Unmanned Russian rocket “Proton-M” with three navigation satellites “Glonass-M” again didn’t reach Earth orbit. The flight lasted only a few seconds, then the rocket exploded and crashed to the ground one kilometer from the launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Another failure of the Federal Space Agency of Russia is estimated at $ 200 million. The launch of the rocket “Proton-M” at Baikonur was broadcast live on the TV channel “Russia 24”.

Let’s see how it all happened

Tags: No tags

“Norilsk Nickel” is the largest in Russia and one of the largest companies in the world for the production of precious and base metals.

Polar division of the enterprise is located in the Norilsk industrial district on the Taimyr Peninsula in the Krasnoyarsk region, which lies entirely within the Arctic Circle.

(more…)

Tags: Norilsk city

Surgut GRES-2 is the largest thermoelectric power plant in Russia. The station is located in the city of Surgut (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District). As of 2012, it is one of the largest thermoelectric power plants in the world in the annual generation and the largest producer of electricity in Russia.

The installed electric capacity is 5,597.1 MW, installed thermal capacity – 840 Gcal/h. The station is working on associated petroleum gas (70%) and natural gas (30%). The height of the pipes is 273 meters. Photos by Vadim Makhorov

(more…)

Tags: Khanty-Mansi okrug · Surgut city

Currently this place is known as the All-Russian Exhibition Centre – exhibition complex in the northeast region of Moscow, the second largest exhibition center in Moscow. In Soviet times, this complex was known as the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy of the USSR.

Since 1967, the latest models of Soviet space technology were exhibited in a special pavilion “Space”. It was the pride of Soviet science and technology. These pictures were taken by Rob Ketcherside in 1969 at the peak of interest in space travel. The photos were originally published in sovietdetstvo

(more…)

Tags: Moscow city · Soviet past

The Soviet Union was spending most of its budget on various military purposes, sometimes creating projects with incredible technical characteristics.

In 1987, ekranoplan (ground effect aircraft) “Lun” was constructed – the first aircraft of the series of military missile-carrying ekranoplans weighing 400 tons.

It was armed with three pairs of cruise missiles. Volley of four such missiles is enough to destroy any ship, including the aircraft carrier.

(more…)

Tags: Soviet past

It seems you can find everything in Russia. For example, this unusual ship made of concrete found its last haven in the lower reaches of the Volga (Astrakhan region), a few kilometers from the Caspian Sea.

The hull of the ship is made of reinforced concrete. Those parts of the hull where concrete couldn’t be used were made of iron. This ship is not unique. In a number of countries different concrete ships were designed and built during periods of acute shortage of metal. Photos by zhgalin_photo

(more…)

Tags: Astrakhan oblast

The history of Nizhny Tagil dates back to 1722 when the ironworks was built by Demidov dynasty. At the time Nizhny Tagil plant was one of the biggest, not only in Russia but also in Europe.

The plant was expanding for three centuries. In 1987, after working for more than 260 years, old blast furnace shop was shut down and Russia’s only plant museum was created. Photos by Vitkaravan

(more…)

Tags: museum · Nizhny Tagil city

Pauzhetsky geothermal power station is located on Pauzhetsky geothermal field in the southwestern part of the Kamchatka peninsula in Pauzhetka village near Koshelev and Kambalny volcanoes. It is the oldest geothermal power station in Russia.

The station was opened in 1966 as an experimental power plant and it was the first geothermal power station in the USSR. In 2010 the installed capacity of the station was 12.0 MW. Photos by 4044415

(more…)

Tags: Kamchatka krai

The museum, located in the small town of Verkhnaya (Upper) Pyshma (about 1 km north of Yekaterinburg) is one of the most interesting museums of military vehicles, not only in the Urals, but throughout Russia.

Rare examples of armored vehicles of the Second World War in surprisingly good condition, as well as continued expansion of the exposition make the museum a truly unique destination for fans of history and technology, as well as for everyone else too. The entrance is free.

(more…)

Tags: Ekaterinburg city · museum

On the territory of science town Chernogolovka, located about 40 km from Moscow, there is the Military-Technical Museum, dedicated to the history of the civil and military vehicles.

The collection brings together vehicles made in the Soviet Union, Germany, France, USA, Japan and other foreign countries and covers more than 100-year period from the end of the nineteenth century to the present day. Photos by Misha Grizli

(more…)

Tags: Moskovskaya oblast · museum