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more about #soyuz adamczar: I can't help but feel that in 2009, we should have gotten to "the future" already. Instead this looks like stuff from the 70s. Where's the flying ca... more » Grey_Area: The Soyuz rocket design has been around since '67. Still the most used and reliable way of getting Up There. more » limber: It's gorgeous, but does it land again? Or does all of that punkery break up and whizz around in orbit, forever threatening our satellites and space p... more » phoenix: Baikonur is really a fabulous place for space launches - it's still so old school but so high tech at the same time; it's kind of a gleaming steampunk... more » BeowulfRex: It's got that "I built this out in my barn out of a '58 Plymouth" look to it. more » GitEmSteveDave_ My Brute Dojo Code CDIAFIFE: Welcome to Cosmodrome! One rocket in, One rocket out! Hopefully. more » Zack Stentz: There's a weird, functional beauty to these pictures that it's difficult to put one's finger on-- Sovietpunk? more » -
#beyondcosmodrome
Kazakhstan's Cosmodrome Prepares for the Conquest of Space
It's amazing how sleek and old-school the Soyuz rocket looks, preparing to blast off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. Especially surrounded by Soviet-looking guards. More Cosmodrome porn is below. More » -
#spaceprogram
Russia's Space Program Could Crush the U.S. Over the Next Decade
When NASA retires its three space shuttles in 2010, US astronauts will have to rely on the Russian space program to gain entry to space and the International Space Station. Until 2015, when the Constellation program is scheduled to begin launching the Orion spacecraft, the US plans to purchase seats on the Russian Soyuz craft. Now some NASA officials are warning that America's presence in space could be hindered further by US-Russian tensions and the emerging Chinese program. More » -
#romantictragediesofspace
Love Is Like a Rocket Smashing to Earth on a Steep Ballistic Reentry Course
Nothing like the smoking ruins left behind after a rocket smashes to Earth on a fast, steep reentry course. I love this set of images showing the results of the Russian Soyuz rocket's return to Earth in April of this year. Recently uncovered by Dark Roasted Blend, the images show the rocket's burning tear through a field of grain, and then close in on the blackened husk of the reentry cone itself. More » -
#spaceexploration
The Future Of Space Exploration?
Black smoke belches out of a grinding old engine as it hauls Russia's latest Soyuz space capsule across a Kazakh wasteland, while armed guards keep watch. This mixture of high and low technology is probably the future of space exploration, as resources get scarcer and more small governments and independent operators get into the space game. More images of Soyuz in the wasteland, and its launch to the International Space Station, below. More » -
#rockets
Russian Space Rocket Looks Totally Old-School
The Soyuz-FG launcher sticks to a 1950s snub-nosed aesthetic, even though it was built in 2001. The Soyuz is preparing to launch Dec. 14 from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome. Image by STR/AFP/Getty Images.
