Star City

**Star City** (Russian: Звёздный городо́к) is the commonly used name of a closed area in Moscow OblastW near Moscow, Soviet Union. It is the home of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training CenterW, a secret training base for Soviet cosmonaut candidates and a military research facility. The name Star City may refer to the facility itself or to its grounds.

## Background

The official name of the city is "Sakryty wojenny gorodok 1" (Закрытый военный городок № 1, English: closed military townlet #1). The location is a highly secret and guarded military installation to which access is severely restricted. It has its own post office, shops, school, and a railway station, and there is a military airport nearby. Soviet cosmonauts as well as training center's personnel live in Star City with their families.

### Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

Part of Star City is the "Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center" (GCTC). The center was founded by Soviet Space Program chief designer Sergei Korolev in 1960 and originally only known as "Military Unit 26266" (or в/ч 26266). It was later named "Tsentr Podgotovki Kosmonavtov" (TsPK) (English: Cosmonaut Training Centre) until it was renamed 1968 in honor of the first human in space, Yuri GagarinW.

## History

### Season 2

In 1983, Danielle Poole and Nathan Morrison were invited to Star City in preparation of the Apollo-Soyuz mission. When they arrived at the airport, together with their Soviet colleagues Stepan Alexseev and Radislav Orlov, they were searched by armed soldiers, observed by Soviet chief engineer and director of the training center, Sergei Korolev.

After the incident with Korean Air Lines Flight 007, Danielle and Nathan were locked in their rooms in Star City, without further information. After 2 days, Danielle was visited by Korolev, who brought Vodka and a sausage and wanted to talk to her, as he had never met an American astronaut before.

### Season 4

After the capturing mission of the asteroid XF Kronos failed miserably on March 17, 2003, Margo Madison, now living under the name "Margaret Reynolds" in Moscow, took the bus to Star City to meet Roscosmos director Lenara Catiche. However, she was only received by a representative, Kirill Semenov, who told her to not come in unannounced again.

Months later, Margo was arrested after being accidently involved in a turmoil at Artem's newsstand, where she wanted to buy some newspapers. After being interrogated by a police officer and later by an army colonel, during which she learns about a coup d'état in the Soviet Union and the end of Mikhail Gorbachev's presidency and is mistreated and forced to watch an execution, they cover her head with a burlap bag and transfer her to another location. When she finally can leave the military truck and is freed from the bag, she finds herself in Star City and is received by Irina Morozova, who she shortly met in a park months ago, telling her that Fyodor Korzhenko is the new Soviet president now and she is the new director of Roscosmos, wanting her to work for them.

## Notable residents

* Yuri GagarinW
* Valentina TereshkovaW
* Alexei Leonov
* Anastasia Belikova
* Danielle Poole
* Nathan Morrison
* Margo Madison

## Gallery

### 1983

Danielle & Nathan arrive at Star CityDanielle & Nathan are searched for weaponsSergei Korolev watching from distanceView from Danielle's roomDanielle's room in Star CityNames of famous cosmonauts on the door of her roomKorolev visiting Danielle
### 2003

Roscosmos headquarter at Star CityMargo visits the headquarterEntrance hallMargo is brought to Star City after the coup d'état

## Behind the scenes

1. ↑ In 2009, the military townlet was transformed into a urban-type settlementW and renamed to Zvyozdny gorodokW.

The real Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in 2002

## External links

* Star City on Wikipedia
* Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center on Wikipedia

## References

1. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2, Episode 6: "Best Laid Plans"
2. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2, Episode 7: "Don't Be Cruel"
3. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 1: "Glasnost"
4. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 3: "The Bear Hug"