Instant Alert: Eerie photos show an abandoned Soviet spacecraft originally built for the Cold War

MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS   |   UNSUBSCRIBE   |   VIEW ONLINE   Eerie photos show an abandoned Soviet spacecraft originally built for the Cold War by Sarah Jacobs on Feb 6, 2018, 11:05 AM Advertisement Photographer David de Rueda has captured various abandoned Soviet spaces. His favorite place he's captured is a hangar in the steppe of Kazakhstan that holds two space shuttles from the USSR's once-active Buran program. The space shuttles have not been touched in nearly 30 years. Photographer David de Rueda has never been afraid to venture into uncharted territory. His photography has made him explore abandoned radar stations, power plants, factories, and even two rarely seen relics of the Soviet space race. The two shuttles, both a part of the Buran project (buran means blizzard in Russian), are located inside the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Once a part of the USSR's plans to take the Cold War into space, the shuttles were designed similarly to NASA's space shuttles, and meant for carrying cargo into space. The shuttles have sat for nearly 30 years, untouched and left abandoned. When de Rueda first documented the hangars that house the shuttles back in 2015, he was mesmerized. "The first trip was such an adventure, I didn't even imagine I'd do it again," he told Business Insider. "But almost a year later, I was back. This time, the plan was to explore a second hangar, housing Energia-M, a rocket test prototype. It meant we would spend more time on site." Although this wasn't his first time going inside the hangars, de Rueda said it wasn't easier the second time around. "These abandoned structures are off-limits," he said. Take a look at the eerie photos he captured below. SEE ALSO: A typical day in the life of a person living in Moscow — from what they eat for breakfast to how they spend their free time DON'T MISS: Russia's newest anti-air missile shows how its air defenses outpace America's Simply getting to the hangars was an adventure in itself. "We had to go by ourselves," de Reuda said. "180 kilometers off-road driving in the Kazakh steppe and 45 kilometers of walking in a highly restricted area." Because the hangars are located near active facilities, de Rueda had to be extra careful. "The Kazakh steppe is a hostile environment, especially during winter. We had to walk long hours in the cold night on muddy terrain, trying to remain unseen," he said. During his three visits there between 2015 and 2017, de Reuda claimed security had gotten tighter. "Now the shuttles are watched even more carefully." See the rest of the story at Business Insider   Share the latest business news with your network:    Email sent to: nguyenvu1187.love5@blogger.com   |   Manage your email preferences   |   Unsubscribe Terms of Service   |   Privacy Policy Business Insider. 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011