On May 29, Apple TV will launch “Star City,” their 10-episode spinoff of “For All Mankind” that depicts an alternate history of the space race from the Soviet perspective as they become the first nation to land a human on the moon instead of the United States.
But far from being pure fiction, “Star City” is based on the real-life hidden Russian city just outside Moscow where cosmonauts lived and trained alongside engineers, scientists, and the ever-present eyes and ears of KGB agents keeping a lid on Soviet secrets.
As a primer for Apple TV’s upcoming show starring Rhys Ifans, Anna Maxwell Martin, Agnes O’Casey, Alice Englert, Solly McLeod, Adam Nagaitis, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, and Josef Davies, we’re heading behind the Iron Curtain to glean more info on how this location became the nexus for the USSR’s human spaceflight endeavors. Along the way we’ll pop in with a NASA expert and space history author to hear their thoughts on Star City, which is still operating today as a bustling international hub of cosmonaut activity. Break out the vodka and come along, dear comrades, while we drink a toast to Star City!
A forbidden city in the trees
At the tail end of the 1950s it was apparent that the Soviet’s nascent manned spaceflight program needed a permanent home, something slightly off the grid (and maps!) yet close enough to the country’s capital and its political infrastructure. The secret location chosen was located roughly 40km northeast of Moscow, nestled within a thick evergreen forest, and became the main training facility and home to Russia’s cosmonauts. Nicknamed Zvezdny Gorodok, or Star City/Starry Town, this clandestine base of operations was built beside the Tsiolkovskaya railway station served by the Yaroslavl Railroad.
Founded in 1960 as Military Unit 26266, Star City evolved into the core of cosmonaut development for the next three decades until the fall of the USSR in 1991. Upon the 1968 death of Russia’s first man in space, this closed city was then renamed the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in honor of their pioneering hero.
Like Hogwarts with heroes in spacesuits instead of wizards in robes
This Soviet-sanctioned Cosmonaut School contained all the necessary living and training equipment for the country’s initial class of candidates during the Cold War to learn the required knowledge and gain hands-on experience to travel into space. These pre-selected fighter pilots and their families moved into their apartments during the summer of 1960 after residing at the Frunze Central Airfield in Moscow. They joined dozens of civilian personnel assigned to the compound who were all part of the monumental endeavor.
Renowned Soviet pilot and polar explorer Nikolai Kamanin became the director of training for all cosmonauts in the program. Besides the Vostok spacecraft simulators and actual classrooms, Star City, also became its own self-sustaining community over the years with the addition of parks, schools, gym, church, post office, pharmacy, rehab facilities, and a movie theater.
“Star City is the same species of town as Baikonur—a purpose-built space community that is equal parts industry and inspiration,” Jeffrey Kluger, New York Times bestselling co-author of “Apollo 13” with Jim Lovell and author of “Gemini: Stepping Stone To The Moon,” tells Space. “Think of Ford’s Dearborn plant but with the target not on the roads but off the planet.”
It wasn’t the Ritz-Carlton, but it was cozy
Once you got past humorless armed guards at checkpoints leading to Star City, what workers found were cold clusters of austere buildings and apartment blocks designed for practicality that held a sterile architectural purity so often seen on display in Cold War-era structures.
During the historic Apollo-Soyuz Project in the mid-1970s, Star City welcomed Americans for the first time, adding college-style dormitories for NASA’s astronauts while they trained with cosmonauts for that historic 1975 mission. After the dissolving of the Soviet Union, NASA constructed several duplexes for housing during the Shuttle–Mir program completed from 1994-1998.
Today the once-forbidden, concrete-walled town is populated by engineers, scientists, current and retired cosmonauts, training specialists, scientists, doctors, and administrative staffers. NASA has had permanent presence here since ’94 and there’s evidence everywhere of the history of the country’s storied space program, Yuri Gagarin, and the future graduates of the GCTC.
“The early Soviet space program was responsible for so many of the major ‘firsts’ of the Space Race, and it’s fascinating to look at how the U.S. responded during those early years – something I explore in my most recent book,” NASA historian and author Andy Saunders tells Space. “One of the clearest differences between the two programs is embodied by Star City itself, which began as a top-secret military facility. American successes and failures played out in front of the world, while the Soviets often celebrated their triumphs and concealed their setbacks.
“That secrecy gives Star City an almost mythical quality even today. Despite the political rivalry and different public images of the two programs, behind the scenes both were driven by the same extraordinary ambition – to push human beings further than ever before.”
Last one in the buoyancy pool is a bowl of borscht
The Cosmonaut Training Center and its simulation facilities within its borders also include a soccer stadium, a heating complex that warms Star City during Russia’s harsh winters, a children’s space camp, and a metal fabrication factory. 600 employees work at the GCTC, training the next generation of cosmonauts whose eyes are aimed at the stars.
Specific facilities include: A 12-meter-deep hydro-lab pool for spacewalk practice equipped with full-scale mockups of essential components of the Russian International Space Station Segment and a 20-ton MIR module; full-size mockups of every spacecraft developed by the old USSR; a massive TsF-18 centrifuge and downsized TsF-7 centrifuge, a deluxe planetarium which can project up to 9,000 stars, and a new integrated pilot simulator for Russia’s next-gen PTK-Orel transport spacecraft. And did we mention the tribute statue to Laika the space dog?
Another attraction in Star City is the Museum of Cosmonautics, which contains an impressive collection of documents and materials chronicling the history of manned cosmonautics. Its exhibit halls detail a range of space programs over the decades from Vostok to Mir. Also available for viewing are spacecraft mockups, simulators, cosmonaut spacesuits, personal items belonging to legendary space figures, and even a reproduction of Yuri Gagarin‘s actual office.
Pack your suitcase for a star city vacation!
Well, we wouldn’t start packing your bags quite yet, but it is possible to visit this highly restricted Russian village that’s still lightly guarded at checkpoints — but now using only civilian personnel rather than military. Today, Star City is home to just under 7,000 people. It’s relatively tiny, encompassing about 7 square kilometers (2.70 square miles) adding up both the city itself and its Space Center.
Since 2009, Star City’s training center is no longer under the Russina’ Ministry of Defense’s strict military control and is currently run by the Russian Federal Space Agency known more commonly as Roscosmos.
There are several Star City tourism companies that offer packages to take an excursion to Moscow or have an extended stay in this strange remnant of another age. But to begin the process, a special permit is required which must be approved a month before your visit by Russian authorities. This can be handled by private travel firms that organize vacations to the area, as well as jet rides, zero-G flights, or a Baikonur cosmodrome side-trip!
For an easier route to Star City, virtual tours can be experienced at the official GCTC site. Nostrovia!