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Author
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Topic: Energomash rocket engine test facility
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kyra
Member Posts: 583
From: Louisville CO US
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 01-03-2012 02:22 PM
   
Recently a photographer, Lana Sator caught glimpses into the Energomash Test Facility after wandering through an open fence and unlocked door at the still operative facility.Energomash named after the famous cheif designer Valentin P. Glushko, is responsible for the development of many of Russia and the former Soviet Union's ORM and RD series rocket engines. Most recently these engines include those used on the Angara, Proton, Soyuz-LV and the Atlas V in collaboration with the US company, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne. This has caused a headache to the new minister of space, Dmitry Rogozin. The less educated public might see the industrial blight in some pictures to be a negative portral of Russia. However, rocket building and testing is a very grimey heavy industry and theres lots of historical roots here in this facility. The captions in this blog are in Russian so you may translate with your browser, Google Translate, or Babelfish, as needed. So fire up your favorite industrial music if you wish and view the unusual industrial beauty here. |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 01-03-2012 03:51 PM
Wow, looks like a great way to get poisoned, injured, or shot! |
kyra
Member Posts: 583
From: Louisville CO US
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 01-03-2012 08:36 PM
If you look at some of her other photo blogs she's really into urban exploration. Crumbling buildings, security guards, and all kinds of hazards are seen as part of the challenge.The test facility was used only days earlier, so who knows what toxins could have been around.
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Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 01-05-2012 06:07 AM
I don't see much here that is any different from any other engine test stand area in the world, be it European or US based. It reminds me a little of the test stands at Marshall, which I visited recently. It is this crazy blending of low and high tech and it looks all slab sided and open as the equipment in there has to survive rocket tests and in the worst case, an explosion.Fascinating imagery to be certain though. |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 01-06-2012 05:56 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
I don't see much here that is any different from any other engine test stand area in the world, be it European or US based.
...apart from the proximity to the urban environment! |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 01-25-2012 10:47 PM
quote:
Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
...apart from the proximity to the urban environment!
Have you ever visited Huntsville? Redstone Arsenal and Marshall SFC is VERY close to Huntsville and standing on the top of the test stand, I could see plenty of buildings off in the distance. In fact, one of the reasons why the rocket testing facility was built at the location we now call Stennis was due to the vibrations of the rocket tests potentially blowing out windows, if the wind was blowing in the right direction in Alabama. Another thing to consider about Russian and Soviet building style in regards to how they set up cities is they like to build the housing for their employees VERY CLOSE to their places of work. Mainly because not a lot of Russians during the Soviet days necessarily had access to decent cars. So they usually walked or took the bus to work. I don't know if it is still that way, but even today a 40km trip from the heart of Moscow to Star City can still take the better part of two hours due to the conditions of the roads and the cars driving them (makes the queues on the M1 seem tame by comparison). |
kyra
Member Posts: 583
From: Louisville CO US
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 01-26-2012 06:44 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
Another thing to consider about Russian and Soviet building style in regards to how they set up cities is they like to build the housing for their employees VERY CLOSE to their places of work. Mainly because not a lot of Russians during the Soviet days necessarily had access to decent cars. So they usually walked or took the bus to work.
The clustering of employees near the factories and design institutes either officially or unofficially provided for better security. Rent subsidies were often an incentive for this in Soviet times. |
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