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The Baikonur Cosmodrome
When NASA's last scheduled Space Shuttle mission lands in June of 2010, the United States will not have the capability to get astronauts into space again until the scheduled launch of the new Orion spacecraft in 2015. Over those five years, the U.S. manned space program will be relying heavily on Russia and its Baikonur Cosmodrome facility in Kazakhstan. Baikonur is an entire Kazakh city, rented and administered by Russia. The Cosmodrome was founded in 1955, making it one of the oldest space launch facilites still in operation. Here are collected some photographs of manned and unmanned launches from Baikonur over the past several years. (26 photos total)
The Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft and its booster rocket, transported by rail to the launch pad to be raised to a vertical launch position at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on October 16, 2003, in preparation for liftoff October 18 to carry C. Michael Foale, Expedition 8 commander and NASA science officer; Alexander Kaleri, Soyuz Commander and flight engineer; and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain to the International Space Station. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Soyuz TMA-11 prime and backup crewmembers are protected behind glass during the State Commission meeting and press conference Oct. 9, 2007 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew was in preparation for their launch to the International Space Station Oct. 10 in their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft. (NASA/Bill Ingalls) #
NASA astronaut Peggy A. Whitson, Expedition 16 commander, has a pressure suit leak check performed on her Russian Sokol launch and entry suit at RSC Energia Assembly and Testing Facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in preparation for her launch on a Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft to the International Space Station scheduled for Oct. 10. (NASA/Victor Zelentsov) #
Cosmonaut Salizhan S. Sharipov, Russia's Federal Space Agency Expedition 10 flight engineer and Soyuz commander, donned his launch and entry suit and climbed aboard the Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft October 5, 2004, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a dress rehearsal of launch day activities leading to their liftoff October 14 to the International Space Station. (NASA/Bill Ingall) #
Astronaut Leroy Chiao (r), Expedition 10 commander cosmonaut Salizhan S. Sharipov (c), and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin (l) donned their launch and entry suits and climbed aboard the Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft October 5, 2004, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a dress rehearsal of launch day activities leading to their liftoff October 14 to the ISS. (NASA/Bill Ingalls) #
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov (center), Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko (right) and South Korean spaceflight participant So-yeon Yi bid farewell to well wishers April 8, 2008 prior to heading to the launch pad for their liftoff on the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft to the International Space Station. (NASA /Victor Zelentsov) #
The Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft is rolled to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan April 6, 2008 in preparation for launch April 8 to carry new residents and a spaceflight participant to the International Space Station. The Soyuz began the move from its assembly and integration building to the launch pad on a railcar at sunrise, arriving at the pad several hours later for final technical preparations. (NASA /Victor Zelentsov) #
With a mockup of the defunct Russian "Buran" Space Shuttle sitting passively nearby (lower right), the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft and its booster rocket crawl on a rail car to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan October 16, 2003, in preparation for its liftoff October 18 to carry three astronauts to the International Space Station. (NASA/Bill Ingalls) #
Baikonur hosts both manned and unmanned launches. Here is shown a Russian Proton-M rocket carrying a Canadian communication Nimiq 4 satellite being transported to a launching pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 15, 2008. The Proton-M will carry the satelite into geostationary orbit on September 18, 2008. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
A Soyuz spacecraft lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 10:54 p.m. (CDT) on April 26, 2003. Onboard were cosmonaut Yuri I. Malenchenko, Expedition Seven mission commander, and astronaut Edward T. Lu, NASA ISS science officer and flight engineer. Malenchenko represents Rosaviakosmos. (NASA/Scott Andrews) #
Backdropped by a cloud-covered Earth, the Soyuz 14 (TMA-10) spacecraft approaches the International Space Station. Onboard the spacecraft are cosmonauts Fyodor N. Yurchikhin, Expedition 15 commander; and Oleg V. Kotov, Soyuz commander and flight engineer, both representing Russia's Federal Space Agency; along with spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi. With Kotov at the controls, the Soyuz linked up to the ISS on April 9, 2007. (NASA) #
Seen in front of the Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft approaches the International Space Station. Onboard the spacecraft are astronaut Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Expedition 14 commander and NASA space station science officer; cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Soyuz commander and flight engineer representing Russia's Federal Space Agency; and spaceflight participant Anousheh Ansari. The Soyuz linked up to the Zvezda Service Module aft port at on Sept. 20, 2006.(NASA) #
Backdropped against the blackness of space and airglow of Earth's horizon, an unpiloted Progress supply vehicle approaches the International Space Station (ISS). The Progress 15 resupply craft launched August 11, 2004 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver almost three tons of food, fuel, oxygen, water and supplies to the Expedition 9 crewmembers onboard the Station. (NASA) #
A series of three photographs shows the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft floating to a landing southwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan at approximately 6:30 p.m. local time on April 21, 2007. Onboard were astronaut Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Expedition 14 commander and NASA space station science officer; cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Soyuz commander and flight engineer representing Russia's Federal Space Agency; and U.S. spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi. (NASA) #
Expedition 13 crewmembers - cosmonaut Pavel V. Vinogradov (center), commander, and astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams (right), flight engineer and NASA ISS science officer - along with spaceflight participant Anousheh Ansari are attended to by Russian and American search and recovery teams on the steppe of central Kazakhstan on Sept. 29, 2006 following their landing in the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft after undocking earlier in the day from the International Space Station. (NASA) #
More links and information
Baikonur (city) - Wikipedia Entry
Baikonur Cosmodrome - Wikipedia Entry
Russia space facility takes on bigger role - LATimes.com, 10/28/07
Orion - NASA's next manned spacecraft
Baikonur Cosmodrome - Google Map
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This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
Interesting to see the extent of the colour shift between photos 10 and 11...
Which one was true?!
#15 is very-very great! :))
I like this collection!
Alex
http://www.recentnews.co.uk
Once again a mindblowing collection of wonderful pictures !!!
One litte detail however: "an unpiloted Progress" @20, unmanned, but certainly not unpiloted.
Cheers.
Jon T:
In this case "true" is a hard thing to define.
Those pics were taken on different days, different times of day and in different lighting conditions. Thus the colours vary.
Isn't someone going to pray for someone in these pictures?
BEST BLOG ON THE NET HANDS DOWN! PLEASE UPDATE MORE OFTEN~
Photo #26: modern gods. The juxtaposition of high and low technologies in this image is fascinating to me. Men fall from the heavens- put there by technological achievement- and are greeted on the vast, barren steppes with fur-lined sleeping bags and flowers. It's so endearing and odd.
Thunderbirds are GO!
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_baikonur_cosmodrome.html#photo12
Probability of dying in either case is about the same, 1-2%. (Shuttle had more safe launches between Challenger and Columbia than Soyuz had since it's last fatal accident.) And the last few Soyuz re-entries have been sub-optimal to the say the least.
And Progress is unpiloted for most dockings. It uses an automated navigation and docking system.
@Space Fan
Um, no. As of 2006 (and there haven't been any fatalities since):
Soyuz (1967-Present)
------------------------------
Flights: 95
Failures: 4 (2 non-fatal)
Failure Rate: 4.21%
Cosmonauts Flown: 228
Fatalities: 4
Fatality Rate: 1.75%
Shuttle (1981-Present)
------------------------------
Flights: 116
Failures: 3 (1 non-fatal)
Failure Rate: 2.59%
Astronauts Flown: 692
Fatalities: 14
Fatality Rate: 2.02%
One of the two fatal accidents with Souyz was a human error - someone depressurized the capsule on re-entry. I'll take my chances with Soyuz, thank you very much. As far as the number of astronauts flown and the number of flights, this is a pointless metric if you consider that most Russian space programs are long-term. They send their cosmonauts up there for half a year, sometimes longer, so they need fewer flights. Add to that the fact that their resupply spacecraft is unmanned, so fewer flights are needed still.
That's some nasty lens distortion on image 3.
cows on the launchpad.. they must want to goto the mooooon
i feel claustrophobic just looking at them all crunched up like that...
Great. So Borat is going to be running our space program for a few years...
Last picture's caption. "Yeah, we're badasses"
tiny indeed: check #25.. look how small the capsule is.. how can you fit 3 people with presure suits and all that inside and still have enough strength to return from orbit.. impressive low-tech ruski's! (their choice for strong, cheap and ablating heat shields vs the spaceshuttle's mega expensive and brittle ceramic tiles
PApa posmotri
Did you notice the shuttle in the background of pic 11?
Aaron, you need to read the captions. It's a Buran mockup, not a Shuttle. The Buran was the Soviet copy of the Shuttle. It made a single unmanned flight before cancellation.
Cows on the launchpad: the herd shot 'round the world!
I'm reminded of the (possibly apocryphal) story about the effort that went into developing writing utensils for space. The US spent many dollars and many man-hours and came up with the zero-g pen. The Russians decided to use pencils.
Outstanding pictures. Alan, thanks for posting this. Somehow the simplicity and purity of the Russian space program invokes cherished memories of flying out of Burbank instead of O'Hare...
I do have one exception. Is it just me or is there something wrong with the perspective of picture 18? Look at photo 19 for example. At ISS orbital altitude, one looks down on clouds, not across.
Either the photo is "airbrushed" by the best on Madison Avenue or that is one big-dog lens and that Soyuz is way far off.
@#20
no distortion there. this is russian engineery at its best.
LOL...........In space, no one can hear you moo.
… 'Love this blog !
Photo #10 shows very well that, for the Russians, it's not about "looks" but functionality: just get a couple of old diesel locomotives to move the rockets, who needs a giant Crawler.
Photo#24: from looking at that dent in the ground the capsule made on impact I wonder how hard they hit.
WOW!!! Gorgeous shots!
Giò
http://pampafamily.homeip.net/photoblog/oculus/
Did anyone notice the product placement in the last photo (of the three cosmonauts setting around in their luxurious, comfy-looking, military-decor, fur-lined sacks)?
@Mark
I remember Pedro Duque (veteran of two space missions one with the Shuttle and another with the Soyuz) saying that cheap ballpoint pens work perfectly in space and that Russians have always used them instead those fancy zero-g pens :-)
Pictures 15,16 and 20 are great.
Cowsmonauts ... HA HA
Superb photos and what a difference compared to NASA - fascinating.
Brilliant pictures - I'm curious at the language used to describe the "astronaughts", two are described as cosmonaughts and one is described as a space flight participant.
Does anyone have an explanation as to why this is ?
Grande obra no mundo na sociedade Russa. Que continuem com este magnifico trabalho, aja força!....
images not loading for me. am i the only one?
to #10, Jon T
Pic 10 shows TMA-12 in 2008. Pic. 11 shows TMA-3 in 2003,
Different years, different rockets, different daylight, diferent paints... different truths ;-)
Fantastic Photos. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
Why is it that whenever I look at the Russian Space Program, I keep thinking it's a Steampunked version of NASA ?
Simon,
Astronaut: English/American term for a professional, trained space traveller.
Cosmonaut: Russian term.
Space flight participant: what NASA prefers to call space travellers who are not professionals, like "space tourists" (paying for their own flight) or representatives from certain countries, organisations etc.
There are many variations. For example in French, a space traveller is called a spationaut.
You can look up all these terms on Wikipedia.
Good job on the pictures - nice to see successful launches - very positive concerning human unity!
Where can i get one of those phones?!
Nice pictures I enjoy them.
@30 (Mark): Pencils in space are very problematic: Small bits of lead break off, float around, get inhaled or clog filters. Developing a space pen not a joke.
NIce pictures. Congratulations
Hi,Good photos. Good work .keep it up.
Oh my, I almost had a panic attack looking at #7! I gues you can't be a claustrophobic cosmonaut.
Colleague sent me the link to this blog. Thanks for posting a number of my images! I hope to have some more photos from the Expedition 18 launch after October 12th. Be sure to visit www.nasa.gov Cheers!
Some beautiful photos. I'd love to see a similar post detailing the Chinese space program now that Shenzhou 7 is in orbit
The space pen IS NOT a product of NASA. The U.S. space program used mechanical pencils also until an enterprising pen manufacturer developed one for them in the mid sixites. It was private money that developed the space pen, not government. Read about it.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/613/1
Umm, DMB, you made my point for me. Not sure why you're saying now. As I stated, fatality rate is approximately 1-2%. However your metric of fatality rate based on astronauts flown is meaningless. You can only really measure it against the flight rate, which giving the numbers you quote are:
2 fatal flights among 95
2 fatal flights among 116.
Again, the numbers are about the same.
And Soyuz flight you refer to, Soyuz 11 was not human error. And the number of flights flown is the only useful metric.
Space us dangerous regardless of how you fly.
Great photos, thanks for posting!
Uh, they stopped using lead in pencils decades ago -- even in Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Pencil "lead" is made out of cheaper, easily produced graphite - a simple polymer of carbon atoms only. The Soviets figured out that the graphite "dust" that the pencils produced got efficiently taken care or by their CO2 filters.
Sorry mankoff, space pens are a joke. USG agencies are legendary for overspending. They make the guys in the financial services industry look like amateurs.
oyaeby!
âî ïèçäåö, íèõóÿñåáå êîñìîíàâòåãè
de très belles images !!
merci beaucoup!
Picture #20 is amazing! Seeing this from up there would probably cause my heart to stop beating. Just think of it: we`re all within that shining stripe looking so narrow but still is higher than Mount Everest. Makes me think of George Harrison: "And to see you're really only very small,
And life flows ON within you and without you."
I like very much these nice pictures I enjoy them.
That is awesome!
#15 is Awe Inspiring!!
~Kyle
www.KyleKorpi.com
DMB: Since fatal incidents tend to result in the death of everyone on board, I would say that it makes more sense to calculate the fatality rate as the number of fatal flights versus total flights. Under that metric, the shuttle is slightly safer - it has a 1.7% fatality rate versus 2.1% for Soyuz.
---
Dimitri: The Soyuz capsule fires a retro rocket immediately before landing, so at least some of the cratering is due to that.
---
Olav: Not quite. A cosmonaut is anyone who first flew on a Russian launch vehicle and an astronaut is anyone who first flew on an American launch vehicle. (And now there's "taikonaut" for those few who have flown into space on Chinese launch vehicles). "Spationaut" is a generic term with no reference to launch vehicles, which is used only by the French government and press because, well, they're French so they have to do everything differently. ;)
ChrisUnit1: You're misinformed. Charles Northrop is correct that the "space pen" was not a government-funded program; it was privately developed. The first batch was sold to NASA at the enormous price of $2.95 each. And since 1968 both NASA and the Soviet/Russian space agencies have used them on every flight because they are safer and more reliable than pencils in a number of different ways.
Also, "lead" in a pencil is a colloquial term for graphite that has been in use for decades. And one the several, very real problems the space pen did indeed solve was bits of pencil lead breaking off and getting stuck in people's eyes, noses, shorting out electronics, etc.
Here's another link for you if you still need to be convinced:
http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
Simplesmente sensacional caro Lanza!
Congratulations to BG.
@ChrisUnit1
About your statement that both NASA and Soviet/Russian space agencies have used "space pen" since 1968 but, as I said before, Pedro Duque stated that Russian Federal Space Agency uses cheap ballpoint pens. Here you have the story he wrote while he was traveling towards the ISS back in 2003:
http://asimov.esrin.esa.it/esaCP/SEM9YN7O0MD_index_0.html
Hi,
Thanks for links, just downloaded
There is how ever .
a real space program .Useing the saucer type [ships ].
This you can find !!! is every day go here go there .
Also [they ]are on the moon as to the already built cities there
what we are given as to these shots are the[for the people ]
You would not like the news as to what is in preperation
as to those that are going too be left behind
WOW Again. Some powerful pics!
# 08 is my favorite - This is why space is awesome. Risking their life and spending a lot of it in training just to go up a few times and gather some data. The ultimate cool nerds. They also have to coexist together in a tiny capsule for long stretches of time up in space - this takes I think most of the best traits that define a human today.
Will somebody please send the Ruskies some paint and a couple of brushes?
and what about the orange paint on #26...????
#26 That's sunlight. Take a closer look.
you're totally right :)
Great set.
I like particularly #1, #14 & #19...
Fafa
"Cows on the launchpad: the herd shot 'round the world!"---
This is pure genius!
Great pictures, it's always the old same magic :)
A precision : Picture 21 : it's not the cosmodrome, it's only the city (Leninsk, renamed Baikonur in 1995).
I think Russian designs for almost everything, including rockets, are so much better than north-american's...
These are fantastic pictures ......fascinating ground-level look at the rockets...very cool !!!
www.darkflamedesign.com
Yeees, i'ts great day :)))! Wow!!
Re. Comment No.6
I think the operative word at Baikanour is functional. Not as sexy as a trip from the Cape, but I would still do it.
Posted by SC September 24, 08 01:12 PM
Guess this must be a comment from a member of the most affluent and arrogant on earth.nation
Felicitaciones, hermosas fotos!!
FANTASTICO, ES LA PRIMER VEZ QUE OBSERVO LAS BELLAS FOTOS DEL LANZAMIENTO DE RUSIA DE NAVES DE APOYO LOGISTICO A LA I.S.S. Y SU RETORNO A LA TIERRA. CREO QUE LA GUERRA ENTRE LAS NACIONES SE ACABA CUANDO COMPARTEN CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGIA PARA BENEFICIO DE LA HUMANIDAD.
ALGUN DIA ESTARE EN LA BASE DEL COSMODROMO DE BAIKONUR, CUANDO ME INVITE RUSIA. FELICITACIONES.
PROFESOR DE DERECHO AERONAUTICO Y DEL ESPACIO
I'm not trying to create a comparitive point here; but why does it seem that there are only archaic copies of old U.S. technology? why can't researchers without giving out complex information put on the most advanced rather than least desirable? Or are we being offered rank copies in order to extract our technology without cold-war mentality spying? I think that the U.S. has done nothing but give, give, give, to Russia, China, and whoever has wanted to destroy us, for the sake of genuine complex scientific study which is only used for a new space "war" that uses our technology, not to advance learning, but to destroy us with our own system
21 "cows on the launchpad.. they must want to goto the mooooon"
They'd be the first herd shot round the world...
JimO
www.jamesoberg.com
SON FOTOS MUY EMOTIVAS Y EMOCIONANTES, FELICIDADES.
òtimas imagens
estive aqui beijo do Brasil ou Brazil
Gotta love that Russian spirit and can-do attitude. So what if there are cattle nearby and flaking paint. GIT-ER-DONE! If our NASA could accomplish as much per dollar spent we could have colonized the solar system by now.
@Cliff Kott : "archaic copies of old US techs" ... if that is so, then why are they still flying while the US's pinned in the ground ? "I thinks that the US has done nothing but give^3 to Russia, China ..." : sure, Yuri Gagarin has flown in a US-given russian ship ... in the middle of Cold War ?? ... More recently, US has 'given' so much of its debt to the world that we're on the brink of '29 !!! Would you please wake up and read Noam Chomsky about what your glorious US has REALLY given the world ever since the fall of '45 Germany ? Or, have I forgotten you're a blind-crafted couch potatoe ?
These pictures are mind blowing and is almost as close as possible to really BEING THERE !! WOW
Spaceflightnow also have good collections but not of this magnitude.
Breathtaking...................
My Fav are 1,2,10,11,12,15,24
Great!
...and nostalgia..................................
not sure why people think that Russia is using American rocket technology. I thought Russia was first to fly up there. hmm.
Alle Achtung !
eine wahnsinns Fotostrecke,
meine Gratulation !
greetings from Austria
;-) franz
Where is the dog ?
Jolie photos merci
Bonjour de france
http://tuxien.net
Thanks for the link, I had such a desire when I was a child to travel the stars. But my choices and decisions I made in life prevented me from ever having that opportunity. But I still have that great feeling when I get to see emails like this one. For me it's the next best thing to being there.
This is just Splendid..
Just got back from the October 12, 2008 launch in Baikonur. We got to experience everything that was portrayed in Baikonur and Mission Control. I can verify that it's even more thrilling in person than these spectacular photos show Thanks for the memories!
Sencillamente, un buen reportaje fotografico de un emocionante proyecto. Felicitaciones a todas las personas que intervinieron. =0
The Americans built a reusable spacecraft, so the factory was expendable.
The Russians build expendable spacecraft, so the factory is reusable.
Building one more Shuttle - expensive; one more Progress - cheap.
Spasibo vsem za dobrie slova, spasibo avtoru za prekrasnie snimki.
Pust budet mir i druzba.
Ôîòêè, ïðîñòî ñóïåð.
Where is the cows ??? There is no cows on the launchpad.
And even this is may be the moon aliens ;) You don't understand anything in Russian space industry and science. Russia - forever!
About safety "challenge" between Soyuz and Shuttle.
There's also term Last Failure Date.
LFD for Soyuz was before Columbia and Challenger, so Soyuz are safer. And if Obama decide to continue to use Shuttles there can be more casualties.
PS Soyuz haz one plus for safety - The On-Launch Emrgency Rocket Engines - tall "rod" on top of the rocket. Same thing will be implemented in Constellation program. If we'll survive 2012 ;-)
PPS Áîðàò, öóêî >:-E
super
Man, I like those blue striped space suits :^)
In space no one can here you moo.....genius.!
Its fairly obvious to anyone who isnt a yank, that many of the Russian ideas in regard to space exploration are designed through thrift. So their buildings may not have a full coat of paint, and their cockpits may be cramped, they may even drag their rocket along on a train, but it works. It works very well. (like a pencil which they may or may not still use) As does their long space time system. Just send unmanned stuff up to the ISS, and leave your guys and gals up there experimenting and learning. Less risk, less expence. A good plan all round. Maybee not the best, but consideing USA's wealth, and Russias poverty, id kinda expect a starship from the US by now. I think Russia is performing and contributing admirably. (since when did the paint on a building make space craft fly better?)
And besides, the russian space contributer gal, looks kinda cute!
Good luck to all our space explorers and their technologies. Maybee soon, the ISS, will be a marriot hotel for us all to stop in and marvel at.
This IS the future of mankind. Hurry up guys i want a piece of it!
Great shots, beautifully insparational.