The launch of an exhibit at London’s Science Museum will showcase the story of Russia’s Space Programme’s history. Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age – will open 18th September and is sponsored by BP and ART RUSSE. Tickets are available now according to the Science Museum. Mr. Leonov’s 12-minute historic spacewalk occurred on 18th March 1965. Ground control scientists and others around the globe hailed this feat as an extraordinary achievement. “Cosmonauts” – opens 18 Sept 2015. Image: Science Museum. Mr. Leonov stated that Pavel Belyayev, his crewmate had experienced a number of emergency situations during the mission. Leonov struggled to get into his spacecraft after his spacewalk. After the navigation system failed, the astronauts were forced to manually steer the spaceship back to Earth. The spaceship crashed violently and exposed the Leonovs and Belyayevs to 10 times more force of gravity. The couple landed in the Ural Mountains hundreds of miles from their intended course and spent the night below -25degC. Yesterday, Mr. Leonov spoke at the Science Museum and said that there were many issues during his first flight. Many of these were not possible to test on Earth. For example, what would the spacesuit react in space? It’s important to remember that no matter how small the goal, it is still worth attempting. The exhibit will include the most extensive collection of Russian spacecraft and artifacts ever displayed in Britain. Alexei Leonov on the first spacewalk, March 1965. Image: Wikipedia. The exhibit tells the amazing story of scientific and technological ingenuity which sparked the Space Age with record numbers of Firsts. The UK has the chance to see many of the key innovations that have made space exploration possible. From the ideas of Cosmist thinkers towards the end of the th century, which suggested that space was our destiny, to the realities of living in space aboard the International Space Station (or Mir), visitors can now get close and personal with these major inventions. Sputnik, the first artificial satellite in space, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957,. It sent the first person into space four years later, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin. Russians have long yearned to travel into space. The exhibit explores Russian space travel science and culture. It demonstrates a nation’s deep desire for this space. This exhibition includes Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (a pioneer in rocket technology) stunning 1933 illustrations of space flight. These drawings depict weightlessness and spacewalks as well as life in orbit almost three decades prior to it happening. Sergei Korolev was the lead rocket engineer for the Sputnik artificial satellite. He believed that replicas would one day be displayed at the major museums around the globe. Six years after launching the first human into space, the Soviet Union sent the first woman and animal into orbit. London’s Vostok-6 is the capsule in 1963 that carried Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman ever to go into space. Ian Blatchford is the Science Museum’s Director. He said that Alexei Leonov, 50 years after being the first human to step in space, was an honor to be here today. Cosmonauts, a unique exhibition which took years of hard work and dedication from the Science Museum team, is now a reality. “The Russian Space Programme is one of many great technological, intellectual and scientific achievements of the th Century and I’m thrilled to have been able bring together an exceptional collection of Russian space artifacts to commemorate these accomplishments. “I want to thank our sponsors and partners who made this possible.” This exhibition also includes Russia’s secretive Moon Progamme. Only a small group of scientists and politicians had access to it until 1989.. The five-meter tall LK-3 lunar lander can be seen by visitors. Bob Dudley, BP CEO, stated that Cosmonauts “tells the Russian Space Programme’s story as never before – but it also tells Russia’s story through its culture, history and technology. BP has a strong relationship with Science Museum that aims to increase public engagement in science and technology. The Cosmonauts exhibition will be open from 18thSeptember 2015 through 3rd March 2016.
