The Memorial Museum of Astronautics opened in Moscow in 1981. Why underground? Because it is located within the base of the soaring Monument to the Conquerors of Space in the northeast of the city.

Though the space monument’s tower was erected in 1964, the memorial museum did not exist for another seventeen years. Opening ceremonies took place on April 10, 1981, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the day Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth in space.

Busts of astronauts: Gagarin, Tereshkova, Komarov, etc.

A monument to Tsiolkovsky and Monument to the Conquerors of Space.

Korolev’s bust.

High reliefs.

In the middle of Cosmonauts Alley, there is a small square picturing the solar system.

A monorail.

“Memorial Museum of Astronautics”.

On Cosmonautics Day, 2009, the museum was reopened after three years of reconstruction. It has virtually tripled its original size and has added new sections dedicated to space programs worldwide, including the USA, Europe, China and the ISS.

Ticket prices are reasonable. Adult tickets: 7 dollars plus 7 dollars for those wanting to take pictures (with no flash).

Albert Einstein.

First artificial satellite was launched on October 4th, 1957 from Baikonur Cosmodrome. It circuited Earth about 1,400 times and burnt after re-entry. Made on a scale of 1 to 1.

A second artificial satellite was launched on November 3rd, 1957 with a dog named Layka on board. Made on a scale of 1 to 1.

A third artificial satellite. Made on a scale of 1 to 1.

A catapult container for experimental animals and the stuffed dogs, Belka and Strelka, which returned to Earth on August 20th, 1960.

‘Cosmonaut Yury Gagarin’, a space control-monitoring ship.

An exposition picturing cosmonaut Yury Gagarin’s life.

In this spacecraft ‘Vostok’, Yury Gagarin journeyed into outer space on April 12th, 1961. Made on a scale of 1 to 3.

A telegraph key from the spacecraft ‘Vostok’ simulator Y. Gagarin and G. Titov have been training on.

Yury Gagarin’s awards, Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.

A transceiver staion of the ‘Orbita’ system. Made on a sale of 1 to 20.

Cosmonauts have worn this 20-kilogram space suit up to 1963.

Luna 9 (E-6 series) was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Union’s Luna program. On February 3rd, 1966 the Luna 9 spacecraft was the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on any planetary body other than Earth and to transmit photographic data to Earth. Made on a scale of 1 to 1.

Mars 1 was an automatic interplanetary station launched in the direction of Mars on November 1, 1962 to fly by the planet at a distance of about 11,000 km. Made on a scale of 1 to 3.

A re-entry vehicle. Made on a scale of 1 to 1.

The Berkut space suit was developed to be used for extravehicular activity for the Voskhod 2 mission aboard a Voskhod spacecraft on the first spacewalk. It was developed by NPP Zvezda in 1964-1965. It was a modified SK-1 suit and was used only by the Voskhod 2 crew.

“The first human to journey into outer space”.

Experimental rockets.

A model of a rocket developed by Tsiolkovsky.

The lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer Sergey Korolev’s office in Kaliningrad, the Moscow Region.

The RD-214 rocket engine designed by Gluskko in 1952 – 1957.

Personal belongings of Friedrich Zander, a pioneer of rocketry and spaceflight in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. He designed the first liquid-fuelled rocket to be launched in the Soviet Union, GIRD-X, and made many important theoretical contributions to the road to space.

A verandah of Tsiolkovsky’s house in Kaluga, used by the scientist as a shop.

They hold many excursions in the museum.