(CNN)What was once the gleaming pride and joy of the Soviet space program now lies covered in dirt and bird droppings in a disused hangar in Kazakhstan. With their broken windows, missing tiles and ransacked interiors, these shuttles are a haunting -- and fascinating -- piece of space history, rarely seen by the outside world. Indeed, when 36-year-old Russian photographer Ralph Mirebs discovered the derelict shuttles and rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome, he was touched by the sad end for these "wonderful winged machines."