ОБЪЕКТ-Д
Exhibition Opening:
29/09 Friday 5pm-Late
Show Continues:
30/09 Saturday 10am - 4pm,
01/10 Sunday 10am - 2pm
Object D (ОБЪЕКТ-Д) was the third Soviet satellite launched into orbit in 1958.
Developed by leading soviet scientists at OKB-1 (ОПЫТНО-КОНСТРУКТОРСКОЕ БЮРО, Experimental Design Bureau) and launched on the back of a modified R-7/SS-6 ICBM, Object D exploded 88 seconds after launch under mysterious circumstances. An exact replica of Object D, which was assembled simultaneously to the original satellite, was successfully launched 18 days after the first attempt and has since been known as Sputnik-3 (СПУТНИК-3, lit trans: Satellite 3).
Object D was a massive orbiting physics laboratory containing 12 experiments to measure conditions in outer space and far more advanced than any of its predecessors. Each experiment was devised and created by a panel of Soviet and international physicists. Varying accounts also reveal that a 13th experiment was included in the launch of the first Object D launch, which was believed to have played a part in its destruction after launch. The 13th experiment was intended to be a direct follow up to the launch of Laika in Sputnik-2. This experiment was devised by disgraced physicist and occultist Professor Dmitri Vasili Radakov who was known to have ties to Eastern European spiritualism sects and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Radakov’s family had direct links to Rasputin and Radakov himself was known to have studied under George Ivanovich Gurdjieff in his early years at OKB-1. Exact details of the 13th experiment remain undisclosed.
Object D (version 2) reached orbit during the International Geophysical Year, an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific interchange between East and West had been seriously interrupted. Sixty-seven countries participated in IGY projects that encompassed a wide range of Earth sciences and collected data that led the world into a new era of science and technology. This small collection includes original artefacts including signage fragments and propaganda posters from the Object D project circulated within OKB-1.
Some of this may be true.
This exhibition explores themes of the post war drive for progress, the idea of international scientific collaboration beyond politics and the concept of sacrifice to achieve scientific ends.
Mission signage as damaged archaeological artefacts highlights the distance of time since this era of ‘progress’. The language of propaganda posters with reused pop cultural images discusses the honour of sacrifice. Maybe. At least this is what we are going for here…
ДвР