Where do cosmonauts prepare for flights? In the Star City settlement in the Moscow Region!
The ‘Yuri Gagarin’ Cosmonaut Training Center, established in 1960, is located there. The settlement is closed to the public, but you can enter either on a tour or as a candidate for a flight into space. The first is easier!
What can you see? For example, the local CF-18 centrifuge, the largest in the world. This simulator determines what space overloads a person is ready to bear.
And, in the swimming pool, they simulate weightlessness conditions and practice various situations in space. There are also other simulators, spacesuits, and spaceship models.
In addition, the Center’s museum stores Yuri Gagarin’s personal belongings, items that have been in space and scientific equipment used by cosmonauts.
And, if you want to feel weightlessness, you can fly in a real Il-76 ‘MDK’ training airplane simulator. In it, you will feel the lunar and Martian gravity.
You must book the tour at least 21 working days in advance, while foreign citizens – a minimum of 60 days in advance.
