Welcome to the planetarium built in a city park of Penza 80 years ago. It is the only wooden planetarium in the world.
Today the building is under destruction and there is a chance that its decayed ceiling will sail into somebody’s head.
The planetarium was closed 6 months ago and is waiting for reconstruction. Meanwhile, it will cost around 2 872 830 USD to reconstruct the building which is too expensive. If the planetarium doesn’t see any repairs in the nearest 1-2 years it will be totally destructed.
The planetarium was built in 1928. Astronomy and meteorology research in Penza was started in 1855 when Ilya Ulyanov (Lenin’s father), physics and mathematics teacher of Penza noble institution, started to conduct systematic observations of the Earth atmosphere. The first equipment was installed in 1954 attracting groups of people who came here to listen to the stories about the sky and stars. Meteorology research continued here till 1969 and was dislocated later. A monument to Lenin is standing in front of it.
The planetarium is under repairs.
Inside the planetarium.
The hall behind the door is devoted to cosmonautics.
The most valuable exhibits are closed in a separate room.
The Foucault pendulum named after the French physicist Léon Foucault is a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. While it had long been known that the Earth rotated, the introduction of the Foucault pendulum in 1851 was the first simple proof of the rotation in an easy-to-see experiment. Today, Foucault pendula are popular displays in science museums and universities.
There is a plenty of different installations here.
Remains of paleontology era.
Routes of Arctic expeditions.
Our cosmonauts.
Evacuation plan. Note that the building has a shape of a rocket.
Main exhibits are stored in a special hall that was built later and is well-preserved due to that. Besides, the hall has no windows that’s why the exhibits are protected in a better way.
The appliance bought from the German Democratic Republic in 1975 is capable of demonstrating the stars no matter what kind of weather prevails.
The appliance is unique in spite of the fact that modern versions of it are available nowadays.
The pendulum.
A model of space station Mir buried in the ocean.
Ancient telescope.
We need to do something not to let the ancient construction to fall into oblivion.
Location: Penza
via macos
Such a shame. I hope the place can be restored.
Sad. I helped restore an old Spitz Model A-2 planetarium projector several years back. Hope they can find some funding.
A. Bunka here. The projector is a wonder of the analog age.
What a shame for the world Lenin didn’t follow his father into science.
wwooooooow…wood…impressive
Is a really sin to lost this masterpiece. I hope it´s can be restored too.
What a cool place. It would be sad to let it fall into disrepair. Good luck getting it restored.
The emphasis and excellence of science and mathematics, except for the Dark Ages under Stalin (lysenkoism), will forever be the heritage of the U.S.S.R.
Too bad they haven’t ripped down that statue of lenin yet
Small correction: The photo with “Our cosmonauts”, the first one is bulgarian
also the second one (in the middle) is Hungarian
Maybe that row is showing Intercosmos parters.
Mumkimo Stara Donna
How can I make my part? I live in Canada and while I can not pay for the transportation of any piece to here or back to Russia, I am willing to do the repairs of some small exhibits, maybe pay for it done by someone else here. Please put me in touch with the current owners of the installation.