When I was a boy, back in the late 60's and early 70's, I was fascinated by the unfolding Space race. One of my first toys was a Matt Mason astronaut doll and to this day one of my most precious books is a lavish biography of Yuri Gagarin printed by Progress Publishers in Moscow in the 70's. The first time I visited Russia, visiting some of the monuments to the space pioneers was high on my list of priorities.
The most striking and beautiful memorial is to be found in the North of Moscow near the Pan Russian Exhibition Centre (VDNKh metro). Its elegant design , over a hundred metres tall, features a rocket on top of a curving obelisk clad in titanium so it glitters in the summer sun. The base has a relief design of members of the space program, scientists, engineers and of course cosmonauts. My favourite figure however is slightly hidden amongst the humans, it is the portrait of Laika, the dog who became the very first living creature ever to leave the earths orbit and enter space.
Inside the showground itself are the beautiful pavilions from each part of the former USSR and at the back of the exhibition is the space pavilion outside of which stands the Vostok rocket in which the first human , Yuri Gagarin made his historic flight into space in 1961. Throughout Russia today his achievements are recorded with statues and roads named in his honour. It is possible to visit the Space training centre known as Star City which is about 20 miles north of Moscow but it is vital to book this in advance. In this once top secret location are many of the most famous artefacts of the space adventure including mock-ups of the Mir space station and other space craft. To this day it is a tradition amongst cosmonauts setting off into space to place flowers at the base of the Gagarin monument here to bring them a safe return.
David Turner
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