Educational Activities of the First Special Meteor Expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1921–1922

Abstract

Investigating the activities of the First Soviet Meteorite Expedition of 1921–1922, the paper aims to analyze the objectives of the expedition and fill in some gaps in the Quest for the Tunguska Meteorite. Aiming to recover either the fragments of the Tunguska meteorite or any other meteorite, the expedition was launched by the Russian Academy of Sciences and led by Leonid A. Kulik. The Yenissei province in Siberia was among several territories where the Expedition worked. The paper hypothesizes that the First Soviet Meteorite Expedition (1921– 1922) was a factor that contributed not only to the development of the new Soviet space science but became a unique driving force behind the vigorous attempt of the Soviet state to shift the backward mental paradigm full of prejudices and cognitive misconceptions and introduce the new one that prioritized scientific knowledge. The paper identifies the legal basis for the Expedition, its overall educational impact on ordinary people. The paper argues that the First Soviet Meteorite Expedition of 1921–1922 became a factor in transforming the sociocultural space and an incentive for further scientific research. The paper presents a historiographical review within the framework of the topic and introduces some new data obtained from the documents stored in the local archives (the towns of Yeniseisk and Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory).