What Russia's absurdly over-the-top monuments get right about space

Now that makes you look up in awe

The Monument to the Conquerors of Space.
(Image credit: Illustrated | DickDuerrstein/iStock, Sloniki/iStock)

When it comes to monuments, Russia does nothing halfway. It is, after all, a country that recently dedicated a 30-foot-tall monument to the inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle, counts a 481-line poem about a statue of Peter the Great among its most valued literary treasures, and somehow allowed this abomination to stand in its capital for two decades. Naturally, then, monuments celebrating the Soviet Union's Space Race victories reach absurd and often literally great heights.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.