Photo: Hazegrayart
Say what you will about the Russians and their ways, but when it comes to space exploration they seem to know what they're doing. After all, Russia did not only open roads in this realm of human activity but first competed and then collaborated with the U.S. for the advancement of humanity's common goals.
In the view of some, Russia's most potent contribution to space exploration is rockets. Several families have been made over the years, but few of them are as successful as the Soyuz. Born in the mid-1960s, the family continues to be the backbone of Russian space launches, and for a while, before the arrival of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, it also served as transport for American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
The aging Soyuz family was joined closer to our time by another family of launch vehicles, the Angara. These ones are supposed to carry payloads of up to 54,000 pounds (24,500 kg) to low Earth orbit, and be, of course, much more advanced than the Soyuz.
The first Angara rocket took off in 2014, and despite almost a decade going by since, the family of rockets is yet to become a common presence on the space exploration scene. And so is a new Russian spaceport called the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Located in the Russian Far East, it was set up in 2011, but not even to this day the place is not fully operational.
Among its many facilities, Vostochny has launch pads for the Soyuz rockets, which are already flying from there, but it is also supposed to have a dedicated launch pad for the Angara rockets.
These facilities are not ready yet, although experts expect the first Angara launch from Vostochny to take place as soon as this year. With all that's going on over in Europe with Russia and Ukraine, it remains to be seen if that will be the case.
Until we learn whether 2023 will bring with it this premiere of space exploration, animation specialist Hazegrayart decided to give us a short preview of that, in digital form.
In a home-brewed YouTube Shorts video we get to see the impressive Angara waiting on an even more impressive launch pad. The aerial point of view of the animation gives us a great look at the rocket and at how the flames and gasses are evacuated from the pad during launch.
Now, don't expect anything spectacular such as an explosion to happen, but the Hazegrayart video does bring a breath of fresh air in a world overcrowded with launches of hardware made in America.
And, given Russia's growing isolation on the world scene because of its actions in Ukraine, this short animated video might be for some the only way to see the Angara in action from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
The aging Soyuz family was joined closer to our time by another family of launch vehicles, the Angara. These ones are supposed to carry payloads of up to 54,000 pounds (24,500 kg) to low Earth orbit, and be, of course, much more advanced than the Soyuz.
The first Angara rocket took off in 2014, and despite almost a decade going by since, the family of rockets is yet to become a common presence on the space exploration scene. And so is a new Russian spaceport called the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Located in the Russian Far East, it was set up in 2011, but not even to this day the place is not fully operational.
Among its many facilities, Vostochny has launch pads for the Soyuz rockets, which are already flying from there, but it is also supposed to have a dedicated launch pad for the Angara rockets.
These facilities are not ready yet, although experts expect the first Angara launch from Vostochny to take place as soon as this year. With all that's going on over in Europe with Russia and Ukraine, it remains to be seen if that will be the case.
Until we learn whether 2023 will bring with it this premiere of space exploration, animation specialist Hazegrayart decided to give us a short preview of that, in digital form.
In a home-brewed YouTube Shorts video we get to see the impressive Angara waiting on an even more impressive launch pad. The aerial point of view of the animation gives us a great look at the rocket and at how the flames and gasses are evacuated from the pad during launch.
Now, don't expect anything spectacular such as an explosion to happen, but the Hazegrayart video does bring a breath of fresh air in a world overcrowded with launches of hardware made in America.
And, given Russia's growing isolation on the world scene because of its actions in Ukraine, this short animated video might be for some the only way to see the Angara in action from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
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