Before humans flew into space, dogs, chimpanzees, and flight-test dummies led the way. Ivan Ivanovich, who flew in the Soviet Korabl-Sputnik program of the early 1960s, was one such dummy. In a heady atmosphere of Cold War tension, Soviet secrecy, and uncertainty about the dawning space age, garbled retellings of Ivan's extraordinary story helped foster one of the most tenacious Space Age conspiracy theories: that the Soviets had covered up fatalities in space. Join National Air and Space Museum fellow Thomas Ellis as he discusses the fabled lost cosmonauts.
Meet at the Museum "Great Seal", in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall on the first floor.
About the Ask an Expert lecture series: Every Wednesday at noon in the National Mall Building, a Museum staff member talks to the public about the history, collection, or personalities related to a specific artifact or exhibition in the Museum.
This test flight mannequin named "Ivan Ivanovich" orbited the Earth in 1961 weeks before the flight of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. Ivan's mission was to test the spacecraft and pressure suit to be used by Gagarin, as well as spacecraft tracking and recovery operations.