
Scavenging Russia’s Rocket Graveyard Is Dangerous and Profitable - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/blog/scavenging-russias-rocket-graveyard-is-dangerous-and-profitable
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ivan4th
Some of the pics I took in that place (in the mountains & taiga near Lake
Teletskoe): [http://i.imgur.com/2DwEDg5.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/2DwEDg5.jpg)
[http://i.imgur.com/3ISH2C9.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/3ISH2C9.jpg)
[http://i.imgur.com/1ymYIbk.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/1ymYIbk.jpg)
[http://i.imgur.com/Vl1pmIz.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/Vl1pmIz.jpg)

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ivan4th
BTW asked our guide if any of his acquaintances were scavenging this stuff, he
said smth like "some did... all of them are already dead"

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orbital-decay
Probably to scare you out :) These seem to be the Souyz debris (green/gray
painting), not too dangerous I imagine. Proton-M remains are completely
different story though.

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ivan4th
These particular pieces may not be dangerous, but some other pieces people
could find could be with a higher level of contamination.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsymmetrical_dimethylhydrazin...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsymmetrical_dimethylhydrazine)

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mxvzr
Wouldn't the harmful stuff eventually dissipate? How long would one have to
wait to safely scavenge a booster sitting in the open?

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PeterisP
It's not possible to safely scavenge a booster sitting in the open, because by
the time it could be dissipated it will long be scavenged unsafely by someone
else.

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paganel
The photos taken inside the Buran Project hangar are peak abandoned-pr0n:
[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Buran+Project/@45.94048,63...](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Buran+Project/@45.94048,63.3183479,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipNPJFP7MMuQ8FXOw6c6etotAEm7D_-k-7T2XQNd!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNPJFP7MMuQ8FXOw6c6etotAEm7D_-k-7T2XQNd%3Dw203-h152-k-no!7i1000!8i750!4m5!3m4!1s0x41f44e9b26d1b1a3:0xf489cb14264cdc9d!8m2!3d45.9404798!4d63.3183476)
. Pretty interesting to see an actual space shuttle abandoned among all that
'80s electronics and scattered paper-work.

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NietTim
These crazy people went and made a youtube video about it in 2017:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q7ZVXOU3kM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q7ZVXOU3kM)

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wwosik
So Roadside Picnic
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic))
vel Stalker is a documentary after all?

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trhway
it was inspired by the Japan Kwantung Army vast fortifications in Manchuria
where the older brother served in the years after WWII. There are a lot of
other places in Russia which do feel like Stalker though.

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lrn
There's no Google maps aerial link in the article which is too bad... because
it's mesmerizing & illustrates how remote the location is:
[https://goo.gl/maps/22sBrQ26abQ2](https://goo.gl/maps/22sBrQ26abQ2)

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code_duck
Looks like it's roughly as far from Tehran as Los Angeles to North Dakota, and
as far north from Kabul as Minneapolis to Houston.

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rando444
Related: Documentary about individuals that go hunting scrap in active us
military target ranges.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4pFat3VTkI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4pFat3VTkI)

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crypt1d
Gave up on the article after an annoying popup refused to close.

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the_real_sparky
[http://hn.premii.com/#/article/17360420](http://hn.premii.com/#/article/17360420)

