The Baikonur Cosmodrome (23 Photos)

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When NASA's last scheduled Space Shuttle mission lands in June of 2010, the United States will not have the capability to get astronauts into space again until the scheduled launch of the new Orion spacecraft in 2015. Over those five years, the U.S. manned space program will be relying heavily on Russia and its Baikonur Cosmodrome facility in Kazakhstan. Baikonur is an entire Kazakh city, rented and administered by Russia. The Cosmodrome was founded in 1955, making it one of the oldest space launch facilites still in operation. Here are collected some photographs of manned and unmanned launches from Baikonur over the past several years.

Source : http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/200...osmodrome.html

The Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft and its booster rocket, transported by rail to the launch pad to be raised to a vertical launch position at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on October 16, 2003, in preparation for liftoff October 18 to carry C. Michael Foale, Expedition 8 commander and NASA science officer; Alexander Kaleri, Soyuz Commander and flight engineer; and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain to the International Space Station.

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A view of the bottom of the booster rocket for the Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft, shortly after the two were mated at an integration facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 12, 2005.

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NASA astronaut Peggy A. Whitson, Expedition 16 commander, has a pressure suit leak check performed on her Russian Sokol launch and entry suit at RSC Energia Assembly and Testing Facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in preparation for her launch on a Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft to the International Space Station scheduled for Oct. 10.

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Russian cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov (C), US astronaut Michael Fincke (L) and his compatriot, space tourist Richard Garriott (R) practice inside a Soyuz-TMA space flight simulator in Star City (a training facility north of Moscow, Russia) on September 19, 2008.

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osmonaut Salizhan S. Sharipov, Russia's Federal Space Agency Expedition 10 flight engineer and Soyuz commander, donned his launch and entry suit and climbed aboard the Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft October 5, 2004, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a dress rehearsal of launch day activities leading to their liftoff October 14 to the International Space Station.

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Astronaut Leroy Chiao (r), Expedition 10 commander cosmonaut Salizhan S. Sharipov (c), and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin (l) donned their launch and entry suits and climbed aboard the Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft October 5, 2004, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a dress rehearsal of launch day activities leading to their liftoff October 14 to the ISS

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At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov (center), Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko (right) and South Korean spaceflight participant So-yeon Yi bid farewell to well wishers April 8, 2008 prior to heading to the launch pad for their liftoff on the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft to the International Space Station.

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Railroad tracks lead to the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad. Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft and its booster were rolled out on March 28, 2006, for final pre-launch preparations. The Soyuz was set to blast off on March 30, 2006,

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The Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft is rolled to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan April 6, 2008 in preparation for launch April 8 to carry new residents and a spaceflight participant to the International Space Station. The Soyuz began the move from its assembly and integration building to the launch pad on a railcar at sunrise, arriving at the pad several hours later for final technical preparations.

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With a mockup of the defunct Russian "Buran" Space Shuttle sitting passively nearby (lower right), the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft and its booster rocket crawl on a rail car to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan October 16, 2003, in preparation for its liftoff October 18 to carry three astronauts to the International Space Station.