61–70 of 124 posts
Its interesting to see how these shuttles mirror the US ones on the outside due to Soviet spies getting pictures and plans but the interior, especially the cockpit, is all Russian, sparse and uncomfortable. I guess they didn't get intel on that.
On reading up, "finding" isn't quite accurate, as the locations of these two shuttles were perfectly well known. They're OK-1K2 and OK-4M on Wikipedia's list below, located in MZK building 80, area 112a, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_programme#Buran-class_sp... However, obviously sneaking in to take pictures is not an everyday occurrence, it's still a Russian military base and p…
He not only managed to sneak inside the base, he apparently made it into the shuttle itself. If the last photo is a picture of him, he's dressed in military clothing, so maybe he just blended in and no one bothered to check him.
http://battlerattle.marinecorpstimes.com/wp-content/uploads/...
Makes you wonder if Russia's contributions to science back in the Soviet days were bigger than today under Putin's rule...
No, it does not. It is clear that the Soviet Union, for all its flaws, was one of the foremost nations (or collection of such) when it comes to scientific endeavours. Where they failed was in the translation of scientific data to 'products', but that is another story. Modern Russia still has its share of eminent scientists, but they lack the s(t)olid backing of a nation which felt like it had something to prove.
Wonder what kind of state support for scientific endeavours they have today?
Makes you wonder if Russia's contributions to science back in the Soviet days were bigger than today under Putin's rule...
No, it does not. It is clear that the Soviet Union, for all its flaws, was one of the foremost nations (or collection of such) when it comes to scientific endeavours. Where they failed was in the translation of scientific data to 'products', but that is another story. Modern Russia still has its share of eminent scientists, but they lack the s(t)olid backing of a nation which felt like it had something to prove.
How abandoned is the hangar? There are some other people in the photos, and no matter how isolated the area is, surely the nearest town or two has wandered into the giant complex up the road a few times. Still, it's amazing that this is the sort of thing people can just potentially wander into. Really makes you want to go explore the world.
For background, it's literally a circle of land, 100km in diameter, in the middle of nowhere in Kazakhstan.
There is one road in, and one road out. From this road, the only trace of 'Baikonour' that you see is a small enclave bearing the same name on the side of the road.
We actually drove past it - it's that small. Inside this enclave (and it is - it's got huge concrete walls around it) - are the famous sputnik hotel, and various bits and pieces. But it's first and foremost a small town for people who live and support the program.
There are armed guards at the entrance - who don't let anyone in that's not a local, or doesn't have permission from ROSMOS.
North of this, is the actual launch / test zone. It's desert. From the road, you see nothing.
The advantage of this being: if something blows up, you just try again elsewhere. There are many abandoned launch pads / facilities in this zone.
The actual 'creeping in' - there are no physical fences keeping you out of the zone. If you've bothered to make the effort to get there, getting into the zone and the hangar itself wouldn't be too difficult at all.
And yes - go and explore the world. Kazakhstan is an amazing place. You wanna find desolation, you can find it there.
By the way, if you go through Baikonour, don't stop in the next town. The cops enjoy extorting cash :D
Makes you wonder if Russia's contributions to science back in the Soviet days were bigger than today under Putin's rule...
They need to get rid of the extortion, fraud, and payoffs. They need to get rid of Putin! As a kid, my father was harassing a Russian neighbor. He said if your country was so great--why do you your comrades want to buy Levi jeans, and they were getting $100 at the time used. He looked at my father, and said, 'Russian has its problems, but if went there today you couldn't find a homeless person.' My father didn't have…
The Soviet Union was hell, the same for East Germany. There was a reason there were weeks of parties in Berlin when the wall came down. There aren't any homeless in North Korea either.. doesn't mean it's even remotely close to a model society.
Makes you wonder if Russia's contributions to science back in the Soviet days were bigger than today under Putin's rule...
They need to get rid of the extortion, fraud, and payoffs. They need to get rid of Putin! As a kid, my father was harassing a Russian neighbor. He said if your country was so great--why do you your comrades want to buy Levi jeans, and they were getting $100 at the time used. He looked at my father, and said, 'Russian has its problems, but if went there today you couldn't find a homeless person.' My father didn't have…
This reminds me of the cancelled Superconducting Super Collider in Texas. The argument to keep building it was they'd already invested billions and it would cost millions of dollars to stop building it. I guess that cost would have been from contract guarantees to the builders or something. Looks like when the Soviets stop building something they just walk away.
It was / is huge. 27KM from memory. It blew over budget, because less relevant, and closed. There is a mini collider that is active in one of its 'corners'.
Today, it's empty, and a little bit flooded. They keep pumps on to keep the water out, but the place is, essentially, ruined.
Great photos. Does anyone have details why soviets thought a carbon copy of the botched shuttle design was a good idea in the first place? Where the economics of the vehicle not so obvious back then?
I'll guess your crack is motivated by shuttle's mission, which was misguided (to say the least). Hampered by its LEO envelope, the Air Force should never have contemplated launching satellites on a man-rated platform at all.
But the orbiter itself... a thing of beauty. I've said here before that I'd like to have seen shuttle reattempted, this time with 21st century technologies. (So long as someone else is paying the expense!)
