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Geek Out

Monster Machines: The Biggest Bomb In The History Of The World

Big Ivan, better known as Tsar Bomba, was 57 megatons of Soviet might. That’s 1400 times Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined and 10 times the entire combined fire power expended in WWII. In one bomb. One explosion. And, incredibly, that’s only half of what it could have done.

15 December 2012

Geek Out

Monster Machines: USSR’s Failed Supersonic Bomber

In the early 1960s, when ICBMs were still in their developmental infancy, the Soviet Union figured its best option for delivering a nuclear strike was to build an intercontinental supersonic bomber. Fortunately, they only got the second half right.

7 March 2012

Geek Out

The Soviet Vityaz Was The Big Dog Of The Cold War

Take the all-terrain capabilities of the US Army’s new packbot, add the uncanny reliability of a Kalishnakov and some tank treads — Boom! You’ve got yourself an unstoppable killing machine cargo transporter.

17 January 2012

Cameras

How The USSR Cleaned Up Photos In 1987 Reminds Me That Photoshop Is Awesome

The USSR has a rather frightening history when it comes to photo manipulation. Over time they’ve decided to use their photo manipulation skills for good instead of, well disappearing people.

30 September 2011

Geek Out

Even The Textiles In Soviet Russia Were Obsessed With Industry

These fabrics mostly speak for themselves, but skinny is that these fabrics are Soviet era textiles from the 1920-1930 period of Russia’s history. And while awesome, the industrial, work-obsessed imagery on display here is hardly subtle.

8 July 2011

Science

Russian Cosmonaut: Our Shuttle Was Safer, Could Drop Nukes From Orbit

Russia’s Buran program was very short lived. Like, only one flight short lived. But according to cosmonaut (and ISS alum) Oleg Kotov, the craft had some serious potential – outclassing its American rival at both saving lives and destroying them.

20 April 2011

Science

First Space Station Ever Launched 40 Years Ago Today

By 1971, people had been in space. They’d even flown around the earth! But there’d never been a real home for humans in orbit – they went up, and they came down. That changed 40 years ago today.

21 March 2011

Science

The Tragic Story Of A Russian Cosmonaut Who Was Sent Into Space Knowing He Would Die

Vladimir Komarov, a cosmonaut, knew he was going to die when he left Earth for space on the Soyuz 1. His friend Yuri Gagarin, the first human to reach outer space, knew Komarov would too. But Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union, wanted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Communist Revolution with a spectacle. So Komarov boarded the Soyuz 1, and just like he predicted, ended up dying. The picture above is Komarov’s remains.

24 February 2011

Science

R.I.P. Hervey Stockman, First Pilot To Fly A Spy Plane Over Soviet Territory

Hervey Stockman passed away today, leaving behind a legacy as the first man to pilot a dedicated spy plane in Soviet airspace. Taking the Lockheed U-2 into Communist territory in the middle of the Cold War, Stockman was able to collect data on the USSR while evading MiGs trying to intercept him.

20 January 2011

Science

What The Soviet Shuttle Program Looks Like Today

In the mid-1970s, the Buran program was conceived as the Soviet answer to NASA and the US Space Shuttle program. The ambitious project only produced one unmanned flight, but many of its remnants still stand spectacularly today.

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