50 years ago in Kazakhstan, the Baikonur Cosmodrome was opened, paving the way for a half century of human forays into space. The BBC has published an article and slideshow of its history: 
This remote, top-secret site was chosen in 1955 to be the nerve centre for the former Soviet Union’s space programme.
The original Kazakh town of Baikonur it is named after in fact lies 400km (250miles) to the north-east. That was a Soviet ruse to confuse anyone looking for the cosmodrome’s location.
The space centre notched up an impressive string of firsts in its early years. The first satellite to orbit the Earth, Sputnik 1, was launched from there in 1957.
Four years later, Yuri Gagarin blasted off to become the first man in space. The first woman in space and the first person to walk in space also took off from Baikonur.
President Putin and Kazakhstan’s President Nazarbayev have been at the Cosmodrome to watch celebrations of its 50th anniversary.
The Baikonur site is still regularly used today for both Russian and commercial launches, and looks to have a healthy financial future. Not least for the scrap metal dealers in the area, who scavenge the debris which falls to earth as the rockets launch.
Not all of Baikonur’s neighbours will be thrilled that the Cosmodrome continues to be used, however. EurasiaNet discusses some of the fallout:
Apart from the fear of having a spaceship crash through their roofs, residents in the area complain of the ill effects of leftover toxic rocket fuel.
(Eurasia.net also has a wonderful picture gallery of scrap from Baikonur, from which the above picture is taken).
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