Lax Security At Russian Rocket Plant 116
theshowmecanuck writes "Reuters reports that there is little or no security at one of the main factories in Russia responsible for military and Soyuz rocket manufacture. Blogger Lana Sator was able to walk right into the empty (off hours) facility through huge gaps in the fences that no-one bothered to repair, and there was no security to stop them aside from some dogs that didn't bother them either. In fact Lana even has one picture of herself posing next to an apparently non-functional security camera, another of her sitting on what looks like to be possibly a partially assembled rocket motor (someone who knows better can fill us in), and has about 100 photos of the escapade all told on her blog about this (it's in Russian... which I don't speak... any translators out there?). Russian officials are said to be deeply concerned. I wonder if this has any bearing on why Russian rockets haven't been making it into space successfully, or whether it and the launch failures are all part of some general industrial malaise that is taking place."
Same as in any big beauracracy (Score:2, Interesting)
This is exactly the same problem that's existed in any big beauracracy since the beginning of time.
e.g. read how Feynman irked the guards at Los Alamos by leaving the secure area 5 times without entering.
The beauracracy spends so much effort putting on a show at guarding the official entrances and any other place you might leave or enter? It can't even fit into the minds of the security guys.
A trifle surprising... (Score:5, Interesting)
I am somewhat surprised, though, that they haven't had a greater incentive to repair the fence and put together something resembling a night watch for reasons of simple theft. Rocket surgery presumably involves some expensive tools, and big piles of parts and stock in various rather pricey metals and alloys. If your security is so fantastic that bored bloggers are wandering in, I'm amazed that the whole operation hasn't been melted down at the nearest scrapyard of loose morals...
Just maybe.... (Score:2, Interesting)
They think people are generally pretty decent and no one is going to come and steal their rockets.
This OMGWTFTERRORISTS mentality is thankfully not yet universal.
Washington Post Article (Score:5, Interesting)
The Washington Post (reg required) just had a good report on how Russia's scientific base has changed for the worse. Apparently, the labs are populated with a bimodal mix of young and elderly scientists -- the middle has been hollowed out over the last two decades. And while a new funding push has sent money towards science, much of it is wasted through corruption:
In Russia, the lost generation of science [washingtonpost.com]
Don't know what the fuss is about (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Looks like ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Elena aka KiddOfSpeed. They were bogus in that she took a guided tour and was not on a solitary motorcycle ride through the area as she had claimed on her site. In other words the photos weren't photoshopped, but everything else about it was fake. I was considering this possibility myself reading the headline; there must be guided tours into the Russian space-technology facilities as well. On the other hand it would not be hard to believe the facilities are not very secure or well guarded, and probably quite empty over the holidays.
What's the difference between the US and others? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've walked into facilities who have absolutely no security in the US, France, Germany and the UK which would be considered important to the nation. Defense contractors who keep their backdoor open all day and a false sense of security with a locked front door and to facilities with no secretary and doors open all day long, you can waltz in, take what you want, and no one will notice, they'll think you work there or you're an outside contractor. Hell, even with a secretary, they just let you in without question. And to those who say they have "security" that there's no way that happens, I probably was already through your entire building without notifying anyone during one of your new installations in the building. You're part of the joke.
Hell, I was at the Boeing plant in Long Beach where they build the C-17, and I just waltzed right into there without any questions from anyone, all that security they have there is a joke.
The only reason no one blogs about it or posts pictures of these issues because they'll probably lose their jobs or not work with said companies ever again. Or they just simply don't care like me.
Re:Old Plant? (Score:2, Interesting)
Khimki isn't out of the way; the best shortcuts into Moscow from the principal international airport Moscow-Sheremetyevo run through there. The area is a strange combination of old industrial sites and high-security gated communities.
The site doesn't look abandoned, old facilities often look like this. I'll bet there is a genius old-school engineer keeping the thing running with duct tape and bubble gum. He probably comes out of retirement every time a test is fired.
Re:A trifle surprising... (Score:2, Interesting)
Not really what you were thinking of, but FOGBANK was a bizarre twist on/subversion of the idea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOGBANK [wikipedia.org]
Basically this material used in US nuclear weapons hadn't been made in 15+ years, and when they tried to make it again, the result failed in testing. Of course, people started assuming they'd "forgotten" how to make it, but it ended up being that they never knew how to make it in the first place -- impurities in one of the ingredients turned out to be important, and the ingredient they were getting 15 years later was "too pure".