Soviet space shuttle could bail out NASA

www.russiatoday.com...
The Soviet-era Buran space programme, mothballed 20 years ago, may be revived. With NASA about to retire its ageing fleet of space shuttles, there is a pressing need for viable space transport.
Two decades ago the Soviet space shuttle Buran blasted off on its first and only orbital flight. Just a few years later, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the programme was shelved.

...

Buran technologies may make an unexpected return to the space industry as well.

Because NASA will soon retire its ageing space shuttle fleet, some American and Russian scientists are beginning to think of ways to revive the Buran programme.

It may be more economical than developing an entirely new spacecraft from scratch.

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[edit on 16/11/08 by Jbird]

Originally posted by sunny_2008ny
It may be more economical than developing an entirely new spacecraft from scratch.

I would have thought the opposite. To revive a project like that after 15 years of doing nothing with it? I think it would be rather difficult to get it going again, but I could be wrong. What is your source for this info anyway?

The Buran and the Energia booster were great pieces of hardware though and it's too bad that they were cancelled when the USSR collapsed.

For those wanting to find out more about the Buran. Here is a good site to start with. www.buran-energia.com...

reply to post by jra


www.russiatoday.com...

heres the site.

The buran still had the orbiter strapped to the side of the main booster where it could be hit by any debris or icing coming off the main booster. I know energia apparently didn't use exterior foam, but it would have had icing all over its cryogenic fuel tank then. I think this may have lead to serious nose tile damage that is visible in the post-landing photos of the only complete buran flight:
www.buran.ru...
Buran is more powerful, but is it really worth all the reinvestment to build new ones and rebuild all the infrastructure when it still suffers from the many of the same safety issues?