Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age at The Science Museum
With the advent of the first British ESA astronaut to set foot in space, Tim Peake, there’s never been a better time to tell the space story from it’s beginning days and that’s just what the Science Museum new exhibition has done. I’ve always heard about America boasting about their great conquests but I didn’t know that Russia had already accomplished so much in getting out the atmosphere ~ the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik in 1957, the first dogs to survive a space flight in 1951, the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin in 1961 (in an incredibly small pod device your see in the photos) and the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova 1963, then a three manned pod in 1964 and in 1965 Alexei Leonov was the first person to walk in space for 12 minutes.
All this before man went to the Moon in 1969 by the Americans Apollo 11, without Russia’s vital contribution I don’t think any country would have achieved what they have in space history today. Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age is on at the Science Museum until 13th March 2016 and although it’s a ticketed event, £12.60, it’s worth seeing these historic space items in the flesh, and whilst walking around the exhibition you get a genuine feeling of actually how tiny we all are in this place they call the universe!
Cosmonauts - Birth of the Space Age at The Science MuseumEntrance to the exhibitionKonstantin Yuon’s ‘New Planet’ painting, 1921Huttlepod for the “flying city” by Georgii KrutikovKonstantin Tsiolkovsky’s first space rocket designSergei Korolev, Chief Designer of the Soviet space programmeSputnik kettle designSputnik, beep...beep...beep… The Soviet space raceSolar cell panel from Sputnik 3. The Soviet space raceLuna 9, launch date 1966. The Soviet space raceLuna 16, launch date 1970. The Soviet space raceSputnik 3, launch date 1958. The Soviet space raceВehepa -7. The Soviet space raceSpace dogs story, 1957. The Soviet space raceSpace dog space suit. The Soviet space raceFitted hold and helmet for a space dog. The Soviet space raceAstronaut’s chair. The Soviet space raceSpace rocket technical equipment. The Soviet space raceThe story of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. The Soviet space raceVostok 6. The Soviet space raceValentina Tereshkova. The Soviet space raceVostok 6 and Voskhod 1. The Soviet space raceInterior of the Voskhod 1. The Soviet space raceInterior of the Voskhod 1. The Soviet space raceSoviet propaganda space poster. The Soviet space raceSoviet propaganda space poster. The Soviet space raceAlexei Leonov painting. The Soviet space raceCosmonauts statue. The Soviet space raceThe Soviet space raceLK-3 Lunar Lander. The Soviet space raceLK-3 Lunar Lander and Lunokhod 1. The Soviet space raceSalyut 1 space station. The Soviet space raceCosmonauts space equipment. The Soviet space raceThe Soviet space racePressure trousers. The Soviet space raceCosmonaut pressure tank. The Soviet space raceSpace food. The Soviet space raceCosmonaut suit. The Soviet space raceSpace chair for a cosmonaut. The Soviet space raceCosmonaut suits. The Soviet space raceCosmonaut suit. The Soviet space race
