BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan — More than a half-century ago, the launch site here became the first place to send humans into space. It is still our main route to the heavens, at least for now.

As these photos suggest, time has since put a wrinkle or two or three on the massive Baikonur Cosmodrome, some 1,300 miles southeast of Moscow.

It was at Baikonur that the Soviets launched Sputnik in 1957, shocking America and beginning the space race in earnest. The United States worked furiously to catch up to, and eventually surpass, the Soviet program. In 1961, Yuri Gagarin left Baikonur for a single orbit of the Earth.

Today, Russians, Americans and travelers from other nations team up on missions launched from the Baikonur site, described by Vladimir V. Putin six years ago as “physically aged.” Besides all the liftoffs, Baikonur serves as a tourist draw, offering a museum, tours and even an opportunity to take a zero gravity flight.