Survival at Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Great story at Space.com on the scavenging that has been going on around the Russian Cosmodrome for years. Almost 2000 launches, Soyuz, Molniya, Cosmos-3M, Cyclone-3, and Rockot launch vehicles among them, have been performed there with a near perfect success rate.
Manufacturing, assembly, testing, telemetry and tracking are also conducted in the village surrounding the Cosmodrome. To supplement their harsh existence, locals have taken to scavenger whatever leftover pieces of Space junk they can get their hands on.
This is from the Space.com story:



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 administrators 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."


Anyone who gets a charge out of combing through piles of wrecked vehicles at their local junkyard can surely appreciate this story. Just imagine the things they have recovered. Who knows, next week some Russian farmer might launch himself into Low Earth Orbit in a homebuilt Spacecraft.
After all, Burt Rutan has already proven it's possible.