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| Credit: Angeliki Kapoglou |
What do Space Masters students do in their free time? Go to Russia of course! The day after our exams, we flew to Moscow for our very own Yuri's Week in the home of the first human in space.
I was lucky enough to stand in front of as well as touch, the actual capsule that Yuri completed his first orbit around the Earth in. S.P Korolev Rocket & Space Cooperation ' Energia' housed the priceless piece, giving my friends and I a tangible piece of history for us to experience first-hand. The Red Square, beautiful in the Spring sun and St. Basil's Cathedral (or the ice cream castle as I like to call it) glimmered in the 30 degree heat of Russian Spring time.
We were lucky enough to visit Star City, the centre of Russian Spaceflight and where astronauts train for flight in mock ups of the versatile Soyuz capsule that transports them off and onto this planet. Another astronaut training method is the centrifuge. Spinning in order to simulate flight dynamics and sustained G's, the world's largest centrifuge TsF-18 is pictured above in the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. It's immense power and size means that those inside will experience the sheer force of gravity as it simulates a rocket launch and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Before leaving Moscow, we were sure to experience the infamous Russian Ballet in a stunning performance of Cinderella.
St. Petersburg was our next stop. After an overnight train & several Hogwarts references later we spent our last weekend in Russia in the beautiful, European-inspired city. Home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world and the stunning Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood, the city of St. Petersburg was one of the most beautifully sculpted places I have ever visited.
Next on my schedule? Three months in San Francisco Bay... better get packing!
-Nikita
We were lucky enough to visit Star City, the centre of Russian Spaceflight and where astronauts train for flight in mock ups of the versatile Soyuz capsule that transports them off and onto this planet. Another astronaut training method is the centrifuge. Spinning in order to simulate flight dynamics and sustained G's, the world's largest centrifuge TsF-18 is pictured above in the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. It's immense power and size means that those inside will experience the sheer force of gravity as it simulates a rocket launch and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Before leaving Moscow, we were sure to experience the infamous Russian Ballet in a stunning performance of Cinderella.
St. Petersburg was our next stop. After an overnight train & several Hogwarts references later we spent our last weekend in Russia in the beautiful, European-inspired city. Home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world and the stunning Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood, the city of St. Petersburg was one of the most beautifully sculpted places I have ever visited.
Next on my schedule? Three months in San Francisco Bay... better get packing!
-Nikita
