Planetarium Inspires New Cosmonauts

D. Garrison Golubock / MT

Cosmonaut Alexander Alexandrov explains how to use an old space suit.

Last week, theMoscow Planetarium opened its new exhibit, "I want tobe acosmonaut!" which hopes toinspire anew generation ofRussians todevote their efforts tothe nation's ailing space program.

Theexhibit itself was rather spartan when compared tothe Museum ofCosmonautics near theAll-Russia Exhibition Center, but it offered achoice selection ofinteresting artifacts fromthe history ofSoviet space exploration such as Yury Gagarin's car, aSoyuz re-entry module, andan Orlan-T space suit. Theopening even featured real cosmonauts.

However, theexhibit's interactive features are thecornerstone ofits attempt torecapture theyouth's attention. Throughout theexhibit, which has been set up inthe planetarium's "Level 9" exhibition space, wonderful film reels provided bythe Russian Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos, are projected onthe walls. Visitors are free totry ona pair ofgloves similar tothose ona space suit, or even try their hand ata space station treadmill.

This is all apart ofthe Russia's attempts toattract new talent tohelp save thestruggling space program, which has been fighting forits life foralmost 20 years now. One ofthe major challenges it faces is recruitment. Themajority ofthe talent available is not only underpaid, but over theage of60. There is amissing generation inthe space industry, andfinding thenext generation has proven anelusive task.

But, it wasn't always this way. There was once atime where every child wanted tobe acosmonaut, space captivated theimagination ofSoviet youth, andjoining thespace program was anillustrious ambition. Thereasons were simple enough.

"Cosmonauts like Yury Gagarin andAlexei Leonov were celebrities. Star City was theplace tobe forbig parties, andthere were all sorts ofrumors about thegrand lifestyle ofthe cosmonauts, who really did lead lives ofrelative privilege andglamor. They could go places intospace but also abroad andinto thesuper-secret Soviet military-industrial complex where others simply could not," said Andrew Jenks, anexpert onSoviet space history atCalifornia State University atLong Beach

But today things are markedly different. Salaries forcosmonauts are shockingly low, "especially compared towhat anenterprising kid could get ina number ofother seemingly mundane jobs," he said.

Also, Russians do not need tobe cosmonauts tosee theworld anymore, anyone with abit ofcash tospend is free tocome andgo as they please.

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Planetarium Inspires New Cosmonauts