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Source: Moscow Government – Moscow Government –
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In the collection Museum of CosmonauticsThe Museum of Cosmonauts, under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Department of Culture and home to over 100,000 items, contains items donated by cosmonauts of different generations. Some of these items are on display at the permanent exhibition, while others are kept in storage.
Oleg Artemyev
In December 2025, the exhibition "True Friend Oleg Artemyev" opened, marking the 55th birthday of Hero of Russia and Russian pilot-cosmonaut Oleg Germanovich Artemyev. He donated over 500 artifacts to the museum, many of which can be seen in the halls—photographs, personal belongings, and examples of space technology. The exhibition will run until March 8 and can be visited by entrance tickets.
The flight suit, helmet, gloves from the Sokol-KV-2 emergency rescue suit, and gloves from the Orlan-MK spacesuit, donated to the museum by Oleg Artemyev, have become part of the permanent exhibition.
The Orlan-MK spacesuit gloves are a unique device: each piece is individually crafted and molded, designed for only one or two spacewalks. The International Space Station (ISS) currently uses upgraded and computerized Orlan-MKS spacesuits, weighing 110 kilograms and boasting a battery life of up to seven hours.
Yuri Gagarin
One of the museum's key figures is, of course, Yuri Gagarin. The halls feature unique exhibits related to the first human spaceflight. These include, for example, the Vostok spacecraft's descent module and the first spacesuit, the SK-1. These were the suits worn by Yuri Gagarin, Gherman Titov, Andriyan Nikolaev, Pavel Popovich, Valery Bykovsky, and Valentina Tereshkova in orbit. A special spacesuit, the SK-2, was created for the first woman in space.
Yuri Alekseevich's daughter, Elena, donated her father's most valuable educational documents to the museum, including a transcript, a diploma with honors from the K.E. Voroshilov Chkalov Military Aviation School, and a Certificate from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR conferring upon Yuri Gagarin the title of "Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR." These exhibits can also be seen in the "Morning of the Space Era" hall in a circular display case.
Alexey Leonov
The Cosmonautics Museum boasts an extensive collection of paintings, graphic art, and decorative and applied arts—somewhat unusual for a cultural institution focused on science and technology. The painting collection comprises over 500 items and spans the century-long history of cosmism in art, from the 1920s to the first quarter of the 21st century. This collection can be considered the finest in the country.
The collection's formation began with the painting "Over the Black Sea" by pilot-cosmonaut and Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Leonov. This work, one of his first, was painted in 1972, and depicted the Earth as seen from orbit by a cosmonaut. It was in the Black Sea region that Leonov conducted his spacewalk.
Thanks to Alexei Arkhipovich and his daughter Oksana, who also donated exhibits to the museum, visitors can see paintings and personal belongings of the cosmonaut. The permanent exhibition includes a dress uniform and paraphernalia from Alexei Leonov's art studio—brushes, paints, folding easels, and some furniture.
Incidentally, Alexei Leonov collaborated with artist Andrei Sokolov to create designs for postage stamps, particularly for the "15 Years of the Space Age" series. Stamps featuring their designs were issued not only in the USSR but also, for example, in Cuba. Examples are held in the philatelic collection of the Cosmonautics Museum.
In 2015, a commemorative item was unveiled—a special bench, a gift from American astronaut Thomas Stafford, a friend of Alexei Leonov, for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz program (1975). It has become a symbol of their long-standing friendship and a landmark exhibit commemorating the first joint manned mission between the USSR and the USA. The polished aluminum bench is on permanent display. Visitors can sit on it and examine elements of the Apollo-Soyuz program laser-etched onto its surface.
Displayed nearby are the flight suits of crew commander Alexei Leonov and flight engineer Valery Kubasov, made of a special fabric suitable for the oxygen-rich atmosphere of the Apollo spacecraft cabin. During the flight, the cosmonauts completed the program's objectives: rendezvous and docking, crew transfers between the spacecraft, mission control center interactions, and joint scientific experiments.
Tickets for the permanent exhibition can be purchased using the service Mosbilet.
Pearls of the Cosmonautics Museum's collections
Some gifts from cosmonauts are kept in the museum's collections. For example, in 2022, Oleg Artemyev "sent into space" the entire staff of the Cosmonautics Museum: a commemorative photograph of the staff, taken in front of the museum building, was printed aboard the International Space Station during Expedition ISS-67, and the photograph remained in orbit for a long time. The photograph later returned to Earth along with Oleg Germanovich's personal belongings. It is now kept in the museum's collections.
Another cosmonaut-artist and Hero of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Dzhanibekov, donated nearly 200 artifacts and memorabilia to the museum's collection. Among his paintings is the famous diptych, "Gagarin Before Launch" and "Earth's Starry Childhood." The latter depicts the cosmonaut's meeting with the first witnesses of his return to Earth in 1961—Rumiya Nurskanova and her grandmother, Anikhayat (some sources refer to them as Rita and Anna)—three kilometers from the village of Smelovka in the Saratov Region.
Photos from Orbit: Exploring the Exhibits at the "Dzhanibekov Effect" Exhibition
The program of events at the Cosmonautics Museum contributes to the implementation of the goals and objectives of the national project in Moscow "Family"More information about Russia's national projects and the capital's contribution can be found at special page.
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