The article highlights the wider cultural and historical context of space exploration and interest in vastness which, particularly in Russian history, exceeds the ideological frames of the Cold War and the Space Race. A strong interest in the cosmos and the cosmic is a particularity of the Russian tradition, and we can see it expressed in theoretical texts and works of art and literature of the 20th century. By exploring new connections in the Russian tradition that are not related solely to the Soviet rocket program or the ideology of the Cold War, the article goes against the generally accepted reception which equates Russian interest in space with the desire to defeat the Americans in the Space Race. While contributing to the understanding of the cosmic tradition in Russian culture is one of the article’s goals, the text is also relevant as a reflection on the general context of thought contributing to a major event such as the Moon landing.
The article highlights Russian Constructivism as special period in Russian culture. It was an avant-garde artistic movement closely related to the ideas of flight and triumph over spatial and temporal boundaries which are contained in the concept of liberating the human of all forces (including the force of gravity). The author clearly outlines the movement’s orientation towards synthesis and the unification of science, technology and art, which makes the specifics of the principle of “machine” and “organic”, applied by Russian Constructivism to technology, especially evident.
