Cosmonauts - The Science Museum

Iraklii Toidze, In the Name of Peace, 1959

Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age is at the Science Museum until 13 March 2016.
1957 - launch of the first artificial stallite, Спу́тник-1 (Sputnik-1)
1957 - first dog to orbit the Earth: Лайка (Laika)
1961 - the first man in space: Ю́рий Гага́рин (Yuri Gagarin), the first cosmonaut, orbited the Earth in Восток-1 (Vostok-1)
1963 - the first woman in space: Валенти́на Терешко́ва (Valentina  Tereshkova) orbited the Earth in Восток-6 (Vostok-6)
This exhibition brings together many of the artefacts associated with these pioneering days of the Soviet Union's achievements in the Space Race with the United States, including the Vostok-6 capsule flown by Valentina Tereshkova. There is also a splendid display of Soviet posters (see below).

Dr Valentina Tereshkova with Vostok 6 in The Science Museum

Read reviews of the exhibition by Rowan Moore and Lucy Davies,  Read an article about Valentina Tereshkova in which she reveals that the engineers on her mission had forgotten to programme the craft to descend as well as ascend!

Konstantin Ianov, The road is open for humans!, 1960

Boris Staris, The fairy tale became truth, 1961

Boris Berezovsky, Glory to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union!, 1962

Artist unknown, Our triumph in Space is the hymn to the Soviet country!, 1963

Boris Berezovsky, Glory of the Space Heroes - Glory of the Soviet People!, 1963

U. V.Kershin and G.P. Nadezhdin, Glory to the first woman cosmonaut, 1963

Miron Lukianov and Vasily Ostrovsky, Through the Worlds and Centuries,1965

Artist unknown, Soviet Man, Be Proud! You Discovered the Path to the Stars!, n.d.