Editing Baikonur Cosmodrome (section)

==Baikonur Museum==
[[File:Buran baikonur.jpg|thumb|[[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]] test article OK-ML-1 at Baikonur Museum]]

The Baikonur Cosmodrome has a small museum, next to two small cottages, once residences of the rocket engineer [[Sergei Korolev]] and the first [[cosmonaut]], [[Yuri Gagarin]]. Both cottages are part of the museum complex and have been preserved. The museum is home to a collection of space artefacts. A restored test article from the Soviet [[Buran programme]] sits next to the museum entrance. The only [[Buran (spacecraft)|completed orbiter]], which flew a single orbital test mission in 1988, was destroyed in a hangar collapse in 2002.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=[[BBC]]|title=Russia's space dreams abandoned|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1985631.stm|work=[[bbc.co.uk]]|access-date=14 November 2007|date=13 May 2002|last=Whitehouse|first=David|archive-date=20 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320062353/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1985631.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.buran.ru/images/jpg/bbur89.jpg|title=Buran.ru: ''Photo of collapsed hangar''|access-date=24 February 2013|archive-date=25 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170725051823/http://buran.ru/images/jpg/bbur89.jpg|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.buran.ru/images/jpg/bbur90.jpg|title=Buran.ru: ''Remains of Buran photo with right front windscreen still visible under the debris''|access-date=24 February 2013|archive-date=20 December 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061220094227/http://www.buran.ru/images/jpg/bbur90.jpg|url-status=live}}</ref> For a complete list of surviving Buran vehicles and artefacts, see [[Buran programme#List of vehicles|Buran programme § List of vehicles]].

The museum also houses photographs related to the cosmodrome's history, including images of all cosmonauts. Every crew of every expedition launched from Baikonur leaves behind a signed crew photograph that is displayed behind the glass.[[File:SputnikTestModel.jpg|thumb|The [[Sputnik 1]] satellite test model is shown at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Museum of Space History in Kazakhstan.]]

Baikonur's museum holds many objects related to Gagarin, including the ground control panel from his flight, his uniforms, and soil from his landing site, preserved in a silver container. One of the museum rooms also holds an older version of the Soyuz descent capsule.

In 2021, the Baikonur space complex was named as one of the top 10 tourist destinations in Kazakhstan.<ref>{{Cite news|last=June 2021|first=Adelya Dauletkyzy in Tourism on 16|date=2021-06-16|title=Kazakhstan Selects Top 10 Tourist Destinations|url=https://astanatimes.com/2021/06/kazakhstan-selects-top-10-tourist-destinations/|access-date=2021-09-27|website=The Astana Times|language=en}}</ref>

In 2023, a plan was announced to add the [[Gagarin's Start]] launch complex to the museum complex at Baikonur.<ref name="gagarinsstartintoamuseum"/>