If you live in America, it’s virtually impossible to avoid learning a great deal about our space program from school, television, movies and more. To most of us the Russian space program, which actually began before ours, remains a mystery.

In the story of a millionaire who is about to become the sixth to pay for a visit to the International Space Station, we get a rare glimpse inside Russia’s Cosmonaut training facilities.

Zvyozdny Gorodok is the birthplace of spaceflight. Ever since the Soviets built the cosmonaut training center in 1960, this city of 8,000 has been shrouded in mystery, even left off maps. After Yuri Gagarin trained here and became the first person to travel into space, Star City became a sort of Bolshevik Oz in the minds of the Russian people, with highly evolved star men living in gleaming silver towers.

The reality, Garriott discovers as he checks in at the security booth on his first day of training in January, is a bit different. Nearby, an old woman sells chocolate and cigarettes from a tiny kiosk. Garriott makes his way past the solemn armed guards at the gate and follows a trail through the towering pines. Grim cement buildings covered in peeling paint rise from the cracked pavement. An enormous babushka trudges past, lugging a grocery sack. (Full story with photos on Wired)

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