Soviet-era Shuttles Left to Rust in an Abandoned Deseret of Kazakhstan

This must be called as “Ghosts of the USSR” as eerie photographs show Soviet-era space shuttles left to rust in an abandoned desert hangar in Kazakhstan. Two test shuttles were found inside a derelict Soviet warehouse near the Cosmodrome Baikonur, 125 miles east of the Aral Sea. The both were developed as part of Moscow's Buran programme which was shut down in 1993 - but neither of the craft was sent to space. Another vast Energia rocket was designed to propel the Buran, an unmanned space plane, into orbit. The main purpose of rocket to compete with Nasa's Saturn V, the super-lift launch vehicle that supported the Apollo mission to the moon. The Energia weighs in at a huge 2,400,000kg in spite of being made of super-light metals. The massive hangar that houses the rocket was actually an assembly complex and, measuring 433ft long by 203ft in height, it is the largest building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The Russian Alexander Kaunas said, he walked almost 24 miles through the desert to reach the hangar once a hub of activity but now left derelict and picture the unused shuttles and rocket. Therefore, just like Nasa's Space Shuttles, the Buran vehicles had engines located at the back, and two wings for a controlled landing back on Earth. The Russian model had conspicuous external similarities to the US Space Shuttle Columbia sparking suggestions Cold War espionage may have played a part in its development. So, the both US Space Shuttles and Buran had the same shape and size, the same vertical tail structures and even alike colors in white with a black trim. A documents of 1990s revealed, the KGB stole the designs for the US shuttle in the 1970s and 1980s enabling the Kremlin to build a carbon copy of the American system. Documents acquired dealt with airframe designs, materials, flight computer systems, and propulsion systems. This information allowed Soviet military industries to save years of scientific research and testing time as well as millions of rubles as they developed their own very similar space shuttle vehicle.'

Moreover, development of the Buran programme started in 1976, with the recyclable spacecraft capable of performing operations in orbit before returning to Earth. But after one unmanned spaceflight of the Orbiter 1K1 in 1988, the scheme was scrapped following the dissolution of the USSR in 1993. Orbiter 1K1 was crushed and destroyed in the same complex - but in a different hangar - in 2002. The collapse killed eight workers. The rocket Kaunas was to act as a heavy-lift launch system and booster for the Buran spaceplane.  Thus, it has been left abandoned in the disused hanger since 1991.

The Breathtaking Iceland Images; The Most Photogenic Country in the World

TRAVELING around Iceland is a dream of everybody. You’ve to be brave to tolerate the coldness and walk its barren landscapes, to spend time observing puffins and Icelandic horses in their heavy winter coats, and the turf-roofed houses are giving you cozy dreams. If you’re on the fence about traveling to Iceland, here are several reasons why exploring this amazing country is the best decision you’ll ever make.

The World's Largest Photography Award Reveals its Stunning Shortlist

Swirling tornadoes, glittering ice caves and a breaching killer whale: The world's largest photography awards disclose its stunning shortlist. There’re some of the entries to have made the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards, now in its 10th year. You can see a vast tornado over a deserted highway in Texas, whereas another captures of an almighty killer whale breaches off the northern coast of Hokkaido in Japan, tossing silver shards of glimmering water into the air as it breaks the surface.

Thus, the 49 countries are represented in the shortlist, with the winners to be revealed on April 20 in London. These are just some of the moment’s judges for the Sony World Photography Awards have picked out for this year's shortlist. For the 2017 competition, the largest in the world, now in its 10th year - photographers from across the planet entered a record 227,596 images across the awards' Professional, Open and Youth categories. This was indeed a truly global reach to the Sony World Photography Awards judging this year - the images were more diverse and broad ranging than have ever seen before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Gigantic Crack Found in Arizone Desert Spotted First Time Using Drone Technology

A massive Two-mile crack is found in the Arizona desert, as Giant fissure in the earth is spotted for the first time using drone technology. This is first ever time, when AZGS had used drone footage to review the fissures in this way. The huge crack formed between March 2013 and December 2014, and it is thought the fissure may have grown after heavy rains in the fall of 2014. They’re experimenting with drone technology as a tool for mapping fissures and other surface features like, landslides masses. It seems a fresher crack, and could have been an underground void that reached the surface after a monsoon in 2016.

The fissures, which are fairly common in the Arizona desert, formed after 'extensive groundwater withdraws in the Sonoran Desert. Moreover, a cluster of the cracks subsists around Eloy, and in Cochise, La Paz, Maricopa, Pima and Pinal Counties, with the first having opened up near Eloy in 1929. The giant fissures are precarious to people off-roading and riding ATVs in the area, and also pose a risk to roaming livestock who can fall in and get stuck. Therefore, it is also unsafe to stand near the edge of a fissure due to the risk that it could suddenly cave in.

 

 

 

 

 

The Mother of 300 Trees

“Saalumarada Thimmakka” 105 years old women inspiring people of all generations with her unbelievable dedication to our planet. The one century old women planted about 300 trees, influenced by the fact that she and her late husband Sri Bikkala Chikkayya found themselves childless after 25 years of marriage. They are hailing from rural Karnataka, southern India, the motivated couple dealt with this despondency by nurturing, watering, and making the plants a part of their family.

She explained their verdict to cultivate trees to CNN. It was my destiny not to have any children. Because of that, we decided to plant trees and raise them and get blessings. We have carefully treated the trees just like our children. This cheering notion is particularly impressive considering the environmental conditions they faced the landscape is arid and has very slight rainfall. Hence, to properly care for the trees, the couple carried water for quite a lot of kilometers, but just like a protective parent, Chikkayya planted thorny bushes to protect the bunch from animals. Her great selfless efforts have since received the devotion they deserve. 

After year of efforts, finally she has a foundation established in her name called the “Saalumarada Thimmakka International Foundation” that’s dedicated to conserving the environment as well as supporting schools, education, and providing healthcare for those in need. Therefore, after years of caring for her plant children, she has someone to look after her in her advanced years an adopted son named Sri Umesh. She incessantly inspired by her environmental efforts, and acts as president for her organization and runs a nursery that provides trees to farmers, carrying on her legacy for years to come.