Monument to the Conquerors of Space

55°49′22″N 37°38′24″E / 55.82278°N 37.64000°E / 55.82278; 37.64000

The Monument to the Conquerors of Space (Russian: Монуме́нт «Покори́телям ко́смоса», romanized: Monumént "Pokorítelyam kósmosa", IPA: [mənʊˈmʲent pəkɐrʲˈitʲɪlʲɪm ˈkosməsə]) is a giant obelisk erected in Moscow in 1964 to celebrate achievements of the Soviet people in space exploration. It depicts a starting rocket that rises on its exhaust plume.

The monument is 107 metres (351 feet) tall, has 77° incline, and is made of titanium.^[1] The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics is located inside the base of the monument.

Location and surroundings

The monument is located outside the main entry to today's

VDNKh subway station

.

Since the 1960s, this part of Moscow in general has had a high concentration of space-themed sights and names: besides the monument and the museum under it, the grand "Cosmos" pavilion in the Exhibition Centre displayed many artifacts of the

Sergey Korolyov

).

The Cosmonauts Alley south of the monument features busts of Soviet cosmonauts.

The choice of this part of Moscow for space-related names and monuments may have been inspired by the fact that Prospekt Mira runs toward the north-eastern suburbs of Moscow, where, in

Podlipki

(today's Korolyov City) much of the space program was based.

Korolyov himself lived in a house within a few blocks from the monument, which is now preserved as the Korolyov Memorial Museum (Russian

: Дом-музей академика С. П. Королёва).

History

In March 1958, a few months after the launch of

sculptor

A.P. Faidysh-Krandievsky and architects A.N. Kolchin and M.O. Barshch was chosen. The grand opening of the monument took place on October 4, 1964, on the day of the 7th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch.

The monument was designed to accommodate a museum in its base. However, it took until April 10, 1981 (two days before the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight) to complete the preparatory work and open the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics. The museum reopened on April 12, 2009, after three years of renovations.

Design and sculpture

The main part of the monument is a giant obelisk topped by a rocket and resembling in shape the exhaust plume of the rocket. It is 107 meters (350 feet) tall and, on Korolyov's suggestion, covered with titanium cladding. A statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the precursor of astronautics, is located in front of the obelisk.

Both sides of the monument base, in their front parts, are decorated with

bas-reliefs depicting men and women of the space program

: scientists, engineers, workers, their occupations indicated by appropriate accoutrements of the professions. Notable figures include a

cosmonaut wearing a space suit, and Laika

the space dog, first living creature to orbit Earth.

No contemporary Soviet politicians are depicted in the monument (that would violate the convention existing in the post-Joseph Stalin Soviet Union against commemorating living persons in this fashion), but the crowd on the right side of the monument are moving forward under the banner of Vladimir Lenin.

The monument reflected in other media

The Monument to the Conquerors of Space is featured on the 1967 10

rouble

, or a higher denomination).

10 kopeck anniversary coin celebrating 50 years of the October Revolution.

The Monument is featured in the 1993 music video "Go West" by Pet Shop Boys.

Also monument featured in the music video "Sweet Lullaby" by Deep Forest.

The monument was depicted on the home kit for the Russia national football team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup on the front of the shirts in different shades of maroon.

The monument also featured on the back page of the 1964, no. 11, Soviet Woman.

Replicas

The monument to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in downtown Borovsk, designed by Sergey Bychkov, contains a nearly exact scale replica of the Conquerors of Space "rocket needle" and a whimsical statue of Tsiolkovsky gazing into the skies (and wearing valenki boots). It was unveiled in 2007. A copy of this statue (but not the "rocket needle") is installed at the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium. A copy is also exhibited in the park of the United Nations Office in Geneva, a gift donated by the USSR and designed by the architect Alexander Koltchin and sculptor Yuri Neroda.^[2]

Replicas of the Monument to the Conquerors of Space