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; countless Soviet-style space monuments; a freakishly big spider.
It was a fantastic experience so I decided to do a write-up on the entire tour, check it out below:
- Day I: Baikonur and trip background, Moscow to Baikonur flight, first walk around town
- Day II: Museum of Baikonur History, main sights in Baikonur, International Space School
- Day III: Soyuz rollout, N1 transport vehicles, Energia-Buran launch pad, Baikonur market
- Day IV: Baikonur monuments, astronaut press conference, more monuments
- Day V: Soyuz launch pad, Buran, memorial houses, museum, pre-flight report, THE LAUNCH
- Day VI: Cosmonaut alley, press conference room, flight back to Moscow.
The tour’s photos are available in the Kazakhstan album:
Finally, I also did a (mediocre) video of the tour, it’s available here