When many of us think of the Space Age, we tend to skewer it American, evoking names like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, or the popularized heroics of Apollo 13, or the catchphrase "Houston ... we have lift off!"
Mention the term cosmonaut, and you might dimly recall the story of Laika, the Soviet dog who became one of the first living beings to be sent up to space, or maybe even vaguely remember the name Yuri Gargarin, who was the first actual human to launch into the heavens. But the Russian space program was integral to the development of the field of space exploration, and the Science Museum, located in London, is showcasing the former Soviet Union's lasting achievements – all while displaying actual Russian spacecrafts.
Titled "Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age," the exhibit features an impressive array of Soviet aeronautical equipment, but the real highlights are the space capsules. The crafts include Vostok 6, which was piloted by Valentina Tereshkova, who became the first-ever woman in space in 1963, scoring another cosmonaut victory in the Cold War space race. Tereshkova herself was given a special visit to the exhibit before it opens on Sept. 18, and was reunited with the spacecraft she commanded after more than five decades.
Other odds and ends feature an amalgalm of space travel necessities that are almost oddities after their trip into the stars, things even as mundane as a simple shower and a toilet.
Learn more about the special exhibition in the video below, and check out some of the Science Museum's spacecraft here.
