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12 Examples of Abandoned Space Technology
Posted by Sean Fallon at 7:00 AM on August 26, 2008
Looking for a space shuttle to convert into a funky dwelling? Believe it or not, there are quite a few pieces of once cutting edge space technology that have been left to rot. For example: there is a Russian Buran space shuttle lying abandoned in the Arabian desert, a NASA Jet Propulsion Lab sitting in a dusty lot, and the infamous launch pad 34 where the three astronauts aboard Apollo 1 died in a fire that broke out during a test exercise. The folks at OObject have put together a list of these relics along with 9 others that you may find surprising. [OObject]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
skyshard
Posted 7:35 AM 26/8/08
@darthsaber10:
agreed
skyshard
darthsaber10
Posted 7:26 AM 26/8/08
Will someone please stop posting the "abandoned" NASA trailer? It's already been proven not to be.
darthsaber10
triplehelix1919
Posted 7:23 AM 26/8/08
It reminds me of those places where you can live in a decommissioned ballistic missile silo.
triplehelix1919
haddiman1
Posted 7:22 AM 26/8/08
Can I get these in a Lego set?
haddiman1
ripfire
Posted 7:12 AM 26/8/08
@Kaiser-Machead: Hmmm. How can I put this simply... No.
ripfire
Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish
Posted 7:03 AM 26/8/08
Will the ones with a complete set of heat tiles protect me from the fierce gamma storms of the future?
Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish
DeadWriter
Posted 7:58 AM 26/8/08
Take the Coast Starlight or the Pacific Surfliner from LA to SF or down the other direction and you pass through Vandenber Airforce Base. There are all sorts of decaying silos, launch bunkers, and equipment as well as fantastic Cold-War era antenna arrays. It's a gorgeous trip, if you have a day to spend in transit.
DeadWriter
Hitchcock
Posted 7:57 AM 26/8/08
@darthsaber10: Yes, that really should be pulled. It had already been debunked when Giz first posted about it, and it hasn't mysteriously become abandoned during the last month or so.
Hitchcock
KhaiJB
Posted 7:40 AM 26/8/08
@darthsaber10: it has? can you link the info on that?
KhaiJB
Xavoc
Posted 7:38 AM 26/8/08
Anyone ever had a chance to feel the heat tiles from the Space Shuttle? Damn things feel like a piece of styrofoam, and weigh as much too... Interesting stuff.
Xavoc
Xavoc
Posted 8:05 AM 26/8/08
@DeadWriter: That is if the coastal starlate passes through said area during daylight hours and you can actually see anything... =|
Xavoc
EBone
Posted 8:43 AM 26/8/08
Pad 34 is more of a memorial as opposed to just abandoned.
EBone
frigg
Posted 9:43 AM 26/8/08
@Xavoc: The heat tiles have been improved through several generations, and the current ones don't feel like the originals. They are more robust and less malleable, although still - some say - the Achilles heal of the orbiter.
frigg
FrankenPC
Posted 10:48 AM 26/8/08
Cowboy astronaut here I come!
FrankenPC
dck47
Posted 10:21 AM 26/8/08
Question: These spacecraft and related parts are designed to function in space where, I've been told, the conditions are harsh. If so, then why do they look so dang beat up after a couple of decades on Earth?
dck47
Dizznizzle
Posted 6:23 PM 26/8/08
@dck47: Just because something is designed to handle one set of variables doesn't mean it can instantly withstand a different set of variables just because they are 'less harsh'.
I would argue that the desert's environmental conditions differ enough from those of space to cause some problems.
Also factor in that this is all high maintenance technology. Without being properly maintained, it can quickly decay ...
Dizznizzle
halloweenjack
Posted 6:15 AM 27/8/08
You know, for something that never actually carried cosmonauts into space, there sure are a lot of spares sitting around. It's like a car model that went straight from the assembly line to the junkyard.
halloweenjack