ALTAI, Russia - Villagers collect scrap from a crashed spacecraft, surrounded by thousands of white butterflies, 2000. Environmentalists fear for the region's future due to toxic rocket fuel.

KAZAKHSTAN - The booster engine section of a crashed Soyuz craft, 2000.

ALTAI, Russia - A farmer takes an evening stroll past the wreck of a Soyuz spacecraft, 2000. In this farming village, rockets routinely fall into people's back yards.

KAZAKHSTAN - Scrap-metal dealers wait for a rocket to crash, 2000.

ALTAI, Russia - Dead cows lie on a cliff, 2000. Locals say that whole herds of cattle and sheep regularly die because rocket fuel poisons the soil.

KAZAKHSTAN - The fiery wreck of a rocket after crashing, 2000.

ALTAI, Russia - A man cuts a wrecked spacecraft to sell off as high-grade titanium alloy, 2000.

KAZAKHSTAN - A Soyuz rocket-fuel tank lies on the steppe, 2000.

Yesterday was the anniversary of Soyuz 1's quick no-chute return to the recycling bin.

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but it is derived from crude oil:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002936018&zsection_id=2002923094&slug=pacificpflotsam23&date=20060421

Plastic junk starving deep sea birds...

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That was a good read, thanks for the link.

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Dead Soviet space tech always reminds me of the story Red Star, Winter Orbit, helpfully pirated by some .ru website.

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Grim Meathook Present, if you really want to be depressed.

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I just might be driving through the area next year, and I'm really hoping we'll see some of that.

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