A screeching group of children excitedly dragged their parents inside a life-size model of the Russian space station Mir.
"You can go inside the exhibits, touch everything," said Olga Redenko, whose son and daughter were some of the first visitors to the newly reopened space museum. "They love it!"
Located under the monument of a rocket permanently swooping into the air, the museum is now three times bigger, with numerous interactive exhibits and, a rarity in Moscow, handicapped access.
"It is even more modern than the [space] museum in Washington," boasted Anatoly Perminov, head of the Federal Space Agency, at the opening earlier this month.
The museum, officially called The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics, has more than 3,000 exhibits, and on a recent weekday, there were dozens of children milling around, touching buttons and clambering into exhibits.
"The old museum did not correspond to the scope and the greatness of the mastering of space," said Mayor Yury Luzhkov at the opening on, aptly, Cosmonauts Day. It is "a place where all our citizens, and especially our young generation, can get to know the outstanding achievements of science and our cosmonauts."
The museum was originally the idea of Sergei Korolyov, the rocket engineer who was the mastermind behind the early Soviet space program, but it did not open until 1981.
The museum celebrates the pivotal role of Russia in the exploration of space, and visitors can follow its entire history from the launch of Sputnik and the first man in space to the international space station today. It is part of the space memorial complex at the All-Russia Exhibition Center that includes the rocket statue and an alley dedicated to cosmonauts.
With an emphasis on interactivity, the museum is a great playground for children. Most impressive is the life-size model of Mir, the first continuously inhabited space station.
Visitors can climb inside and pretend to be in space with the station that circled the globe from 1986 to 2001. Cosmonauts told museum curators that the copy made them feel as if they were in space again.
There is also a flight simulator, where you can try and dock your spaceship in the international space station, and a model of ground controls that track the space station's location. "Ordinary people can come here, sit in the control box and operate it like in real life," said Perminov.
Visitors can read about the great Russian space and rocket engineers like Korolyov or check out "cosmic art," which are rather kitschy paintings and drawings about space from the 1920s until today.
Educational facilities include lecture rooms for regular talks on topics such as the history of astronomy and a library. The museum has few English explanations at the moment, but officials said they would be installed soon.
"It is important that we give our young generation the opportunity to enter this sector, which is very useful to the state," said Luzhkov.
Other highlights include the space capsule from a Soyuz TM-7, a model of the Vostok capsule -- in which Yury Gagarin first orbited the Earth -- and the air-lock chamber from the Russian section of the international space station. The stuffed bodies of Belka and Strelka, the first two animals to go into space and return alive, are also on display.
Before leaving, you can also stock up on spaceman food and drink in the museum shop, from space drinking water for 70 rubles, shrink-wrapped space bread for 300 rubles or borshch in a tube for 400 rubles ($12).
"It is so impressive, and of course we are very proud about our achievements in space," said Anna Stelkova, an elderly women in her 60s, standing in front of a model of Gagarin's iconic, orange-colored space suit.
The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics. 111 Prospekt Mira. Metro VDNKh. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tel. 693-7914. Tickets 200 rubles for adults, 20 for children. Free entry for cosmonauts.
"You can go inside the exhibits, touch everything," said Olga Redenko, whose son and daughter were some of the first visitors to the newly reopened space museum. "They love it!"
Located under the monument of a rocket permanently swooping into the air, the museum is now three times bigger, with numerous interactive exhibits and, a rarity in Moscow, handicapped access.
"It is even more modern than the [space] museum in Washington," boasted Anatoly Perminov, head of the Federal Space Agency, at the opening earlier this month.
The museum, officially called The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics, has more than 3,000 exhibits, and on a recent weekday, there were dozens of children milling around, touching buttons and clambering into exhibits.
"The old museum did not correspond to the scope and the greatness of the mastering of space," said Mayor Yury Luzhkov at the opening on, aptly, Cosmonauts Day. It is "a place where all our citizens, and especially our young generation, can get to know the outstanding achievements of science and our cosmonauts."
The museum was originally the idea of Sergei Korolyov, the rocket engineer who was the mastermind behind the early Soviet space program, but it did not open until 1981.
The museum celebrates the pivotal role of Russia in the exploration of space, and visitors can follow its entire history from the launch of Sputnik and the first man in space to the international space station today. It is part of the space memorial complex at the All-Russia Exhibition Center that includes the rocket statue and an alley dedicated to cosmonauts.
With an emphasis on interactivity, the museum is a great playground for children. Most impressive is the life-size model of Mir, the first continuously inhabited space station.
Visitors can climb inside and pretend to be in space with the station that circled the globe from 1986 to 2001. Cosmonauts told museum curators that the copy made them feel as if they were in space again.
There is also a flight simulator, where you can try and dock your spaceship in the international space station, and a model of ground controls that track the space station's location. "Ordinary people can come here, sit in the control box and operate it like in real life," said Perminov.
Visitors can read about the great Russian space and rocket engineers like Korolyov or check out "cosmic art," which are rather kitschy paintings and drawings about space from the 1920s until today.
Educational facilities include lecture rooms for regular talks on topics such as the history of astronomy and a library. The museum has few English explanations at the moment, but officials said they would be installed soon.
"It is important that we give our young generation the opportunity to enter this sector, which is very useful to the state," said Luzhkov.
Other highlights include the space capsule from a Soyuz TM-7, a model of the Vostok capsule -- in which Yury Gagarin first orbited the Earth -- and the air-lock chamber from the Russian section of the international space station. The stuffed bodies of Belka and Strelka, the first two animals to go into space and return alive, are also on display.
Before leaving, you can also stock up on spaceman food and drink in the museum shop, from space drinking water for 70 rubles, shrink-wrapped space bread for 300 rubles or borshch in a tube for 400 rubles ($12).
"It is so impressive, and of course we are very proud about our achievements in space," said Anna Stelkova, an elderly women in her 60s, standing in front of a model of Gagarin's iconic, orange-colored space suit.
The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics. 111 Prospekt Mira. Metro VDNKh. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tel. 693-7914. Tickets 200 rubles for adults, 20 for children. Free entry for cosmonauts.
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