Kazakhstan's decaying Soviet space murals

[doctorow]

[Permalink]

[dr_bombay]

these are gorgeous. how sad that they are just falling apart!

[cool_catbad]

Not right to consider this “Soviet Realism”.

The artist has managed to sneak in some Art Nouveau to create something strangely beautiful.

[SpunkyTWS]

Back in 1991 I stayed at the Hotel Cosmos in Moscow. Across the street was a small but really cool, not to mention free, space museum. It was topped with a curved spire with a rocket soaring upward.

I see that it’s still visible in pictures, but looking at these decaying murals I wonder what’s become of it.

[TerryBorder1]

As for the carved stone with the ugly streaks, I think all that needs is a good power-wash or something. I see limestone monuments in my area that all have that from time to time.
But the tiled pieces? My goodness, what a shame to let beauty like that disappear.

[marlboromonkey7]

Kazakhstan has a tailored Esquire?

[IronEdithKidd]

It’s a blast from the web-development past!

[Smithchrist]

This is a timely article, since a US-built satellite is being launched from a site in Kazakhstan in about an hour.
http://www.ilslaunch.com/newsroom/news-releases/media-advisory-ils-proton-launch-sirius-fm-6

Video: http://siriusfm6.imgondemand.com/

I wonder if the privatized launch companies have contributed anything to the upkeep of these murals. (I’d fall down from surprise if they did…)

[marc45]

I always thought it was cool that the USSR had women cosmonauts during the time when NASA thought women were only good for making coffee and typing memos.

Also remember that Kazakhstan is where the Soviets did all their nuclear testing (as far away from Moscow as possible).

[generic_name]

That one you guys used for the headline is notorious!

[anon63581570]

Macing Coffee, Typing Memos, and putting together the wire core memory for the Apollo navigation computer. Also the ‘women cosmonaut’ was more publicity than anything else. Shoot the girl up into space then don’t ltet her go back for fear of getting injured or mar the perfect pretty propaganda face.

[PaulXJ]

Not to mention sewing the spacesuits, work which had to be perfect. It’s a story that has a book about it: http://fashioningapollo.com/ and deserves its own movie: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-052413a.html