Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

By Greyscape
8th April 2019

Alexander Shevstov’s photographs capture what one can only imagine is an everyday sight if you happen to live at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The place has one focus of attention, everyone is looking up, up and beyond. Today it is the location of the world’s first Spaceport / Cosmodrome, where spacecraft can land and take off from.

The curious thing is that Baikonur isn’t actually in Baikonur, with a hangover from typical Soviet secrecy in play, the cosmodrome was, according to some folk (bearing in my you have to decide who to believe) around 200 miles away from the officially published coordinates, and nowhere near Байқоңыр the remote mining town which shares the name of the Cosmodrome. Confusing isn’t it? So today the real location is known and the faux one too.

Back in 1957 this entirely closed area, where the temperature can easily hit 45 degrees in the summer was leased to Russia by Kazakstan and used for space missions, today in what would have seemed at one time to be unthinkable, NASA is using the facility (for the time being) to train astronauts and it is also a training base for the International Space Station.

You can enjoy more of Alexander’s photography on Instagram at @alexander_shevtsov and on his website https://alexander_shevtsov.houzz.ru

Images Copyright of Alexander Shevstov

Image of city signs: CC BY SA 3.O Yurily75

Photo Credits: Alexander Shevtsov ©