Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, "Star City" , Russia - Space Flight Memorials and Exhibits on Waymarking.com

Construction of Russia's cosmonaut training center began in the late 1950's at an isolated rural site, near an air base, northeast of Moscow. Specialized buildings and hardware were installed and the site became the principle training base for all Russian cosmonauts. The highly restricted area included residential facilities for the military and civilian personnel operating the facility, the cosmonauts and their families.

The Russian press designed the facility as Zvezdny Gorodok which translates as Star City and this has become its popular name. In 1968 after the death of Yuri Gagarin Link, the first man in space, the center was renamed in his honor.

In recent years the center has been open to organized tours. Visitors to the center will see specialized training facilities and exhibits of space gear and equipment including Mir Space station modules that were used for training. They will view videos of training activities and can expect to meet a cosmonaut.

Several buildings are included in a tour.

This four story round building houses a huge water tank which can hold a full size space station module. Here cosmonauts train for spacewalks, under water, in simulated weightless conditions. This picture at the top level of the building shows a space module on top of the tank cover.

A large, partially round building contains an enormous centrifuge used for increased gravity force training.

Cosmonauts ride in a capsule in the end of the centrifuge as it spins subjecting them to very high G forces. Another large building houses a variety of displays including several Mir modules which were used for training.
Visitors go inside one of the modules and can expect a cosmonaut who actually served on Mir to explain its features.

This is retired cosmonaut Vladimir Dezhurov Link talking about the Mir space station.

Some training activities have moved elsewhere but the the center is still used and those wealthy enough to pay the millions asked for a tourist space flight will train here.

Here are two Russian web sites with more information: Link Link

Hours: There are no general open hours. Visits must be booked with tour groups. The center is often included as part of organized tours to Moscow. Independent travelers may book tours through various commercial agencies. Fees for entrance would be included in tour fees. Fee (if no fee, enter 'none'): none How Long a Hike: 2K with some stairs included Amount of time an average person would spend here: Half a day (2-4 Hours) Location is wheelchair accessible?: No Accessible?: Not listed

Visit Instructions:

To claim a waymark in this category the visitor must:

• Include a photograph of a prominent feature of the waymark.  If practical, please submit a picture of a different feature or one taken from a different angle than previous visitors in order to make the waypoint web page richer so visiting it on gc.com is an enjoyable experience.

• Include a second (validation) photograph of your GPSr, with a prominent feature (preferably the same one) in the background (no Photoshopped overlays, please).

• And, of course, give us a report of your visit to the waypoint.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   04/15/2016 Tromel visited it 09/24/2007 NevaP visited it

View all visits/logs