On the territory of the Moscow region is a unique place that allows you to touch the secrets of space. In fact, this is a whole city-museum where you can meet living legends on the streets, who once carried out the most complex manipulations outside our planet in zero gravity.
Star town
The settlement, in which the Cosmonaut Training Center named. Yu. A. Gagarin RGNII CPK, back in 1961 as a military town. It was later reformatted to an urban-type settlement. The town where the Yu.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center is located today has the status of a closed administrative territorial unit (ZATO). It is located within the Schelkovo municipal district.
Cosmonaut Training Center Yu. A. Gagarin is located just 25 kilometers from Moscow. If you wish, everyone can visit the museum city, just get admission to the tour. The nearest railway station, from which you can get to the Cosmonaut Training Center. Yu. A. Gagarin, is the Tsiolkovskaya platform. This stopping point is located on the Mytishchi-Fryazevo railway.
Population
The town in which the Cosmonaut Training Center is located. Yu. A. Gagarin, has a total of just over five thousand registered permanent residents. The area is only three thousand square meters, which means that the population density is almost two thousand people per kilometer. In the best years, there were more than six thousand inhabitants.
Residents of the town in which the Cosmonaut Training Center them. Yu. A. Gagarina, proudly call themselves star-mountaineers.
The structure and address of the urban-type settlement
The structure of ZATO itself is interesting - it is divided into two parts. The first half is residential. The second is taken directly by the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin. The address of the institution is very simple - Star City, Moscow Region, 141160.
How to get there
Fifty years ago, there was no town on any map. It was possible to get here only on a special bus.
Only at the end of the eighties the route was assigned number 380, which was fixed to it to this day. It leaves from the metro station "Schelkovskaya".
Space Center Leadership
Why is the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu. A. Gagarin so interesting? The leadership in the person of Yuri Valentinovich Lonchakov did everything possible to keep the object interesting for both tourists and space lovers.
In total, since its inception, the center has been led by nine people, namely:
- 1960-1963 - Evgeny Anatolyevich Karpov;
- 1963 - Mikhail Petrovich Odintsov;
- 1963 - 1972 - Nikolai Fedorovich Kuznetsov;
- 1972 –1987 - Beregovoi George Timofeevich;
- 1987 - 1991 - Vladimir Alexandrovich Shatalov;
- 1991 - 2003 - Klimuk Pyotr Ilyich;
- 2003 - 2009 Tsibliev Vasily Vasilievich;
- 2009 - 2014 Krikalev Sergey Konstantinovich
Management
The complex itself is divided into several departments:
- The theoretical module, which sets out the whole background of space travel. It studies the hardware of ships, their structure, navigation and other sciences that are directly related to flights.
- Medical. Astronauts are required to constantly undergo medical examinations, because any deviation from the norm can lead to unpredictable consequences in orbit.
- Scientific module.
- Flight training. Each cosmonaut can try himself in the role of a test pilot on a light aircraft L-39 at the nearest Chkalovsky air hub. In addition, in the arsenal of the complex there are Tu-134 and Tu-154, which are used for visual observation.
The most interesting instance is the IL-76 MDK, which will be discussed somewhat later. Thanks to this machine, it is possible to overcome gravity for a short time and feel the real weightlessness.
5. Office simulators.
Centrifuges
Visitors can see unique simulators for astronauts. First of all, centrifuges of the “TsF-7” and “TsF-18” type are of particular interest. With the help of them, it is possible to recreate the conditions of overload experienced by astronauts in terrestrial conditions. For the centrifuge "CF-18" a special cylindrical building was built on the territory of the center.
The "small" rotating part is just the tip of the iceberg. The main structure is underground.
Riders experience similar overloads, so they can often be found on this simulator. Especially for them, they prescribe a map of the future route. The centrifuges in the complex are unique in that they can dramatically change the direction of movement.
If desired, any visitor can try himself in the role of an astronaut. The price of such an “attraction” is, of course, very rather big.
The centrifuge's power is twenty-seven megawatts! It is nine times bigger than the fastest train.
Hydrolaboratory
What else can the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu. A. Gagarin offer? Photos of tourists indicate that visitors are very interested in the hydrolaboratory. On the ground, this is a cylindrical structure, which represents as many as three floors.
The hydrolaboratory is a container completely filled with water. Its diameter is twenty-three meters, and its depth is 12. It was here that the models of interorbital space stations - Salyut-7, Mir, were located. Currently, the ISS facility has been built.
Here, future cosmonauts hone their every action to go into outer space in conditions as close as possible to real ones.
An unrealistically beautiful place can be visited by anyone who wants to.
Aircraft IL-76 MDK
Weightlessness cannot be compared with anything! This is a feeling of complete freedom and serenity. For many years, people could not experience it on our planet, “thanks to” the existing gravity.
A special aircraft laboratory allows you to solve this problem. It happens as follows ...
The plane occupies the horizon of six thousand meters. After reaching this altitude, the pilot accelerates the car strictly at an angle of forty-five degrees. These fifteen seconds are the hardest for unprepared people - overload reaches 2g.
For reference: the astronaut during flight experiences up to 25g. The maximum design of a spacecraft can withstand 30g.
During start-up, this overload is about 5g.
Upon reaching a horizon of nine thousand meters, the pilot levels the plane and reduces engine thrust to a minimum. It is in inertial motion that you can “catch” those half a minute of lack of attraction.
When reaching the level of six kilometers again, the pilot repeats the maneuver several times.
Periodically, this flight is open to all comers. Of course, only very wealthy people can give themselves such pleasure.
Conclusion
The space center in Star City is one of the most interesting places on the territory of the Russian Federation, visited by anyone who dreams for whom space is not just a word from a dictionary. This is a unique object that is truly worth being proud of.