Star City, Russia
Encyclopedia
Star City is a common name of an area in Moscow Oblast
Moscow Oblast
Moscow Oblast , or Podmoskovye , is a federal subject of Russia . Its area, at , is relatively small compared to other federal subjects, but it is one of the most densely populated regions in the country and, with the 2010 population of 7,092,941, is the second most populous federal subject...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, which has since the 1960s been home to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC). Officially, the area was known as "closed military townlet No. 1" and at various times had also been designated as Shchyolkovo-14 and Zvyozdny .
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Overview
Cosmonauts of the Russian Federal Space AgencyRussian Federal Space Agency
The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located...
, and the Soviet space program
Soviet space program
The Soviet space program is the rocketry and space exploration programs conducted by the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the 1930s until its dissolution in 1991...
before it, have lived and trained in Star City since the 1960s. In the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
era the location was a highly secret and guarded military installation, access to which was severely restricted. Many Russian cosmonauts, past and present, and Training Centre's personnel, live in Star City with their families. The facility has its own post office, high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, shops, child day care/kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, sports and recreation facilities, railway station, and a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of space travel and human exploration. Air transportation is available through nearby Chkalovsky Airport
Chkalovsky Airport
Chkalovsky Airport , is a military airport base near Shchyolkovo, Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located 31 km northeast of Moscow.Chkalovsky provides air support for Star City, Russia, Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center, and other elements of the Soviet space program and Russian Federal Space...
.
In the summer 1992, American "Youth Science Ambassadors" sponsored by People to People International
People to People International
People to People International was established on September 11, 1956, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as part of the U.S. Information Agency...
were hosted at Star City where they were treated to a presentation by cosmonaut Anatoly Artsebarsky
Anatoly Artsebarsky
Anatoly Pavlovich Artsebarsky is a former Soviet cosmonaut.He became a cosmonaut in 1985. Artsebarsky has spent almost 5 months in space on a single spaceflight. In 1991, he flew aboard Soyuz TM-12 and docked with the Mir Space Station. Artsebarsky and Sergei Krikalev stayed aboard Mir while the...
. In the mid- to late 1990s, groups of select students from high school in Star City participated in the Russian American Cultural Exchange Program (RACE). Students first hosted, then visited, American counterparts attending five high schools in the Sewanhaka Central High School District
Sewanhaka Central High School District
The Sewanhaka Central High School District is a central high school district located in western Nassau County on Long Island, in New York State. The district is currently composed of five high schools: Sewanhaka High School, Elmont Memorial High School, New Hyde Park Memorial High School, Floral...
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
The "space dog" Laika
Laika
Laika was a Soviet space dog that became the first animal to orbit the Earth – as well as the first animal to die in orbit.As little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living creatures at the time of Laika's mission, and the technology to de-orbit had not yet been developed, there...
, the first animal to orbit the earth, has a statue in Star City.
Transport
Transportation needs are met by 380 bus and taxis that stop near the border checkpoints and by a railway station located in a short walking distance.Incorporation
For most of its history, the space training center was in jurisdiction of the Soviet and then Russian military. However, in August 1996, due to the changes in legislation the center became subordinated both to the Ministry of Defense and to the RoscosmosRussian Federal Space Agency
The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located...
. This double status remained in effect until October 1, 2008, when the center was re-organized and subordinated directly and solely to the Roscosmos. As a result, the status of the territory of Star City was changed from military to civil, and the territory itself was incorporated as a closed administrative-territorial formation
Closed city
A closed city or closed town is a settlement with travel and residency restrictions in the Soviet Union and some of its successor countries. In modern Russia, such places are officially known as "closed administrative-territorial formations" ....
of Zvyozdny gorodok. Within the closed formation, the territory was organized on June 16, 2009 as an inhabited locality with the status of a work settlement
Urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement ; , selyshche mis'koho typu ) is an official designation for a type of locality used in some of the countries of the former Soviet Union...
. A proposal to officially name the work settlement as Zvyozdny gorodok was submitted to the federal government on October 29, 2009, but as of 2011 has not yet been officially approved.