A barometer of Russian space activities

by James Oberg (jamesoberg@aol.com)

When I first visited the Kosmos Pavilion as a graduate student in 1968, it was one of several dozen buildings in a major theme park boasting of the successes of socialism. The space hardware was shiny, the paintings of heroes were brightly lit, and the faces of the many visitors glowed with smiles. Spectacular space activity symbolized future prosperity in the eyes of the viewers.

Twenty years passed before my next trip there. This time it was evident that the neglect and stagnation of the Brezhnev era had been overwhelming. The hall's rotunda area had been cleared, because the roof leaked and parts of the ceiling had fallen on visitors. The windows were dirty and the lights were dim. Cynicism and apathy seemed to me to be the dominant public moods, except for those who were outright hostile to expensive space projects that had never shown any practical benefit. The thin crowds thronged into a side hall to see a cheerful temporary show on UFOs.

By this past March, during my visit for IEEE Spectrum, the main exhibits in the Kosmos Pavilion were not about space activities at all. The entire park, once called the Exhibit of Economic Achievements, had become the All-Russian Exhibit Center, which now concentrates on commercial products. The Kosmos Pavilion was full of automobiles and sailboats on display for potential buyers, and the space hardware had been shoved over to the side of the hall or into the smaller, out-of-the-way side halls.

Handfuls of shuffling loyalists were peering at the spacecraft, their expressions unmistakably wistful and nostalgic. The looks on their faces reminded me of nothing so much as the way modern Greeks and Italians view archeological exhibits on the vanished glories of Athens and Rome.

From: jamesoberg@aol.com (James Oberg)

Be sure to spend a few hours at the VDNKh metro stop, first in the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics under the rocket statue (nice exhibit, modest gift shop with cheap prices!), then walk (a LONG walk) to the Kosmos Pavilion to see the space hardware pushed aside for the new commercial Russia. If you have more time and foresight, on that same trip you can also visit the nearby Home Museum of Sergey Korolev, but that is by appointment and is only in Russian. Enjoy!!

From: John@radvan.demon.co.uk (John Krzymuski)

Replies on this have mentioned the large monument opposite the Kocmoc (Cosmos) hotel. In August this year the museum at the base of the impressive monument was closed "for renewal". I've no idea when it was due to reopen.

Also mentioned was the Space Exploration Pavilion at the VDNX. Sadly, virtually all the pavilions here have been turned into shops! The Space pavilion is now full of used cars although there were a few satellite / rocket models hanging from the roof.

Both sites are at the VDNX underground stop.

From: jennifer green (jlgreen@clark.net)

When I went in December, there were only about 5 or so spacecraft pushed far back into the main display hall. Only two were accessible at all and the only sign telling you what any vehicle was misidentified the spacecraft it was in front of. The rest of the hall was full of american cars. Perhaps they pull a few more spacecraft out in summer, but it was pretty depressing. The Museum of Cosmonautics is still nice, but small.

The museum in Kaluga (a three hour train ride from Moscow) is also nice.

From: Kathleen Zimmerman (KZIMMERM@GP801.jsc.nasa.gov)

You should also go to the far back wall of the Kosmos pavilion (opposite from where you enter). There were several displays back there (including Apollo-Soyuz) in May 1995.

From: psclark@tdc.dircon.co.uk (Phillip Clark)

When I was in Moscow with the BBC back in March 1988 we discovered this museum and it included some exhibits which were somewhat uncommon in those days. Of course, the Vostok was the "real Vostok 1"...

I had already visited the Cosmos Pavilion and as I recall the most interest items in the Memorial Museum were the Mars 3 lander deployed as it would have been on Mars (showing it to be very similar to the Luna 9 lander) and the Voskhod 2 airlock system.

In 1988 the idea of a souvenir shop was unknown as I recall so I had to make do with breaking the rules and taking photographs of the exbibits. Our guide said I could do this if I was careful and so long as "she" did not see me...

The monument outside is the famous one with Tsiolkovski gazing upwards as one of his rocket designs heads "into space". I recall that one side of the monument was given over to a mural depicting the Soviet conquest of space - maybe it went around two other side of the monument, I cannot recall.

From: John Pike (johnpike@fas.org)

I would place the stress on "memorial" rather than "museum" -- the place was really rather short on artifacts, and the presentation by the tour guide made it clear that these were objects of sacred veneration.

>Of course, the Vostok was the "real Vostok 1",

Yes, they were quite emphatic about the authenticity of their pieces of the true cross, and went on and on and on about how all the stuff up at Economic Achievements was just mockups and models.

>I had already visited the Cosmos Pavilion

Lucky you! I first went to Moscow in 1983, and it was not until about half a dozen trips later in 1989 that I finally managed to get in. The consistent excuse was that the place was "closed" -- which always struck me as a bit odd, since the place was their equivalent of Air & Space. So I guess I am not too surprised that it has been turned into a car sales room, since it never seemed to have high-level official sponsorship.

But some how or another General Machine Building never quite understood that the whole point of having a space program was having a museum where folks could see what you had done. All the good stuff is stashed at scattered OKB and NPO museums, rather than being piled up in one place the way the USofA does at NASM. What do you think this sez about the contrast in organizational philosophies between NASA and MOM?