Kaluga planetarium, Space exploration museum in Kaluga, Russia.
The Kaluga Planetarium is a space exploration museum housing over 70,000 artifacts, including landing modules, spacesuits, space food, and replicas of moon rovers. The displays show how humans engineered solutions to travel and work in space.
The museum opened on October 3, 1967, becoming the first institution worldwide dedicated entirely to space exploration history. Its founding occurred during peak Soviet space activity, establishing Kaluga as a center for understanding human spaceflight achievements.
The facility is named after Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the rocket pioneer whose scientific writings shaped early space exploration thinking. Visitors can see how his theoretical work directly influenced the development of spacecraft and launch systems.
The museum is located at 2 Akademika Koroleva Street and opens Tuesday through Sunday, with extended hours on Wednesdays. Plan your visit with enough time to explore the multiple exhibition areas without rushing.
Visitors can examine actual Moon soil samples and handle tools used by astronauts for spacecraft repairs in orbit. This hands-on contact with real space technology creates a memorable encounter that goes beyond simply observing displays.
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