Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center

The Yu.A.Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) (Russian: Российский Государственный Научно-Исследовательский Испытательный Центр Подготовки Космонавтов (РГНИИЦПК) им. Ю. А. Гагарина, Rossiyskiy Gosudarstvenny Nauchno-Issledovatelsky Ispytatelny Tsentr Podgotovki Kosmonavtov (RGNIITsPK) im. Yu. A. Gagarina) is responsible for training cosmonauts for their space missions, and is the home of the largest of three cosmonauts' units in Russia, with more than half of Russian cosmonauts.

Until April 2009 the center was owned and operated by the Russian Ministry of Defense in cooperation with Russian Federal Space Agency. On April 2009, Russian President signed a presidential decree transferring the center from the Defence Ministry to the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos)

The Cosmonaut Training Center was inaugurated on January 11, 1960 in Star City outside Moscow. In 1969 it was named after Yuri Gagarin, the first man to fly in space. In 1995 the Cosmonaut Training Center and Air Force Test and Training regiment were merged and reorganized into its current form.

The Center has also trained candidates from other countries of (or aligned to) the former Soviet bloc under the Intercosmos program, which got an initial boost from the joint Soviet-American Apollo-Soyuz flight in 1975. The Intercosmos program later included staff members from other countries as well (France, India, etc.) and provided ground work for the next step in continued and ongoing cooperation between Russia and the United States in joint space missions and for cross-training of US astronauts on Russian hardware in the framework of the Space Shuttle-Mir and ISS programs.

Key GCTC facilities include:

  • Full-size mockups of all major spacecraft developed since the Soviet era, including the Soyuz and Buran vehicles, the TKS modules and orbital stations of the Salyut Program, Mir, and ISS. These were coexisting or with time replaced one another inside two main training hangar halls of the Center.
  • A water pool for simulating weightlessness (neutral buoyancy) for spacewalk training. In 1980 it was replaced with a larger hydrolaboratory building with a tank capable of accommodating a 20-ton space station module. The pool has depth of 12 m (39 ft), diameter of 23 m (75 ft) and capacity of 5,000 cubic metres (54,000 sq ft).
  • Zero-gravity training aircraft for simulating weightlessness (cf. Vomit Comet), including the MiG-15 UTI, Tupolev Tu-104 and later the IL-76 MDK with internal volume of 400 cubic metres (4,300 sq ft). Training aircraft are based at the Russian Air Force base at Chkalovskiy airfield.
  • Two centrifuges, a large TsF-18 and a smaller TsF-7, designed to simulate g-forces experienced during liftoff.
  • A Medical observation clinic and testing facility.
  • A planetarium built in East Germany, capable of projecting as many as 9,000 stars.
  • The original office of Yuri Gagarin and a number of monuments and busts to him and other cosmonauts.

External links

Listed in the following categories:
Post a comment
Tips & Hints
Arrange By:
Gri Sho
10 April 2012
Стоит попробовать аттракцион "центрифуга", правда потом немного поташнивает
Vasiliy Gorshkov
27 November 2013
SAR 401 - робот дистанционного управления, работающий в копирующем режиме
Марина Бурыкина
скафандр весит 115 кг! !!!
Alina Самарина
30 August 2014
Спокойно...
Load more comments
foursquare.com
8.2/10
1,433 people have been here
Map
1.2km from Chkalovskoye shosse, Moskovskaya oblast', Russia Get directions
Sat 9:00 AM–6:00 PM
Sun 9:00 AM–3:00 PM
Mon 8:00 AM–7:00 PM
Tue 8:00 AM–3:00 PM
Wed 8:00 AM–7:00 PM
Thu 8:00 AM–4:00 PM

Центр подготовки космонавтов им. Гагарина on Foursquare

Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center on Facebook

Hotels nearby

See all hotels See all
Double apartment-studio with balcony

starting $44

ArtiLand Resort

starting $97

East Gate Hotel

starting $70

Balashikha Tvardovskogo

starting $80

Novye Gorki Hotel

starting $38

Vizit

starting $27

Recommended sights nearby

See all See all
Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Chkalovsky Airport

Airport Chkalovskiy (also given as Chkalovskoye) is a military airport

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Садиба Алмазово Демидових

Садиба Алмазово Демидових (рос. Алмазово (у

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Central Air Force Museum

The Central Air Force Museum in Monino at the site of Monino Airfield

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Усадьба Глинки

«Глинки» — старейшая по времени постройки усадьба Подмосковь

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Grebnevo

Grebnevo (Гребнево) is a former country seat of the Galitzine, Trubets

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Храм Преображения Господня (Балашиха)

Храм Преображения Господня в Пехре-Яковлевском — прав

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Пехра-Яковлевское

Пехра-Яковлевское — бывшая подмосковная усадьба кня

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Горенки

Садиба Го́ренки — відома садиба доби класицизму в Московській област

Similar tourist attractions

See all See all
Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Vehicle Assembly Building

The Vehicle (originally Vertical) Assembly Building, or VAB, is

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Satish Dhawan Space Centre

The Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) (सतीश धवन अंतरिक्ष केंद

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Edwards Air Force Base

Edwards Air Force Base (IATA: EDW, ICAO: KEDW, FAA LID: EDW)

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Guiana Space Centre

The Guiana Space Centre or, more commonly, Centre Spatial Guyanais

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is the National Aeronautics

See all similar places