Monument to the Conquerors of Space
Encyclopedia
The Monument to the Conquerors of Space was erected in Moscow
in 1964 to celebrate achievements of the Soviet people
in space exploration. It depicts a starting rocket that rises on its contrail
. The monument is 110 m tall, has 77° incline, and is made of titanium
. The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
is located inside the base of the monument.
(known until 1992 as the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, VDNKh), in the northeastern part of Moscow, near Prospekt Mira ("Peace Avenue"). The easiest access is from the VDNKh subway station
.
Since the 1960s, this part of Moscow in general has had a high concentration of space-themed sights and names: besides the monument and the museum under it, the grand "Cosmos" pavilion in the Exhibition Centre displayed many artifacts of the Soviet space program
. Many streets in the area have been named after the precursors of the space program (Nikolai Kibalchich
, Friedrich Zander
, Yuri Kondratyuk
) and its participants (Sergey Korolyov
).
The Cosmonauts Alley
south of the monument features busts
of Soviet cosmonauts.
The choice of this part of Moscow for space-related names and monuments may have been inspired by the fact that Prospekt Mira runs toward the north-eastern suburbs of Moscow, where, in Podlipki
(today's Korolyov City) much of the space program was based. Korolyov
himself lived in a house within a few blocks from the monument, which is now preserved as Korolyov Memorial Museum .
, a competition was announced for the best design of an obelisk celebrating the dawn of the Space Age
. Out of some 350 proposals, the design by sculptor A.P. Faidysh-Krandievsky and architects A.N. Kolchin and M.O. Barshch was chosen. The grand opening of the monument took place on October 4, 1964, on the day of the 7th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch.
The monument was designed to accommodate a museum in its base. However, it took until April 10, 1981 (two days before the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin
's flight) to complete the
preparatory work and open the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
. The museum reopened on April 12, 2009 after three years of renovations.
topped by a rocket and resembling in shape the exhaust plume of the rocket. It is 107 meters (350 feet) tall and, on Korolyov's suggestion, covered with titanium
cladding.
A statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
, the precursor of astronautics, is located in front of the obelisk.
A poem in Russian on the front of the stone base of the monument base says:
Approximate translation: "And the reward for our efforts was that, having triumphed over oppression and darkness, we have forged wings of fire for our land and our century!"
Below, in smaller letters, is the dedicatory statement:
"В ознаменование выдающихся достижений советского народа в освоении космического пространства сооружен этот монумент" ("This monument was constructed to celebrate the outstanding achievements of the Soviet people in space exploration"), and the year, 1964.
Both sides of the monument base, in their front parts, are decorated with haut- and bas-reliefs depicting men and women of the space program
:
scientists, engineers, workers, their occupations indicated by appropriate accoutrements of the professions. Notable figures include a computer programmer (or perhaps some other computing or telecommunications professional) holding a punched tape
, a cosmonaut wearing a space suit, and Laika
, the first space dog.
No contemporary Soviet politicians are depicted in the monument either (that would violate the convention existing in post-Stalin's Soviet Union
against commemorating living persons in this fashion), but the crowd on the right side of the monument are moving forward under the banner of Lenin.
piece, one of the series of the commemorative coins
issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution
. This coin has the distinction of being the smallest-denomination commemorative coin ever minted in the Soviet Union. (It was the smallest coin in the 1967 series—the only time commemorative fractional currency coins were ever produced in the USSR. All later commemorative coins were either 1 ruble
, or a higher denomination).
in downtown Borovsk
, designed by Sergey Bychkov, contains a nearly exact scale replica of the Conquerors of Space "rocket needle" and a comic statue of Tsiolkovsky gazing into the skies (and wearing valenki
boots). It was unveiled in 2007. A copy of this statue (but not the "rocket needle") is installed at the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium
.
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1964 to celebrate achievements of the Soviet people
Soviet people
Soviet people or Soviet nation was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Initially used as a nonspecific reference to the Soviet population, it was eventually declared to be a "new historical, social and international unity of people".-Nationality politics in early Soviet...
in space exploration. It depicts a starting rocket that rises on its contrail
Contrail
Contrails or vapour trails are artificial clouds that are the visible trails of condensed water vapour made by the exhaust of aircraft engines...
. The monument is 110 m tall, has 77° incline, and is made of titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
. The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
The Memorial Museum of Astronautics is a museum in Moscow, Russia, dedicated to space exploration...
is located inside the base of the monument.
Location and surroundings
The monument is located outside the main entry to today's All-Russia Exhibition CentreAll-Russia Exhibition Centre
All-Russia Exhibition Centre is a permanent general-purpose trade show in Moscow, Russia....
(known until 1992 as the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, VDNKh), in the northeastern part of Moscow, near Prospekt Mira ("Peace Avenue"). The easiest access is from the VDNKh subway station
VDNKh (Metro)
VDNKh is a Moscow Metro station in Ostankino District, North-Eastern Administrative Okrug, Moscow. It is on the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line, between Alexeyevskaya and Botanichesky Sad stations....
.
Since the 1960s, this part of Moscow in general has had a high concentration of space-themed sights and names: besides the monument and the museum under it, the grand "Cosmos" pavilion in the Exhibition Centre displayed many artifacts of the Soviet space program
Soviet space program
The Soviet space program is the rocketry and space exploration programs conducted by the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the 1930s until its dissolution in 1991...
. Many streets in the area have been named after the precursors of the space program (Nikolai Kibalchich
Nikolai Kibalchich
Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich was a Russian revolutionary, taking part in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II as the main explosive expert for Narodnaya Volya , and also a rocket pioneer...
, Friedrich Zander
Friedrich Zander
Friedrich Zander , often transliterated Fridrikh Arturovich Tsander, was a pioneer of rocketry and spaceflight in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union...
, Yuri Kondratyuk
Yuri Kondratyuk
Yuri Vasilievich Kondratyuk , was a follower, supporter and founder of cosmism, pioneer of astronautics and spaceflight. He was a theoretician and a visionary who, in the early twentieth century, foresaw ways of reaching the moon...
) and its participants (Sergey Korolyov
Sergey Korolyov
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev ; died 14 January 1966 in Moscow, Russia) was the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s...
).
The Cosmonauts Alley
Cosmonauts Alley
Cosmonauts Alley is a wide avenue in northern Moscow leading to the Russian Museum of Cosmonautics and the Monument to the Conquerors of Space . The pedestrian-only avenue connects the museum and monument to the VDNKh subway station....
south of the monument features busts
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of Soviet cosmonauts.
The choice of this part of Moscow for space-related names and monuments may have been inspired by the fact that Prospekt Mira runs toward the north-eastern suburbs of Moscow, where, in Podlipki
Korolyov (city)
Korolyov or Korolev is an industrial city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, well known as the cradle of Soviet and Russian space exploration. It was originally founded as Kaliningrad in 1938 by Vasily Boldyrev, Naum Nosovsky, and Mikhail Loginov as the leading Soviet center for production of anti-tank...
(today's Korolyov City) much of the space program was based. Korolyov
Sergey Korolyov
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev ; died 14 January 1966 in Moscow, Russia) was the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s...
himself lived in a house within a few blocks from the monument, which is now preserved as Korolyov Memorial Museum .
History
In March 1958, a few months after the launch of Sputnik 1Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 ) was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space...
, a competition was announced for the best design of an obelisk celebrating the dawn of the Space Age
Space Age
The Space Age is a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik...
. Out of some 350 proposals, the design by sculptor A.P. Faidysh-Krandievsky and architects A.N. Kolchin and M.O. Barshch was chosen. The grand opening of the monument took place on October 4, 1964, on the day of the 7th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch.
The monument was designed to accommodate a museum in its base. However, it took until April 10, 1981 (two days before the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961....
's flight) to complete the
preparatory work and open the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
The Memorial Museum of Astronautics is a museum in Moscow, Russia, dedicated to space exploration...
. The museum reopened on April 12, 2009 after three years of renovations.
Design and sculpture
The main part of the monument is a giant obeliskObelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
topped by a rocket and resembling in shape the exhaust plume of the rocket. It is 107 meters (350 feet) tall and, on Korolyov's suggestion, covered with titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
cladding.
A statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was an Imperial Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory. Along with his followers the German Hermann Oberth and the American Robert H. Goddard, he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics...
, the precursor of astronautics, is located in front of the obelisk.
A poem in Russian on the front of the stone base of the monument base says:
Approximate translation: "And the reward for our efforts was that, having triumphed over oppression and darkness, we have forged wings of fire for our land and our century!"
Below, in smaller letters, is the dedicatory statement:
"В ознаменование выдающихся достижений советского народа в освоении космического пространства сооружен этот монумент" ("This monument was constructed to celebrate the outstanding achievements of the Soviet people in space exploration"), and the year, 1964.
Both sides of the monument base, in their front parts, are decorated with haut- and bas-reliefs depicting men and women of the space program
Soviet space program
The Soviet space program is the rocketry and space exploration programs conducted by the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the 1930s until its dissolution in 1991...
:
scientists, engineers, workers, their occupations indicated by appropriate accoutrements of the professions. Notable figures include a computer programmer (or perhaps some other computing or telecommunications professional) holding a punched tape
Punched tape
Punched tape or paper tape is an obsolete form of data storage, consisting of a long strip of paper in which holes are punched to store data...
, a cosmonaut wearing a space suit, and Laika
Laika
Laika was a Soviet space dog that became the first animal to orbit the Earth – as well as the first animal to die in orbit.As little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living creatures at the time of Laika's mission, and the technology to de-orbit had not yet been developed, there...
, the first space dog.
No contemporary Soviet politicians are depicted in the monument either (that would violate the convention existing in post-Stalin's Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
against commemorating living persons in this fashion), but the crowd on the right side of the monument are moving forward under the banner of Lenin.
The monument reflected in other media
The Monument to the Conquerors of Space is featured on the 1967 ten-kopeckSoviet ruble
The Soviet ruble or rouble was the currency of the Soviet Union. One ruble is divided into 100 kopeks, ....
piece, one of the series of the commemorative coins
Commemorative coins of the Soviet Union
Commemorative coins were released in the USSR between 1965 and 1991. Most of them were made of copper-nickel alloy, but there were also silver coins, gold coins, palladium coins and platinum coins. All of the coins were minted either by the Moscow Mint or by the Leningrad Mint...
issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. This coin has the distinction of being the smallest-denomination commemorative coin ever minted in the Soviet Union. (It was the smallest coin in the 1967 series—the only time commemorative fractional currency coins were ever produced in the USSR. All later commemorative coins were either 1 ruble
Ruble
The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. Currently, the currency units of Belarus, Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, and, in the past, the currency units of several other countries, notably countries influenced by Russia and the Soviet Union, are named rubles, though they all are...
, or a higher denomination).
Clones
The monument to Konstantin TsiolkovskyKonstantin Tsiolkovsky
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was an Imperial Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory. Along with his followers the German Hermann Oberth and the American Robert H. Goddard, he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics...
in downtown Borovsk
Borovsk
Borovsk is a town and the administrative center of Borovsky District of Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located just south from the oblast's border with Moscow Oblast. It is situated on the Protva River, about southwest of Moscow.Population: 12,000 ....
, designed by Sergey Bychkov, contains a nearly exact scale replica of the Conquerors of Space "rocket needle" and a comic statue of Tsiolkovsky gazing into the skies (and wearing valenki
Valenki
Valenki are traditional Russian winter footwear, essentially felt boots: the name valenok literally means "made by felting". Valenki are made of wool felt. They are not water-resistant, and are often worn with galoshes to keep water out and protect the soles from wear and tear...
boots). It was unveiled in 2007. A copy of this statue (but not the "rocket needle") is installed at the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium
Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium
The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium is a planetarium located on the grounds of Brisbane Botanic Gardens in the suburb of Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...
.