Baikonur Cosmodrome is located at The area has a continental climate, with long, cold winters and hot, dry summers. Construction of the secret missile site began in The first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, and first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, were launched from Baikonur. All subsequent Russian manned missions have lifted off from there, as well as geostationary, lunar, planetary, and many ocean surveillance missions.
Until recently, the name Baikonur was misleading. The former Soviet Union used the name and coordinates of a small mining town, Baikonur, to describe its secret rocket complex. This was done intentionally to hide the true location of the launch complex. The chimneys of a heating station in the city center trail dirty, black smoke and the tower blocks painted with murals of rockets are cracked and some patched with wood. Almost everyone in Baikonur works for the spaceport or provides services for those who do.
Locals sometimes watch the rockets taking off from the launch pads about a dozen miles away, some climbing onto roofs for a better view. Some residents believe the rockets alter the weather, saying winds blow from all directions for days after a launch.
Kids at a local school recalled a crash of an unmanned rocket, saying the heat from the fire could be felt in the city and remembering a kerosene-like smell in the air.
The launch areas themselves are also strewn with relics and detritus of the Soviet space age. The launch pads have been modernized, but many of the buildings around them are crumbling. At an observation point after a launch this week, punctured and rusted satellite dishes were set up as an outdoor museum with placards. It was difficult to discern which satellite dishes were exhibits and which ones were functioning until one of the hulking, rust-stained radar arrays suddenly began turning.
It was tracking a Soyuz rocket, a guide explained. Vostochny has launched some unmanned rockets but has experienced serious delays amid repeated corruption and labor scandals. It is now behind schedule to take over launches from Baikonur. These stumbling efforts have been overseen by Dmitry Rogozin, who heads Roscosmos. Rogozin is a sanctioned former deputy prime minister and nationalist politician who is a long-time Putin ally.
Known for his pugilistic style and occasional anti-American outbursts , Rogozin has argued that bold long-term proposals are needed to pull Roscosmos out of its malaise. Last month, Roscosmos officials suggested that Russian astronauts would land on the moon by and that parts of the base could be brought there in the late s.
In authorities of the USSR put a task for scientists and military officers to find a convenient place for testing area construction. Few conditions applied: large underpopulated and non-agricultural region, availability of railway station for delivering cargo and rocket blocks, accessibility of drinking and technical waters, and some others.
There were only 3 suitable places found on the territory of the vast country. The steppe region of Kazakhstan at the shores of Syr-Darya, close to the small village Tyuratam, with a railroad Moscow-Tashkent nearby, suited the best for the construction of the cosmodrome. On 12 January , locals saw how train stopped and many military officers and builders got out of it.
Nothing like that happened before. Newly arrived began to build a tent camp. This is how the construction of the first and largest space center in the world began. More about Baikonur History. Baikonur is located in the steppe, on the shores of the Syr-Darya River. Flora is scarce, though the city of Baikonur itself is rather green. Fauna is represented with different birds of prey, rodents and it is also possible to see camels on the road driving to Baikonur.
The most comfortable time for a trip is spring and early autumn. Baikonur is situated in the south-west of Kazakhstan in the middle of the steppe.
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