Baikonur Cosmodrome

[Kevin]

One of my favorite hobbies if photography. I will never earn a living from it, nor will I ever be able to get my hands on the heavy gear that the pros use, but it is a hobby that I enjoy none the less.

Of course one of my other interests in life is space exploration, all facets of it.

Combining those two items is an article over at The Boston Globe with some incredible photographs from The Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Baikonur is a city in Kazakhstan that is leased to Russia for its space operation and the Baikonur Cosmodrome serves as Russia main space port. Think of it as the Russian version of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL.

Embedding any small version of the photos just won't do them justice so visit here to read the full original article and to view the photos.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome

 

[Viktor Kuprin]

Wow! The photos knocked my eyes out. Absolutely beautiful!

The Russians are rolling in petro-dollars now thanks to oil prices. In fact, they're buying up real estate in England and other "safer" refuges for their capital. I can't help but wonder what could happen if they would allocate some of that wealth to rejuvenating their space program, instead of just operating it as a taxi-for-hire service. I've based my Kosmosflot universe of fiction on that premise. And, just maybe, the Chinese efforts could be the catalyst for the Russians to get moving again. As for NASA, well ... the US must pay for two wars in central Asia and recover from its own economic collapse first. Of course, some put their hopes in the private sector to take Americans into space in a big way, IF NASA and the insurance companies don't become insurmoutable obstacles. We shall see ...