Description of the attraction
Space themes and the achievements of mankind in the conquest of space are presented in the exposition of the Moscow Museum, located on the Cosmonauts Alley of VDNKh. Cosmonautics Museum has opened April 10, 1981 in the stylobate of the Monument to the Conquerors of Space. More than 500 thousand visitors get acquainted with its exhibits annually.
History of the creation of the museum
The idea of creating an exposition, which would show the stages of mankind's long journey into space, belonged to the general designer of Soviet space technology and the founder of rocketry in the Soviet Union Sergey Pavlovich Korolev.
A room at the base of the Monument to the Conquerors of Space, erected in 1964 in memory of the achievements of the Soviet people in the exploration of outer space, was chosen to host the exposition. Sergei Pavlovich contributed to the design and creation of the monument. It was the general designer who came up with the idea of facing the monument with polished titanium plates. The material chosen by Korolyov did not corrode and, like a mirror, could reflect the sky. Sergei Pavlovich made a proposal to the Council of Ministers of the USSR to include the Museum of Cosmonautics in the project of the monument. The scientist closely followed the progress of the project and regularly visited the construction site.
Initially, the halls of the museum were located below ground level in the stylobate foundation of the monument. The opening of the museum took place in 1981 and was timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the flight Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin on the Vostok spacecraft. The area of the exhibition halls in the original version was 3200 sq. m.
The artist designed the exhibition space Oleg Lomako … He proposed the idea of varied decoration and used many modern techniques in his work. As a result, visitors to the museum seemed to find themselves in a real open space. The central place was occupied by the sculpture "Morning of the Space Age", depicting an astronaut with his hands up, by O. P. Lomako. A backlit stained glass panel behind the sculpture symbolized open space with galaxies, constellations and planets.
From the Monument to the Conquerors of Space and the Museum of Cosmonautics, a pedestrian street named Alley of Cosmonauts … In 1967, monuments to cosmonauts and Soviet scientists who created rockets and spaceships were solemnly unveiled on the alley. Initially, busts of Y. Gagarin, V. Tereshkova, P. Belyaev, A. Leonov and V. Komarov were installed on the alley. A monument appeared at the end of the memorial street Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the founder of theoretical cosmonautics.
Reconstruction and state of the art
In 2006, the metropolitan government decided to reconstruct the museum. The room was in disrepair, the lining of the base of the Monument to the Conquerors of Space was damaged, and the exhibits required appropriate storage conditions.
In the course of construction work, the total area of the Museum of Cosmonautics increased to 8000 sq. The area of the exhibition halls has also grown: there are four of them and nine - thematic zones. The lobby at the main entrance has been significantly expanded.
The creative team of the People's Artist of Russia took over the design of the renovated museum Salavat Shcherbakova … In their work, they used various artistic techniques - from stucco bas-reliefs to graffiti. In addition to the exhibition halls, the museum opened a library, a cafe, a cinema and a branch of the MCC, where in real time you can see the movements of the International Space Station and attend live sessions with cosmonauts working in orbit.
At the same time, the reconstruction of the Cosmonauts Alley began. After its completion in 2009, globes depicting the Earth and the starry sky, and the sculpture "Solar System" appeared on the renovated alley. The bust of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev by A. Faydysh-Krandievsky was transferred to his house-museum on 1st Ostankinskaya Street, and a monument was erected to the general designer on the Cosmonauts Alley. Its authors are sculptors Salavat and Sergey Shcherbakov. On the granite pedestal of the monument, there are bas-reliefs depicting the most important milestones in the history of Russian cosmonautics.
Subject funds of the museum
The exposition includes samples of technology, material and documentary relics, works of art on space themes and personal belongings of astronauts - about 100 thousand items in total. The collection of the museum is divided into twelve thematic sections, each of which reflects a special period of space exploration or the direction of development of space science:
- The history of the early period of space exploration is presented in the section "Space Age Morning" … In this hall of the museum, you can see samples of the first equipment - spacesuits and satellites, personal belongings of space pioneers and stuffed dogs that returned from Earth orbit for the first time.
- In chapter "Creators of the Space Age" the interiors of the veranda in the house-museum of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and the study of Sergei Korolev have been recreated.
- Of considerable interest for a modern person is the section "Cosmonautics - to humanity", which displays samples of satellites used to study the weather and navigation devices.
- Visitors will be able to get acquainted with the history of flights to the Moon in the section "Exploration of the Moon and the planets of the solar system" … The exposition includes models of reentry vehicles and lunar rovers and samples of soil delivered from the Earth's satellite.
- The life of astronauts during their stay in orbit is clearly illustrated by the exhibits "Space House" … This section contains devices for storing and heating space food, special pieces of furniture, board games adapted for zero gravity conditions. The central place is occupied by a full-size mock-up of the block of the orbital station "Mir", on which there are cosmonauts performing tasks in orbit. Instruments, technical devices and other equipment have been recreated inside the model.
- At the stands "International cooperation" placed mock-ups of spaceships and orbital stations used in the work of international crews.
- Modern transport systems delivering equipment and astronauts to space, and models of rockets used in different countries of the world are on display International Space Park … Among the exhibits on display in this part of the museum are the Buran spacecraft and the Proton heavy-class launch vehicle.
Of considerable interest to visitors interested in astronomy and cosmonautics are the most significant exhibits of the Museum of Cosmonautics, among which are collected especially valuable originals:
- An ejection container for animals, in which the dogs returned safely to Earth, and the stuffed Belka and Strelka.
- The Soyuz-37 descent vehicle, on which the cosmonauts landed after a record-breaking flight duration.
- Personal belongings of one of the pioneers of Soviet rocketry, Friedrich Zander.
- The picture of the cosmonaut Leonov "Over the Black Sea", written by him in 1973.
The museum also displays technological duplicates of the first artificial Earth satellite, the spacesuit of Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, and descent interplanetary automatic stations. In the halls you can see the models of the Vostok descent vehicle, which brought home the first Earth cosmonaut, and the Luna-9 automatic station that landed on the moon in 1966. The attention of visitors is invariably attracted by small copies of the Soyuz-Apollo spacecraft, which made the first space docking, and the most visited international space station in history, the ISS.
Popularization of science
The Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics pays great attention to the popularization of science. Its employees are engaged in various research activities, publish a lot of special and popular literature on cosmonautics and astronomy, hold conferences, scientific forums and literary readings.
In 2016, a mobile application for smartphones was developed containing free audio guide through the halls of the museum … At the same time, a music collection appeared, containing compositions that act as soundtracks on modern spacecraft.
The museum regularly hosts exhibitions dedicated to space and people associated with it. The museum's educational projects have become popular among young people who are fond of scientific and technical creativity, robotics and astronautics. The Engineering Center of the Museum has a design bureau and a club "Space Detachment". Cadets are taught the basics of modeling, programming, and electrical engineering. The course participants are introduced to astrophysics and engineering design. The program of the lecture hall "Knowledge is Power" is devoted to the academic foundations of aeronautics and astronautics. The scientific talk show "Space without formulas" is held in the form of a lecture hall, which highlights the modern achievements of space science.
Branch of the Museum of Cosmonautics
Exposition Memorial House-Museum of Academician Korolyov is devoted to the work and life of the general designer of Soviet spacecraft. The museum collection is located in the house where Sergei Pavlovich Korolev lived from 1959 to 1966. The cottage on 1st Ostankinskaya Street was built for the academician in 1959 after the successful launch of the world's first artificial Earth satellite.
After the death of Sergei Pavlovich, his wife turned to the government with a request to organize a museum in memory of the designer in the cottage. The memorial house was opened in 1975. The collection of exhibits was donated by Nina Koroleva, and all 19 thousand items are genuine - personal belongings, working tools, notebooks, drawings and scientific developments, family photos and books from the huge Korolyov library.
The Korolyov Memorial House-Museum on 1st Ostankinskaya Street is a branch of the Museum of Cosmonautics.
On a note
- Location: Moscow, Prospect Mira, 111
- Nearest metro stations: "VDNKh"
- Official website:
- Opening hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sun 10:00 - 19:00, Thu, Sat 10:00 - 21:00, Monday - closed.
- Tickets: 50-250 rubles
