SciFi-like experience – visiting the Baikonur Cosmodrome (tour report)
I did a tour of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and got to see a ton of cool stuff: the rollout of the Soyuz TMA-09M rocket and its actual launch; the astronaut press conference and pre-flight report; the Energia-Buran launch complex and the N1 transport vehicles; Gagarin’s memorial house; cool museums; the International Space School; […]
Touring the Baikonur Cosmodrome * Day VI
In the morning I check online to see that the Soyuz has docked successfully with the ISS. We proceed to visit the Cosmonaut Alley where all cosmonauts plant trees before first going to space. Naturally it all starts with Gagarin’s tree. I spot a cool little turtle that looks surprised to see all these people. […]
Touring the Baikonur Cosmodrome * Day V
This is the big day. Tonight we’ll get to see the Soyuz rocket launch at 2:30 AM. But there’s enough time for more cool stuff before that. In the morning we visit the launch pad and check out the rocket already in position and getting ready for launch. Once again getting this close to an actual rocket […]
Touring the Baikonur Cosmodrome * Day IV
Today’s schedule is less intense. We start with another walking tour of Baikonur city hunting for space monuments. Sergei Korolev, the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the 1950s and 1960s, smiles benevolently from high above a pink marble pedestal; an assortment of generals, academicians and chief designers cast in bronze look a lot less happy, as […]
Touring the Baikonur Cosmodrome * Day III
The third day is when the real action begins. We leave at 6:00 AM to see the rollout of the real Soyuz rocket that will fly into space in a couple of days. Soyuz TMA-09M is a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) that will transport the new crew consisting of Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin […]
Touring the Baikonur Cosmodrome * Day II
After a good night’s sleep in the centrally-located Hotel Tsentralnaya it’s time for some interesting stuff. Our second day starts with a visit to the Museum of Baikonur History which sounds as exciting as a trip to the mall until you get there and see how cool it is. The museum is well kept and […]
Touring the Baikonur Cosmodrome * Day I
So here I am, about to start my tour of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. After about a year of planning and one night spent in Moscow I arrive at Domodedovo Airport ready for my 3.5 hour flight to Baikonur in Kazakhstan. A bus that has seen better days is supposed to take us to the plane but keeps […]
Baikonur Tour Video
I shot some video during my tour of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. While the tour was fantastic, the video is mediocre as this is my first attempt at video editing: Click here for the tour’s photo album and here for a write-up.
Two Days in Moscow
I’ve passed through Moscow on my way to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The city has greatness in it and there’s lots of stuff to do (but do your best to avoid roads – traffic is horrible). I visited the exceptional Memorial Museum of Astronautics full of cool space exhibits and its striking Monument to […]
Guide to Europe’s Microstates
I’ve always been fascinated with the microstates of Europe: Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Malta, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Andorra, all of them tiny independent countries that somehow managed to survive the wave of unifications which swept over Europe in past centuries. While the historical perspective itself is intriguing, there’s much more to discover in each […]
