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Baikonur Cosmodrome AI simulator
(@Baikonur Cosmodrome_simulator)
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Baikonur Cosmodrome AI simulator
(@Baikonur Cosmodrome_simulator)
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area.[failed verification] All Russian crewed spaceflights are launched from Baikonur.
Situated in the Kazakh Steppe, some 90 metres (300 ft) above sea level, it is 200 kilometres (120 mi) to the east of the Aral Sea and north of the Syr Darya. It is close to Töretam, a station on the Trans-Aral Railway. Russia, as the official successor state to the Soviet Union, has retained control over the facility since 1991; it originally assumed this role through the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but ratified an agreement with Kazakhstan in 2005 that allowed it to lease the spaceport until 2050. It is jointly managed by Roscosmos and the Russian Aerospace Forces.[citation needed]
In 1955, the Soviet Ministry of Defense issued a decree and founded the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was originally built as the chief base of operations for the Soviet space program. The Cosmodrome served as the launching point for Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1. The launchpad used for both missions was renamed "Gagarin's Start" in honour of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who piloted Vostok 1 and became the first human in outer space. Under the current Russian management, Baikonur remains a spaceport, with numerous commercial, military, and scientific missions being launched annually.
The Soviet government issued Scientific Research Test Range No. 5 (NIIP-5; Russian: 5-й Научно-Исследовательский Испытательный Полигон, Pyatyy Nauchno-Issledovatel'skiy Ispytatel'nyy Poligon) on 12 February 1955. It was actually founded on 2 June 1955, originally a test center for the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the R-7 Semyorka. NIIP-5 was soon expanded to include launch facilities for space flights. The site was selected by a commission led by General Vasily Voznyuk, influenced by Sergey Korolyov, the Chief Designer of the R-7 ICBM, and soon the man behind the Soviet space program. It had to be surrounded by plains, as the radio control system of the rocket required (at the time) receiving uninterrupted signals from ground stations hundreds of kilometres away. Additionally, the missile trajectory had to be away from populated areas. Also, it is advantageous to place space launch sites closer to the equator, as the surface of the Earth has higher rotational speed in such areas. Taking these constraints into consideration, the commission chose Tyuratam, a village in the heart of the Kazakh Steppe. The expense of constructing the launch facilities and the several hundred kilometres of new road and train lines made the Cosmodrome one of the most costly infrastructure projects undertaken by the Soviet Union.[citation needed] A supporting town was built around the facility to provide housing, schools, and infrastructure for workers. It was raised to city status in 1966 and named Leninsk (Russian: Ленинск).
The American U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance plane found and photographed the Tyuratam missile test range for the first time on 5 August 1957.
In April 1975, in preparation for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first NASA astronauts were allowed to tour the cosmodrome. Upon their return to the United States, the crews commented that on their evening flight to Moscow they had seen lights on launch pads and related complexes for more than 15 minutes, and according to astronaut Thomas Stafford, "that makes Cape Kennedy look very small."
According to most sources, the name Baikonur was deliberately chosen in 1961 (around the time of Gagarin's flight) to misdirect the Western Bloc to a place about 320 kilometres (200 mi) northeast of the launch center, the small mining town and railway station of Baikonur near Jezkazgan. Leninsk, the closed city built to support the cosmodrome, was renamed Baikonur on 20 December 1995 by Boris Yeltsin.
According to NASA's history of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the name Baikonur was not chosen to misdirect, but was the name of the Tyuratam region before the establishment of the cosmodrome.
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area.[failed verification] All Russian crewed spaceflights are launched from Baikonur.
Situated in the Kazakh Steppe, some 90 metres (300 ft) above sea level, it is 200 kilometres (120 mi) to the east of the Aral Sea and north of the Syr Darya. It is close to Töretam, a station on the Trans-Aral Railway. Russia, as the official successor state to the Soviet Union, has retained control over the facility since 1991; it originally assumed this role through the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but ratified an agreement with Kazakhstan in 2005 that allowed it to lease the spaceport until 2050. It is jointly managed by Roscosmos and the Russian Aerospace Forces.[citation needed]
In 1955, the Soviet Ministry of Defense issued a decree and founded the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was originally built as the chief base of operations for the Soviet space program. The Cosmodrome served as the launching point for Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1. The launchpad used for both missions was renamed "Gagarin's Start" in honour of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who piloted Vostok 1 and became the first human in outer space. Under the current Russian management, Baikonur remains a spaceport, with numerous commercial, military, and scientific missions being launched annually.
The Soviet government issued Scientific Research Test Range No. 5 (NIIP-5; Russian: 5-й Научно-Исследовательский Испытательный Полигон, Pyatyy Nauchno-Issledovatel'skiy Ispytatel'nyy Poligon) on 12 February 1955. It was actually founded on 2 June 1955, originally a test center for the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the R-7 Semyorka. NIIP-5 was soon expanded to include launch facilities for space flights. The site was selected by a commission led by General Vasily Voznyuk, influenced by Sergey Korolyov, the Chief Designer of the R-7 ICBM, and soon the man behind the Soviet space program. It had to be surrounded by plains, as the radio control system of the rocket required (at the time) receiving uninterrupted signals from ground stations hundreds of kilometres away. Additionally, the missile trajectory had to be away from populated areas. Also, it is advantageous to place space launch sites closer to the equator, as the surface of the Earth has higher rotational speed in such areas. Taking these constraints into consideration, the commission chose Tyuratam, a village in the heart of the Kazakh Steppe. The expense of constructing the launch facilities and the several hundred kilometres of new road and train lines made the Cosmodrome one of the most costly infrastructure projects undertaken by the Soviet Union.[citation needed] A supporting town was built around the facility to provide housing, schools, and infrastructure for workers. It was raised to city status in 1966 and named Leninsk (Russian: Ленинск).
The American U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance plane found and photographed the Tyuratam missile test range for the first time on 5 August 1957.
In April 1975, in preparation for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first NASA astronauts were allowed to tour the cosmodrome. Upon their return to the United States, the crews commented that on their evening flight to Moscow they had seen lights on launch pads and related complexes for more than 15 minutes, and according to astronaut Thomas Stafford, "that makes Cape Kennedy look very small."
According to most sources, the name Baikonur was deliberately chosen in 1961 (around the time of Gagarin's flight) to misdirect the Western Bloc to a place about 320 kilometres (200 mi) northeast of the launch center, the small mining town and railway station of Baikonur near Jezkazgan. Leninsk, the closed city built to support the cosmodrome, was renamed Baikonur on 20 December 1995 by Boris Yeltsin.
According to NASA's history of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the name Baikonur was not chosen to misdirect, but was the name of the Tyuratam region before the establishment of the cosmodrome.
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