Planes to keep Russian jubilee dry
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MOSCOW, Russia -- Russian cloud-seeding planes will be in the skies
to keep St. Petersburg free from rain during the city's 300th anniversary
festivities.
On orders from President Vladimir Putin, 10 planes equipped with
chemical charges will try to keep Russia's second city dry as tourists and
world leaders attend the jubilee celebration.
"Our aim is to empty all clouds of rain before they hit the city
borders," Vladimir Stepanenko of St. Petersburg's Geophysics Observatory
told The Times of London.
Since the Soviet era, Russians have sought to control the weather,
developing techniques to halt or induce rain as well as stop hail from
damaging crops.
The observatory in St. Petersburg used cloud-seeding planes to keep the
city dry during the 1994 Goodwill Games, the St. Petersburg Times
reported.
For the city's jubilee, Putin -- a St. Petersburg native -- will be
joined by U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair
and dozens of other heads of state on May 30-31.
Thousands of anniversary events, including parades, exhibits and
concerts, are planned from Friday through June 1. (Full
story)
