Soviet model makers built this spacecraft based on the designs and notes of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Late in his life, much of Tsiolkovsky's theoretical work focused on ideas about transporting humans into space on board rockets. Although this model, reflecting the scientist's ideas, grossly overestimates the living space available on board a rocket, it does convey a sophisticated understanding of the physical constraints of space travel for that time. Among Tsiolkovsky's concerns were the effects of acceleration and weightlessness on the human body.
Gift of the Tsiolkovsky Russian National Space Museum, Kaluga, Russia.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
MODELS-Science Fiction
Tsiolkovsky Space Museum
3-D: 36.7 × 132.1 × 38.3cm (1 ft. 2 7/16 in. × 4 ft. 4 in. × 1 ft. 3 1/16 in.)
Plastic, metal, foam rubber, lacquer paints
A20110015000
Gift of Tsiolkovsky Space Museum, Russia
National Air and Space Museum
Open Access (CCO)
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