Our Space Relics are exported to America

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The "backup" of the First Satellite of the Earth is in a private collection in America. In addition to it, a large number of unique Soviet space rarities were taken out, which are in American museums, for example, a spacesuit, party card and Gagarin's ID, Korolev slide rule, etc.

Recently on NTV in the "protagonist" with such specific humor they told how the American millionaire collector Garriott in 1995 bought the only analogue ("understudy") 1 satellite. Laughing, he told how he took this thing out of Russia in the form of a tureen, disassembling it into 2 hemispheres. Who sold it to him? Where are the criminal cases, names and everything else? Silence … The American has no doubts that no one will do anything to him, although in front of the TV camera he said enough to initiate a criminal case under the article "smuggling".

Garriott has no papers confirming the legal export from Russia. But the American laughs brazenly in our faces.

BBC Russian Service, Washington:

At the National Museum of Space and Aviation in Washington, DC, the Space Race section attracts the largest number of visitors.

There is everything here - from fragments of spaceships and shuttles to breathing apparatus and water flasks, developed by Soviet and American scientists for their space programs.

Some of the presented exhibits are dummies.

The main pride of the museum is represented by the most real spacesuit of Yuri Gagarin (apparently, this is still a training spacesuit, but still it has no price - P. K.), slide rule of General Designer Sergei Korolev, diaries of rocketry designer Vasily Mishin, training suits of Leonov and Feoktistov and some other important attributes of the Soviet space era.

Spacesuit Yu. A. Gagarin at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington

There is everything here - from fragments of spaceships and shuttles to breathing apparatus and water flasks, developed by Soviet and American scientists for their space programs.

Party card Yu. A. Gagarin

at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington

Flight certificate of cosmonaut Yu. A. Gagarin

at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington

According to Kommersant

"The speech of the first cosmonaut before the state commission, dated April 10, 1961. This rarity, along with a group of other rare documents related to space exploration (including 31 volumes of designer Mishin's diaries, the booklet" First photographs of the far side of the Moon "autographed by Korolyov, report about the flight on the "Vostok" spacecraft, compiled by the central aero club of the USSR "V. P. Chkalov" in order to fix the Soviet record in space exploration before the world community), will be sold in December in New York. 1993, exported from Russia by Peter Batkin for the Sotheby's auction "Space history of the USSR".

It seems that the famous politician Ross Perrault, who bought these rarities fifteen years ago, did not imagine that they would rise in price so much that now he could improve the affairs of his fund with the help of their sale - the report is estimated at $ 500-700 thousand, speech - $ 200-300 thousand, diaries - $ 300-500 thousand.

As the then assistant of Peter Batkin Irina Shkondina told Kommersant, all the rarities passed through the Ministry of Culture and do not contain any military secrets, although they undoubtedly have great historical and human value. "Well, what can I tell you how we persuaded Madame Gagarin to part with them," she summed up sadly."

Slide rule by Sergei Pavlovich Korolev

at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington:

Most of all, the museum staff are proud of the fact that they have at their disposal Sergei Korolev's slide rule: "With the help of this ruler, a man was sent into space!"

As the expert on the development of Russian-American programs, Kathleen Lewis, said, all the Soviet exhibits on display in this room came to the museum in a very unusual way and completely unexpectedly.

In 1993, and then in 1996, one of the largest Sotheby's auctions in New York announced that it intends to put up for sale several items related to the Soviet era of space exploration - a total of 36 items.

It was about spacesuits, diaries, various instructions and manuals for astronauts, to which no one had access before. In turn, according to Lewis, all these things came to Sotheby's from individuals in Russia, as well as from some organizations that, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, were left without control.

Some of the acquisitions related to the technical side of astronautics were first handed over to the developers of the American space program for comparison and analysis, and only then ended up in the Washington museum.

The greatest interest of American specialists was aroused by the spacesuit specially developed by Soviet scientists for a flight to the moon.

The flight was never completed, but the Americans knew that the Soviet "lunar" spacesuit was in all respects much more perfect than their own.

Museum consultant and former NASA specialist Roger Lanius explains why: "While the American" lunar "spacesuit is a very intricate design, consists of several parts and a very complex power supply, it is difficult to put on and take off, its Soviet brother is a single element, into which the astronaut enters through the back and simply closes the door behind him. And this door behind him with chips and buttons embedded in it is exactly the same ingenious mechanism that haunted American designers."

According to Roger Lanius, over the years, NASA specialists have been negotiating with the Soviet Union to get the suit.

They offered a lot of money, cooperation in the development of a program for the exploration of the Moon, they even promised the participation of a Soviet cosmonaut in the next flight to the Moon, whenever this flight took place.

The Soviet leadership did not agree to any of the conditions, and the Americans soon surrendered.

And so, in 1993, the coveted spacesuit itself floated into their hands in the form of a Sotheby's auction lot.

Now it stands in the museum next to the "lunar" Apollo spacesuit, which was used for its intended purpose.

Another subject of interest to American specialists for many years was the Soviet toilets designed for spacecraft. "They are much more comfortable than American ones, easier to handle and take up less space," says Roger Lanius.

At the same time, in the 1990s, the toilet was bought by the Americans. Now both copies - Soviet and American - stand side by side in the Washington Museum.

As for the larger items, they were sold partly in order to raise funds to support the space program. Government funding was very weak in those years, says Kathleen Lewis, an expert on US-Russian programming.

Kathleen Lewis, who, due to her duty, constantly communicates with her Russian colleagues, repeatedly asked them how it was possible to sell such invaluable items from the point of view of the history of space exploration.

“They explained to me that at that time people were more concerned than feeding their children and grandchildren, so Russian engineers and specialists who had access to the personal belongings of the first cosmonauts sold them for these reasons. in order to raise funds to support the space program. Government funding in those years was very weak, says Lewis.

When buying, we specifically emphasized that we will return the relics of its cosmonautics to Russia.

for the same money at the first request, as soon as the economic situation in the country improves. Four months ago I was in Star City and reminded the Gagarin Museum that as soon as they want, we will return everything. But they showed no interest, said Harry McIllop.

He also added that "apparently in Russia they do not attach cosmic significance to the attributes of their space age."

What can I say here?