Galina Balashova facts for kids

Galina Andreevna Balashova (Russian: Галина Андреевна Балашова, born in 1931) is a talented Russian architect and designer. She played a super important role in the early days of the Soviet space program. Her designs helped astronauts feel at home in space!

Galina Balashova's Early Life and Career

Galina Balashova was born in a city called Kolomna. She studied architecture at the Moscow Architectural Institute. After finishing her studies in 1955, she started working at a design institute. Her first jobs involved making residential buildings simpler.

Designing for Space

In 1957, Galina joined a special design bureau called OKB-1. This was the main place for designing spacecraft for the Soviet Union. At first, she designed homes for the engineers. But soon, her amazing skills were needed for something much bigger: designing the inside of spacecraft!

She helped create the interiors for the famous Soyuz spacecraft. She also designed parts of the Salyut and Mir space stations. These were like homes in orbit for astronauts. Galina also worked as a helper for the Buran programme, which was a Soviet space shuttle project. She stopped working in 1991 when the Soviet Union ended. After that, her designs, which were once top secret, became known to the public.

What Galina Balashova Designed for Space

Galina Balashova's job was to make the inside of spacecraft comfortable and practical. She designed everything from furniture to control panels. She even created decorative logos and murals for the walls.

Designing for Zero Gravity

Designing for space is tricky because there's no gravity! Galina had to think about how astronauts would move around. She used bright, contrasting colors for the floor and ceiling. This helped astronauts know which way was up and down so they wouldn't get confused. Her love for watercolors as a child helped her choose these colors. She also used the color green in her designs. This was because televisions at the time showed green colors best.

The Apollo-Soyuz Emblem Story

One of Galina's most famous designs was for a special lapel pin. This pin was used at an exhibition in France in 1973. Later, it became the official symbol for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. This was a historic meeting in space between American and Soviet spacecraft.

Even though she designed it, Galina wasn't allowed to put her name on the drawing. Her bosses said it was for "safety reasons." This meant she didn't get credit for her amazing work, even though 100,000 pins were given out! News about the project spread, but Galina still didn't get recognition.

However, a factory that made the pins decided to give her credit. They created special certificates saying she was the designer. This made her bosses very angry! They thought they should get the credit. Galina had to explain that it was the factory's idea, not hers. She even had to sign a paper saying she wouldn't ask for money from the design. It was unfair because another person later used her design and reportedly made a lot of money from it.

Today, Galina Balashova's important work is finally being recognized. Her contributions to designing for space are being highlighted in books and exhibitions. She truly was a pioneer in making space a more livable place!

See also

In Spanish: Galina Balashova para niños

• Zarema Nagayeva