Outer space and Russia are two inseparable essences. Everybody knows the most famous Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who was the first person to enter outer space on April 12, 1961. Museum of Aviation and Cosmonautics or just Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics was opened to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Gagarin’s flight, although the history of the museum began in 1964 when the Monument to the Conquerors of Space was erected in Moscow. Because the museum is located just in the very heart of this monument, right in its stylobate. The monument is made of polished titanium, which is used in rocket engineering. The upper part of the monument is unique engineering construction with a height of 110 meters and an angle of slope of 77 degrees.
The first exhibits of the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics were at the same time the first evidence of Russia’s space triumph. Space-suits, artificial Earth’s satellites, space vehicles for research of the Moon and Solar system planets were among those exhibits. In 2006, the museum was closed for reconstruction which had lasted for three years. The Museum of Cosmonautics was re-opened in 2009 in a new format, and the exhibition space became four times larger.
Now the exhibition takes eight halls, and the museum has one cinema hall, and a conference hall as well. The renewed exhibition allows demonstrating full-scale space equipment. Here you will find belongings of those who participated in the space industry, archive documents, moving and still pictures, objects of numismatics, philately, philopatry, faleristics, and other exhibits. There are different interactive exhibits such as space simulators of space transporters, virtual simulators of the International Space Station, and others. Also, you can find here a miniature version of Mission Control Center, where you can watch the International Space Station in real-time and communicate with its crew.
The renewed museum is situated in the area of 8500 square meters, 4000 of which is given to exhibition. The exhibition includes more than 93 thousand units which are now pieces of art, stamps, and coins as well.
The museum is opened from 10 a.m. till 7 p.m. from Tuesday to Sunday, and on Thursday it’s opened till 9 p.m.
