The debris from rocket launches is causing sickness and birth defects deep in Siberia. Every time a Russian rocket lifts off from its launch pad at Baikonur, residents in the tiny Siberian village of Ploskoye, more than 1,000 miles away, are shaken nine minutes later by a terrible explosion. If it is dark, firework flashes are visible in the sky above their homes, with streaking flames burning through the air as fuel falls to Earth. During the day a misty yellowish cloud sometimes hangs over the region.
Villagers say the noise of the blast sets dogs howling for hours.
In the days after each launch, rocket fragments from the shuttles ferrying astronauts and equipment to Mir, or to the International Space Station, can be found in the hills and forests nearby. Recently, however, as more information emerges about the poisonous fuels lining the wreckage, locals have started to regard the debris with mounting alarm. Teachers report that in the days following each launch, children complain of stomach pains, dizziness and headaches and find it hard to concentrate. After decades of concealing the problem, the Russian space agency, Rosaviakosmos, has conceded the regular jettisoning of sections of rocket engine on this region of Siberia and up to 20 other areas in Russia may have a harmful effect on the local population and has agreed to fund preliminary research. Villagers demand compensation for the harmful effects of living for the past 40 years in what they see as a huge dustbin for Russia's space programme.