12 Cool Pieces of Space History You Can See in Russia (and Kazakhstan)

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Olympic torch

Elizabeth Howell/Space.com

This Olympic torch was flown to the International Space Station in 2013 ahead of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Cosmonauts took the torch out on a spacewalk as part of the traditional torch relay. The torch now resides at the RKK Energia Museum in Moscow.

Space-flown Soyuz

Elizabeth Howell/Space.com

Visitors to the RKK Energia Museum in Moscow can climb inside a space-flown Soyuz (which comes equipped with a mannequin). This particular spacecraft, called Soyuz-T3, flew on a 12-day mission starting on Nov. 27, 1980. It also visited the former Soviet Union's Salyut 6 space station.

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Elizabeth Howell
Elizabeth Howell
Former Staff Writer, Spaceflight (July 2022-November 2024)

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, leading world coverage about a lost-and-found space tomato on the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. 

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