Member

Posts: 176
From: Middletown, NJ, USA
Registered: May 2010

posted 12-24-2013 10:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Neil DC   Click Here to Email Neil DC     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is the best Russian public space museum, well worth visiting if in Moscow. I visited it many years before the revamp. Its director then, was the late Cosmonaut Mikhail Lisun. Now it is former Cosmonaut Alexander Laveikin. I was lucky enough to attend the reopening of it about 3 years ago. There were many speeches including one from the mayor and a big group of veteran cosmonauts in attendance plus designer Boris Chertok. The day ended with a dinner for all the special guests.

The museum has trebled in size and has a large collection of flown spacecraft and models. Most aspects of Russian manned spaceflight are included. Also a mock up of Tsiolkovsky's study.

The museum shop was pretty good, though the day I visited it there were loads of school children, and it took ages to serve them all and get to me. Just as I finished buying souvenirs the lady shut it for lunch. The museum is usually closed on a Monday. Nearest metro station is VDNKh. I doubt it has any online possibility to sell things. Well not yet.

DougS
Member

Posts: 65
From: Marion, Iowa
Registered: Jun 2013

posted 01-15-2014 02:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DougS   Click Here to Email DougS     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Do they have one of the LK lunar landers and/or Soyuz LOK on display?

Neil DC
Member

Posts: 176
From: Middletown, NJ, USA
Registered: May 2010

posted 01-16-2014 10:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Neil DC   Click Here to Email Neil DC     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I looked through my library and found the old and new versions of the museum's glossy brochure. The museum has a small scale model of the Russian manned lunar lander and a 15 foot scale model of the N1 launcher. It is also home to Soyuz 37 and Soyuz TM-7. The only real hardware of the lunar lander I have ever seen is in the basement of the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) as I recall.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 47556
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-11-2014 01:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
According to Russian news reports, Alexander Lazutkin has been fired as director of the Museum of Cosmonautics.

The details behind the former cosmonaut's firing are not clear, but may have to do with disagreements between the museum's staff and its management, including how the museum's funds were being spent and "damage to museum collections" (per an automated translation).

According to the reports, Natalia Artyukhina of the Moscow Planetarium may take Lazutkin's place at the Cosmonautics Museum.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 47556
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 11-09-2018 10:06 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
From NASA astronaut Jack Fischer on Twitter:
Congratulations to my good friend Fyodor Yurchikhin! He will be the new President of the amazing Cosmonautics Museum in Moscow. You just can't pick a better person to share the story of space exploration, and to inspire the next generation.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 47556
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-17-2019 07:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Google Arts & Culture has a virtual tour of the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics.

thisismills
Member

Posts: 462
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 09-18-2019 08:25 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for thisismills   Click Here to Email thisismills     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you for posting the virtual tour. I really enjoyed being able to "walk" through and view all the artifacts on display.

I noticed a Michael Collins suit on level 1. I'm not able to read the information sign, does anyone know more about it?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 47556
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-18-2019 10:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The suit was gifted by NASA to Russia during the lead-up to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, according to research conducted by the staff at the Smithsonian.

The suit was used by Michael Collins as a backup or for training. The Smithsonian's own records and published accounts differ on its history. Some docents at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics reportedly describe it as Collins' flown suit, but that is incorrect.

mf451
Member

Posts: 71
From: NY, NY
Registered: Nov 2014

posted 09-18-2019 11:20 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mf451   Click Here to Email mf451     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes, I recall when I was there several years ago that the description either explicitly read, or implied, that the suit was flown on Apollo 11. Unfortunately I cannot find a photo of the description; I must have not taken one.

Where is Collins flown Apollo 11 suit located?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 47556
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-18-2019 11:43 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Michael Collins' flown Apollo 11 spacesuit is in climate-controlled storage at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

alanh_7
Member

Posts: 1259
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 09-18-2019 01:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for alanh_7   Click Here to Email alanh_7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I visited this museum in July. It is well worth the visit.

I will say it is not easy to get to. We planned to take the Moscow subway, which is excellent but daunting because of the language barrier. While many people in Moscow do speak English, the subway signs are in Russian, and the museum is some distance from our hotel near Red Square. We took one of those hop on hop off buses which let out right in front of the museum.

Because of the rain and Moscow traffic, give yourself at least an hour if you are trying to get there from Central Moscow. And if you do select one of the hop of hop off buses make sure you don't take the last bus of the day around 5pm or you will have to make your own way back using taxi or subway which as I said is not easy task. Moscow has an amazing subway, but is can be confusing.

With this being said, the museum grounds are large with the main focus the spectacular monument shown in photos above. At first gaze the museum does not look like it could house much, but everything was housed in exhibits below the monument underground. We spent about two hours there which was enough to see pretty much everything and well worth the visit.

Jacques van Oene
Member

Posts: 883
From: Houten, The Netherlands
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 12-15-2021 09:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jacques van Oene     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Soyuz TMA-12M capsule can now be seen in the Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow.
Today we have a real guest from space: the Soyuz TMA-12M lander, in which cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and American astronaut Steven Swanson flew to the ISS in 2014! ‍

Thank State Corporation Roscosmos and RSC Energia for such a gift!

All times are CT (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts

Copyright 2021 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a





advertisement