Posted: 7/27/2005 8:12:32 AM EDT
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I was watching a TV show on the 7 Natural Wonders of aviation. One of the seven was the Soviet Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world's largest aircraft. They showed video of this jet piggybacking a Soviet space shuttle, the Buran. Did everyone know the Soviets had their own space shuttles? Aparently there were several, all of which were eventually called "Buran". Info on the Buran HERE  Info on the Antonov HERE The Antonov was specifically built with two humps on top for easy transportation of the shuttle and other heavy cargo.  
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No capitalist American plans or ideas were copied in the prodcution of this spacecraft. Which is now rotting away in a junk yard for lack of use / funding. liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/buran.html Cancellation After the first flight of Buran, funding for the project was cut. Although the project wasn't officially canceled until 1993, much of the work was halted long before that date. There were two other Buran shuttles under construction. The second orbiter, "Ptichka" ("Little Bird" in Russian) was originally scheduled for completion in 1990. The third Buran was due in 1992. Neither was finished. In November 1995, the partially completed shuttles were dismantled at their production site. The manufacturing plant is scheduled to be converted for production of buses, syringes, and diapers. |
| Back when you could park your car and watch planes take off from Houston Intercontinental Airport (now Bush Intercontinental), I watched an Antonov take off a few times. One vantage point was at the END of a runway, and that damn plane looked like it was going to run you over, and NEVER get off the ground. Truly a sight to see. |
I was questioning my own age when I heard of the Soviet Shuttle. I remember the first launch, but I was in grade school. If I recall, we were all sitting in front of the TV, watching the countdown, while Good Morning America was showing off another new invention. The Kodak Disc Camera. Dave |
The Buran only flew once, on an unmanned mission. It was entirely successful. It had minor differences from the US shuttle, including no orbiter-mounted main engines (the Energia booster held the main engines), so it had some advantage on payload capacity. Jim |
Because this shit was plastered all over TIME and NEWSWEEK when I was in school. Its amazing to me that some people are so young now that they have no conception that the BURAN existed before they found it themselves. |
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/buran-00a.html
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 Their shuttle was not the best financial idea and that is why it is now a restaurant. Neither is our shuttle. There are much cheaper ways to get things into space. But, the shuttle idea will hopefully have a successor that functions better and cheaper. Not because of the space travel fantasies we thought of when we were kids and watched the shuttle on television, but because of the ability to make repairs and upgrades to billion dollar satellites. Instead of having the disposable system we have now. While the shuttle has been used for repairs in space, the cost of the shuttle being sent is outrageous and only a good idea on ridiculously expensive satellites. |
