Now if I can just find one full of posters...
Russian photographer Ralph Mirebs was exploring around Baikonur in Kazakhstan, when he stumbled upon a very intriguing abandoned structure. Unable to resist the mystery of what might be hiding inside, he decided to take a peak.
It turned out the building was a relic of the Soviet-American space race.
The facility was apparently operational until 1993, when the Soviet Union collapsed and it was abruptly abandoned.
It was meant to house the Soviet Union’s prized space shuttles.
Three shuttles were constructed, but only one ever went on a mission, an unmanned orbit.
The shuttles were just sitting there, undisturbed and unguarded, ever since.
Despite being abandoned for so long, the building itself is in relatively good condition.
The shuttles themselves, however, aren’t doing as well.
The building’s once advanced pressure control systems failed long ago, allowing the facility to be overrun with dust and other debris damaging to the space crafts.
The scale of the facility is still mightily impressive.
Without proper care, these amazing relics of the early space exploration will be lost forever.
It’s surprising how little damage the facility itself sustained during its decades of abandonment. Only a few windows have been broken.
The holes you see at the nose of the shuttle are actually thrusters.
They would have been used for making slight corrections once the shuttle was in space.
Of all the parts on the shuttle, the cockpit might be in the best condition.
This is pretty darn cool!
Just imagine what it would have been like to sit here as the shuttle flew through space.
The hatch and pressure control systems are in pretty good shape too.
Here’s a shot from inside the fuselage.
There are hundreds more photos of the abandoned facility on Ralph Mirebs’s blog.
Comments
Nor did I!
I think a little more reading here: http://www.popsci.com.au/space/space-travel/why-the-soviet-space-shuttle-was-left-to-rot,405343
I think the photographer probably chose to set up the photo of building to give the impression of remoteness but it is where they did testing. And here's the location, zoom out - it's as remote as they come!