8 more facts you probably didn’t know about Gagarin…

The senior curator of a Science Museum exhibition charting the Soviet scientific and technological ingenuity that kick-started the space age (‘Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age’, which ran until March 2016) reveals eight things you (probably) didn’t know about Yuri … Continue reading

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Tissue-equivalent mannequin

In 1969 this cosmonaut mannequin was sent around the Moon in the Zond 7 spacecraft as a precursor to a manned mission. Sensors were set into its body to measure radiation levels. Its face is in the image of Yuri … Continue reading

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Space jetpack

This unit was trialled in spaced by cosmonauts Viktorenko and Serebrov in 1990. It allowed a cosmonaut to manoeuvre independently in space. The cosmonaut would wear it like a backpack, operating controls on the hand panels. It propels the cosmonaut … Continue reading

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Soyuz-T Neptune console

This console gives the Soyuz module’s crew information on the spacecraft’s condition and trajectory. It provides a keyboard interface with the spacecraft’s computer for inputing commands during manoeuvering, docking, descent and landing. The small globe displays the craft’s position over … Continue reading

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Gagarin’s pilot oxygen mask

Aircraft pilots had long required an oxygen supply to allow flying at high altitude. The Soviet KM-32-12 mask became standard issue and Gagarin regularly wore it during his training aircraft flights. Continue reading

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