The End of a Space Era

Posted on July 25th, 2011

It’s 3.45am, I’m battling not only with mosquitoes, but also a swarm of photographers each trying to claim good spot to set up their camera to capture the final shuttle landing. We squeeze ourselves into a prime section of the balcony overlooking the 2.8 mile long runway on which the shuttle is due to land in just over two hours. A combination of smiling sweetly, being small and success with human Tetris secures me a minute spot for my camera. We’re all happy, so long as nobody dares move even a hair’s width from their position.

I’ve barely slept and am already melting in the Florida heat and humidity. Two hours spent waiting to get on a bus to take me to the shuttle landing facility haven’t helped matters, but I’m here, and there’s nowhere on Earth I’d rather be (bear in mind the shuttle in still in orbit).

Mike Theiss

Photo Mike Theiss

We listen to the loudspeakers for any information about weather conditions. If they are not suitable for landing at Kennedy, the shuttle can be routed to Edwards Air Force Base in California instead. Until the de-orbit burn is completed, just over an hour before landing, we won’t know for sure that we’ll get to witness this historic landing. There’s a cheer when we get the news that she’s headed our way.

In the darkness, the landing countdown clocks look like large digital alarm clocks from the 1980s, with their glowing red numbers counting down until the end of the shuttle era. With just 9 minutes left of Atlantis’s final mission, we are graced by the International Space Station arcing across the sky above us. The shuttle won’t fly again, but it’s a timely reminder that humans will continue to work in space, even when these birds retire.

At around four minutes before landing the two sonic booms echo out like gunshot, one each for the nose and tail of the orbiter as she returns to subsonic speeds before landing. I’m poised with my camera and my eyes to drink this all in. A flare of xenon lights illuminates the end of the runway, waiting to greet Atlantis one last time.

Just twenty seconds to go and wait! There she is. The sound of shutter releases quickly replaced by gentle applause: STS135 – Mission complete. “That’s the quickest ten seconds of the space program” says someone behind me. He’s not wrong. From first sight of Atlantis to her screeching by right ahead of us and then vanishing behind the trees for wheel stop took roughly as long as it takes to say “Wow! Whoosh! Gone”.

A long line of weird and wonderful vehicles caravan onto the runway behind her to make her safe and assist the astronauts out of their craft. Following tradition, a line is painted on the runway to mark the exact spot where each shuttle stops, thus literally drawing a line to mark the end of the shuttle program.

Editor’s note: Don’t miss the great audio content below that Kate got at Kennedy after the landing. Our thanks to Audio Boo for making this possible.

Audio Kate Arkless Gray

Audio Kate Arkless Gray

Categories: Feature Stories

Birth of a Nation

Posted on July 10th, 2011

At 9:00 PM GMT on Friday the Republic of South Sudan was born. It is the end of a long journey that started with a peace deal in 2005 that ended a protracted civil war with the north. President Salva Kiir signed the constitution and took his oath of office during huge, country wide celebrations. The feeling among the crowds is that of a fresh start and a new chapter. But there still is much work to be done.

South Sudan is still one of the least developed nations even though they sit on rich oil reserves. Decades of civil war has left South Sudan extremely poor. And as the peace deal with the north remains tenuous the military is the priority recipient of South Sudan’s money taking the majority over education and health care. In outlying areas of South Sudan tribal conflicts continue to be a threat to peace of the new nation.

However, the birth of the nation seems to have sparked a sense of unity among the South Sudanese people. If the unification holds, new opportunities combined with their natural resources may elevate South Sudan to one of the great nations of Africa.

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Photo Randy Olson

Categories: Feature Stories

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The Russian Wealth Divide

Posted on June 16th, 2011

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia’s richest have more than doubled their wealth. Yet a recent study by Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, (HSE), says that 60% of the country’s population is either no better off or poorer today than they were 20 years ago. The gap between Russia’s richest and poorest is widening while possibly intensifying class-based tensions.

Gordon Wiltsie

Photo Gordon Wiltsie

In large cities like Moscow, Western capitalism has raised the standards of living for the top tier of Russian society. On the other hand, pensioners and those living is smaller cities are falling behind, disillusioned with the reform’s promise of a better life. During the Soviet-era, healthcare, education, and housing were subsidized by the government. These days, people are forced to spend a large percentage of their incomes on such services or do without. Also, pre-reform, the government provided jobs for its people so there was no unemployment and salaries were determined by the State. Today, according to the 2011 Russian Economic Report by The World Bank, high unemployment seems to remain a persistent problem in many Russian regions with some reaching as high as 47% and salaries now determined by the market.

Those most adversely affected are people living in small, single-factory towns known as monotowns. The Economic Report estimates that a sixth of Russia’s population lives in these regions that produce 40% of the country’s gross domestic product in such industries as manufacturing, fuels, metallurgy, food processing, timber, and pulp. However, as the economy changes and factories close down, Russians in monotowns are struggling to survive. Not only are they left with no other prospects for work, but they may also lose their social services and amenities because the main factory in each region has taken on the government’s previous role of providing health care, schools, heat, water, and electricity to the residents. Consequently, when a plant closes, there is no one left to deliver these services.

This was the case in Pikalevo, a monotown near Saint Petersburg. According to news reports, in 2009 the residents of Pikalevo blocked an important federal highway in protest against the town’s heat and water being shut off when the local factory closed its doors and stopped paying its bills. Other monotowns like Togliatti and Magnitogorsk have followed suit after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin intervened in Pikalevo to recoup outstanding wages due to the residents by the factory.

Yet in spite of the difficult labor market conditions in some parts of the country, Russia continues to mint a growing number of millionaires. Today, the country is ranked 16th worldwide in total millionaires according to research by Deloitte, one of the largest financial consulting companies in the world. Russia also ranks third in the number of billionaires with Moscow taking over New York’s spot as the world capital of billionaires. Deloitte’s study also estimates that “the number of millionaire households in Russia will grow from 375,000 to 1,205,000 between 2011 and 2020”.

What is important to remember is that majority of Russians living outside Moscow think of Muscovites as a separate category of Russian people who have better jobs, incomes, and lives than the rest. However, Muscovites, who have embraced capitalism, perceive the whole country as thriving. Andrew, a 41 year old business man who asked not to use his real name, emigrated from Russia to the United States in 2001. He grew up in the former Soviet Union in a city of Balashikha, just outside Moscow and saw the end of the Cold War and the struggles of a new economy. “When I left Moscow in 2001, the city was run down,” describes Andrew. He continues to travel regularly to Moscow to visit family and friends and has this to say, “Now people are much richer…The majority of the people living in Russia are living much better than before.”

Those most adversely affected are people living in small, single-factory towns known as monotowns.

Moscow has become home to many local and American franchise restaurants, designer stores, and supermarkets. Andrew points out that the biggest difference between then and now is the accessibility of goods. “Before, if you wanted to buy meat, there would be no meat to buy.” says Andrew, though he admits that the prices are much higher these days. He compares the cost of food to higher end grocery stores like Whole Foods​. Still, when you consider that the monthly minimum wage in Russia has just been raised to 4,611 rubles or $165 USD, much of what is available is not necessarily affordable for many of the country’s citizens.

In an effort to boost the economy, Russia’s government enacted a stimulus package in the last couple of years that focused on single-factory towns and seniors by dramatically increasing unemployment benefits and pensions. While this may help quell the simmering unrest in monotowns across the country it is still uncertain how Russia will be able to close the social and economic divide in the future.

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