Baikonur

April 12, 2006 1:08 PM

Debris. The terminus of ballistic arches. A photo-essay by Jonas Bendiksen of a different kind of space junk: Proton rocket stages peppering the Khazak countryside discarded from Baikonur Cosmodrome launches.
posted by trinarian (17 comments total)

I am aware that this could be considered a double, but considering the dead-link status, only passing reference to the discarded stages as part of a much larger series, and the quality of the photos themselves... I posted anyway.
posted by trinarian at 1:12 PM on April 12, 2006

OK, the moth thing is just freaky.

Thanks, this touches my artsy bone and my nerd bone!
posted by Pollomacho at 1:15 PM on April 12, 2006

Cool photos. I lived near White Sands Missile Range for many years, and was on a hike once that resulted in finding a very early (1950's-style) guidance system. WSMR lands their junk in Utah and Nevada, though, which are far less hospitable than Khazakstan.
posted by blixco at 1:22 PM on April 12, 2006

Wow, that's cool. Somebody should put together a tour of this area together with a tour of Chernobyl for people interested in decaying technology.
posted by pombe at 1:26 PM on April 12, 2006

Somebody should design a better photo interface for Slate. There's no reason why those pages should reload with all those other photos every time you click "next."
posted by crunchland at 1:44 PM on April 12, 2006

Somebody should put together a tour of this area together with a tour of Chernobyl for people interested in decaying technology.

all you need to do for that is tour southern coastal mississippi. the trees, fences, and shoreline are full of decaying technology. nearly every debris pile in front of every house contains a flooded out home computer.
posted by 3.2.3 at 1:50 PM on April 12, 2006

nearly every debris pile in front of every house contains a flooded out home computer.

Won't somebody think of the porn?
posted by Pollomacho at 1:53 PM on April 12, 2006

Great stuff. The dead cows are pretty scary.
posted by doctor_negative at 2:02 PM on April 12, 2006

Fuckin' SWEET.
posted by keswick at 2:12 PM on April 12, 2006

This really does seem sci-fi.
posted by Citizen Premier at 2:33 PM on April 12, 2006

A nice reminder that "space-age" really doesn't confer a better life for all.
posted by davejay at 2:46 PM on April 12, 2006

Very nice. Very Ballardian. "The terminus of ballistic arches.", indeed.
posted by Zack_Replica at 2:48 PM on April 12, 2006

holy shit that's cool. I also like the "Rivages" photoessay on the slate site.
posted by notsnot at 3:24 PM on April 12, 2006

Awesome photos. Reminded me of Russia's Arctic Experiment. I'm beginning to think that the U.S.A. might not actually be the world's wort polluter..
posted by unmake at 3:38 PM on April 12, 2006

The Khazakstan countryside is where gravity's rainbow ends.
posted by Afroblanco at 5:29 PM on April 12, 2006

There's no reason why those pages should reload with all those other photos every time you click "next."

Ad views.
posted by intermod at 7:40 PM on April 12, 2006

Watch the skies! From Space Debris Basics:

Orbital debris generally refers to material that is on orbit as the result of space missions, but is no longer serving any function. There are many sources of debris. One source is discarded hardware. For example, many launch vehicle upper stages have been left on orbit after they are spent. Many satellites are also abandoned at the end of useful life. Another source of debris is spacecraft and mission operations, such as deployments and separations. These have typically involved the release of items such as separation bolts, lens caps, momentum flywheels, nuclear reactor cores, clamp bands, auxiliary motors, launch vehicle fairings, and adapter shrouds.

NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office keeps track of orbital debris and recommends mitigation procedures. Their Hypervelocity Impact Technology Facility is a high-tech shooting gallery that uses hydrogen guns (Shockwave animation) to propel test projectiles at 15,000 mph: images and QT videos here.
posted by cenoxo at 9:38 PM on April 12, 2006