Come On, Paw! We're Going Hunting for Space Junk!

[Tuckerfan]

Too bad these guys don’t have access to eBay!

Tons of “cosmic garbage” - mostly first stages jettisoned from Soyuz carrier rockets - have provided a vital economic boost to the impoverished villages surrounding the cosmodrome, including the main local town Mirny (“Peaceful”). As a suspected ICBM site, Plesetsk was a primary surveillance target on the flight plan for Gary Power’s ill-fated reconnaissance flight on May, 1, 1960.

Local adminstrators notify the citizenry several days prior to each launch; all “hunters, mushroom pickers, fishermen and reindeer breeders” are strongly advised to leave the dangerous area (yes, that’s a quote). Within days, however, scores of local residents go looking for valuable spoils, including “little-damaged Soyuz first stages. Souyz carrier rockets are propelled by kerosene and oxygen, and their parts have a reputation for safety. Older Tsiklon and Rokot carriers propelled by poisonous heptyl leave scraps that people avoid for the time being. ‘Self-cleaning’, as locals put it, is just a matter of years for them, after which the metals are considered safe to extract.”

Less damaged parts may be put to use in households; electric batteries are connected to lamps, sheets of stainless alloys are used to build basements, garages, and even long canoe-like boats.

[Zebra]

What was that show? Salvage One or something like that. Andy Griffif had his own rocket and salvaged space stuff.

[Tuckerfan]

@Zebra

What was that show? Salvage One or something like that. Andy Griffif had his own rocket and salvaged space stuff.

Yup. I remember it well.

[CynicalGabe]

“reindeer breeders”?

[Sunspace]

@CynicalGabe

“reindeer breeders”?

*Someone has to supply Santa.

And, come to think of it, his reindeer fly, too…