Full Member
May 2020 - Jun 14, 2023 19:51:52 GMT
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Post by KitsuneFox on Nov 16, 2021 19:40:03 GMT
In the history of spaceflight, no site is more historic than the Baikonur Cosmodrome located in Kazakhstan [ GM LINK ] . The Soviet Union started construction in the early 1950's, and by 1955 the first parts of the facility where opened. Site 1 [ GM LINK ] is the location of the first successful satellite launch ( Sputnik ) in 1957, first manned spaceflight in 1961, and first female in space in 1963. Currently the land is leased to Russia until 2050. Parts of the complex are still being used by both the Russian space program and other countries. In more recent history: in 2002 the roof collapsed on building МИК 112 [ GM LINK ] killing up to 8 construction workers [ LINK ] & grabbing the attention of international media , in 2013 two partially constructed Buran-Energia spacecraft where rediscovered in hanger 112a [ GM LINK ] [ LINK ] [ LINK ] , and at the end of 2019, Site 1 was decommissioned due to lack of funding. [ LINK ]A bit of history [ LINK ]
More information [ LINK ]Facilities information & list [ LINK ]Site 1 launchpad. . Hanger 112a as of 2018. . Building МИК 112 after the roof collapse in 2002. .
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Master Cartographer
April 2015 - Apr 26, 2024 6:48:33 GMT
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Post by syzygy on Nov 16, 2021 22:35:37 GMT
Great compilation of informations on topic, thanks for sharing! Interesting, right after I have read this I checked my Instagram and seen a new post by 'discoverearth' about Baikonur and the Buran [ link]. It was so close to your post that the question arises as to whether or not it can be also you... ( :
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Full Member
May 2020 - Jun 14, 2023 19:51:52 GMT
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Post by KitsuneFox on Nov 17, 2021 1:13:02 GMT
Believe it or not, I do not use social media. About 3 or 4 years ago I was watching some YouTube videos featuring abandoned places, and it was mentioned that 2 space shuttles where discovered in an abandoned building in Kazakhstan. This piqued my interest, so I researched how this happened and the history of the Buran-Energia project . Recently, with the renewed public interest in spaceflight, I decided to figure out the precise location where those partially constructed shuttles where being stored. It had taken a while to find out ( and confirm ) the site number where the building was. I was unable to find any precise maps of the Cosmodrome, which lead to me spending a good amount of time photomatching with GM to find out. In my search I dug up a lot of information on the Cosmodrome and figured posting it here would be helpful to others who may also be curious about the abandoned spacecraft. Note: there is a lot of not-helpful information out there. For example- Site 112 & Site 112a are not in the same location and the Assembly and Fueling Complex hanger 112a has not collapsed ( as of May 2020 ), that was building МИК 112 in 2002 ( which damaged 3 shuttles and other parts ) .
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