4 ms·

Fascinating. Why wouldn't it have been scrapped for parts or at least the metal?

by mrmondo 11y ago

Cthulhu_ 11y ago
Probably because scrapping it would've cost a small fortune and what's left over just wouldn't be worth it.
- pbhjpbhj 11y ago
  In the UK you only have to leave something on the pavement and scrap metal hunters will come by and take it ... seems like there has to be a net gain to scrapping this much metal - if it were a ship then salvage companies would have had it already. I'm surprised that they didn't post a guard there with clean up duty to at least keep it all from rusting in to the ground. Wonder how much it would be to buy and whether you could get enough visitors to the "secret Russian space base" to make it pay.
  - betandr 11y ago
    I would definitely visit a "secret Russian space base"! Especially if it was inside a mountain! ;)
  - bluedino 11y ago
    In many rust belt cities, any building that sits unprotected will be vandalized and stripped of any valuable metals. This is on a Russian military base so it's safe. Scrap collectors on the street don't charge for their time. It would cost the Russian government more in wages and such to scrap the site than they would ever get back out of it.
    - KJasper 11y ago
      That's why you would let some scrap collectors in and basically say to them: What would you pay me for this scrap if you have to haul it away yourself?
jpatokal 11y ago
The location is very remote, and all of Baikonur remains a closed military zone leased to Russia. So unless the Russians themselves decide to strip it, nobody else can either. https://goo.gl/maps/k34qZ https://goo.gl/maps/k34qZ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikonur_Cosmodrome#Russian_era https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikonur_Cosmodrome#Russian_er...
Crito 11y ago
If you let it get old enough, it will become more valuable as it is than as scrap. Might be already. Probably not, but maybe.
rbanffy 11y ago
I'd prefer to see them in museums. Even unfinished spaceplanes are very interesting items.

Fascinating. Why wouldn't it have been scrapped for parts or at least the metal?

by mrmondo 11y ago

Fascinating. Why wouldn't it have been scrapped for parts or at least the metal?

Cthulhu_ 11y ago

Probably because scrapping it would've cost a small fortune and what's left over just wouldn't be worth it.

pbhjpbhj 11y ago
In the UK you only have to leave something on the pavement and scrap metal hunters will come by and take it ... seems like there has to be a net gain to scrapping this much metal - if it were a ship then salvage companies would have had it already. I'm surprised that they didn't post a guard there with clean up duty to at least keep it all from rusting in to the ground. Wonder how much it would be to buy and whether you could get enough visitors to the "secret Russian space base" to make it pay.
- betandr 11y ago
  I would definitely visit a "secret Russian space base"! Especially if it was inside a mountain! ;)
- bluedino 11y ago
  In many rust belt cities, any building that sits unprotected will be vandalized and stripped of any valuable metals. This is on a Russian military base so it's safe. Scrap collectors on the street don't charge for their time. It would cost the Russian government more in wages and such to scrap the site than they would ever get back out of it.
  - KJasper 11y ago
    That's why you would let some scrap collectors in and basically say to them: What would you pay me for this scrap if you have to haul it away yourself?

jpatokal 11y ago

The location is very remote, and all of Baikonur remains a closed military zone leased to Russia. So unless the Russians themselves decide to strip it, nobody else can either. https://goo.gl/maps/k34qZ https://goo.gl/maps/k34qZ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikonur_Cosmodrome#Russian_era https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikonur_Cosmodrome#Russian_er...

Crito 11y ago

If you let it get old enough, it will become more valuable as it is than as scrap. Might be already. Probably not, but maybe.

rbanffy 11y ago

I'd prefer to see them in museums. Even unfinished spaceplanes are very interesting items.