The adventure and drama of the era of space exploration is captured in the Space Monument and Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow.
The museum is a must-see for anyone who ever rose at dawn to watch astronauts climb into giant rockets to be launched into the unknown on grainy black and white film but is also an intriguing visit for anyone inspired by humankind's desire to explore and conquer the cosmos
The space monument - an enormous spire reaching towards the stars - is officially known as the Monument to the Conquerors of Space and the museum, with its collection of around 85,000 items from the Soviet Union's space programme, is contained within the base.
Unfortunately for tourists, the display information is only available in Russian but tours in English and other languages can be booked in advance.
The space monument was erected in 1964 just as the United States and the Soviet Union embarked on the race to the stars, each determined to be the first to land a man on the moon -a race, as we known, won by the US in 1969.
The museum, however, did not open until 1981, commemorating the 20 th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's orbit of the earth when he became the first man in space.Its original exhibits focused mainly on the Soviet space programme but a three-year refurbishment tripled the exhibition area in size and also opened up the museum to worldwide space programmes, including the US, Europe, China and the International Space Station. The new expanded museum opened on Cosmonautics Day in 2009 and visitors arrive at its door along the sculpture-lined Cosmonauts Alley.
The Museum of Cosmonautics is the only one of its kind in the world, so its exhibits and displays are genuinely unique and evoke amazing memories of a genuinely adventurous era.
The museum traces the history of space exploration, from the first interplanetary satellite flights to the manned flights to the moon.
Marvel at the interior of part of the Mir space station which visitors are invited to explore and simply seeing up close the extraordinary materials needed to help a craft such as Sputnik survive a flight through the atmosphere is jaw-dropping.
There are models of satellites and original spacesuits worn by both American and Russian astronauts.
Check out the pictures and documents relating to famous cosmonauts such as the first man in space. Yuri Gagarin. Pioneering pups Belka and Strelka were the first dogs in space and their stuffed bodies are on display alongside the tiny pods in which they flew around the earth.
Children and adults who are reliving their childhood will be thrilled at the gadgets they can play with, and there is an informative display that explains exactly how astronauts survive a flight into space.
There are also 3D films of space exploration for which there is an extra charge and a café serving space food to top off your visit to the final frontier.
The Space Monument and Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics is undoubtedly one of Moscow's most popular tourist attractions - in fact, it's out of this world.
