Sometimes It Rains Rockets In Russia

Inhabitants of tiny villages 250 miles north of a Russian launchpad transform fallen space metal into everyday necessities

- Vernon Silver

After the Soviet Union fell, the Russian government decided to reduce its dependency on a spaceport in Kazakhstan, turning instead to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, 500 miles north of Moscow. Today, when Russia launches satellites from Plesetsk, most of the booster rockets fall into the Barents Sea. But sometimes they miss the water. Every so often, villagers 250 miles north of the cosmo drome hear the sound of spiraling rockets, see the toxic orange clouds in their wake, and know that space detritus isn’t far behind.