What Happened To Russia’s Space Shuttle Program?, page 1
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Topic started on 2-3-2011 @ 03:15 PM by SLAYER69

Warning:
The following post may contain information which may be deemed
hazardous to ignorance.
Proceed with caution.
Remember you have been warned!



Being an avid space program and sci-fi nut all my life I have been fascinated with all things space. Starting with Sputnik all the way through the Soviet and US space race. Today while surfing the interwebs I came across this site What Happened To Russia’s Space Shuttle Program?. I did an ATS search under that title and came up with Zilch. So I thought I'd give it a go...

With the retirement of the US space shuttle looming I thought it would be cool to post info on the Soviet/Russian Buran shuttle and what happened to it. However before we get into what happened to their program let me post some comparison images. I wanted to share with our ATS members who were either too young to know or the less familiar with the old cold war competitors. This will mainly be a visual comparison between the two programs

Buran program
The Buran (Russian: Бура́н, IPA: [bʊˈran], Snowstorm or Blizzard) program was a Soviet and later Russian plan for a reusable spacecraft, that began in 1974 at TsAGI and formally suspended in 1993.[1] It was a response to the United States Space Shuttle program.[2] The project was the largest and the most expensive in the history of Soviet space exploration.[1] Development work included sending the BOR-5 on multiple sub-orbital test flights, and atmospheric flights of the OK-GLI. Buran completed one unmanned orbital spaceflight in 1988 before its cancellation in 1993.[1]

Although the Buran spacecraft was similar in appearance to the NASA Space Shuttle, and could similarly function as a re-entry spaceplane, the main engines during launch were on the Energia rocket and not taken into orbit on the spacecraft. The Buran program matched an expendable rocket to a reusable spaceplane.


US Shuttle and Soviet Buran visual comparison



US Shuttle and Soviet Buran dimensional comparison




Cross Section Comparison




US Shuttle and Soviet Buran Aft Comparison




US Shuttle and Soviet Buran Launchpad prep




US Shuttle and Soviet Buran Launch comparison


Buran

The only orbital launch of Buran occurred at 3:00 UTC on 15 November 1988 from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 110/37. It was lifted into orbit unmanned by the specially designed Energia booster rocket. The life support system was partially installed and no software was installed to run the computer display screens.[1][dead link]. Though the first flight occurred more than four years behind schedule, the mission was successful. The automated launch sequence performed as specified, and the Energia booster lifted the vehicle into a temporary orbit before the orbiter separated as programmed.

After boosting itself to a higher orbit and completing two revolutions around the Earth, retrorockets fired automatically to begin the descent into the atmosphere. Exactly 206 minutes into the mission, the Buran orbiter landed, having lost only five of its 38,000 thermal tiles over the course of the flight.[3] The automated landing took place on a runway at Baikonur Cosmodrome where, despite a lateral wind speed of 61.2 kilometres per hour (38.0 mph), it landed only 3 metres (9.8 ft) laterally and 10 metres (33 ft) longitudinally from the target mark.[3] The unmanned flight was the first time that a spacecraft of this size and complexity had been launched, completed maneuvers in orbit, re-entered the atmosphere, and landed under automatic guidance.





US Shuttle and Soviet Buran Landings




Overview

Like its American counterpart, the Buran, when in transit from its landing sites back to the launch complex, was transported on the back of a large jet aeroplane. It was piggy-backed on the Antonov An-225 Mriya aircraft, which was designed in part for this task and remains the largest aircraft in the world.


US Shuttle and Soviet Buran transportation


Development

The Antonov An-225 was designed to airlift the Energia rocket's boosters and the Buran space shuttle for the Soviet space program. It was developed as a replacement for the Myasishchev VM-T. The An-225's original mission and objectives are almost identical to that of the United States' Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.[2]



Antonov An-225




NASA 747




NASA 747 and Antonov An-225 comparison





Buran Launch and Landing
Cool Music




So what happened to the Soviet/Russian Shuttle program? When the Soviet Union collapsed it all went downhill from there. Supposedly there are some still interested in some sort of program resurrection and as far as the Buran that flew? Well, it got itself squished Apparently the building it was housed in collapsed

Buran
The Buran orbiter which flew the test flight was crushed in the Buran hangar collapse on May 12, 2002 in Kazakhstan. The OK-GLI resides in a museum.
Source
The governmental commission investigating the causes of the collapse of the roof reported determined the exact cause of the accident. However, by order of committee chairman Ilya Klebanov, that reason was kept secret. To this day, no one outside the Russian government knows what destroyed the shuttle.


But don't worry folks. I'm sure other members like Zorgon will come along and toss us a conspiracy or two about a secret Russian Space Shuttle fleet program etc



In which case I'll have to counter with some verifiable facts about ours.




And lastly here is a Shuttle tribute video I tossed together a year or so ago also with cool music.
Enjoy


(click to open player in new window)


edit on 2-3-2011 by SLAYER69 because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 2-3-2011 @ 03:32 PM by SLAYER69
reply to post by butcherguy


I have a feeling he is lurking ready to spring some good stuff.



reply posted on 2-3-2011 @ 03:42 PM by weedwhacker
reply to post by SLAYER69


Oh, he has it locked and loaded!!!! LOL....

I have a feeling he is lurking ready to spring some good stuff.


Last time this came up (has it already been TWO years?!?) I saw a link to Google Earth, and a photo of a Buran in Moscow....along the river. A little research shows that is part of a permanent public display, in a park or something....haven't thought about it for some time.


But, the Buran program, most likely (as I recall), was merely a victim of economics......and, although (did you cover this already??) it is an obvious knock-off in many ways (hinting at possible 'corporate' espionage of sorts), it also has some capabilities that surpass NASA's version. On paper, anyways....

Lacks any track record, and proven flight history experience to rival the Shuttle, of course though....
edit on 2 March 2011 by weedwhacker because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 2-3-2011 @ 03:46 PM by butcherguy
reply to post by tooo many pills
Dammit WW, you're all facts and figures.

What have you done with Zorgon?

Seriously, that is what I always heard about the Buran, economics killed the Buran. Look at our shuttles, they are almost at the end now.

Nice that Slayer put the X37B there in that final photo, eh?


reply posted on 2-3-2011 @ 03:49 PM by SLAYER69
reply to post by tooo many pills


I left the who stole what from whom out of it. I applaud both NASA and the Soviet/Russian programs. I wish there were less "Secret/Military" and more civilian aspects.

Some day soon i hope!



reply posted on 2-3-2011 @ 03:50 PM by weedwhacker
reply to post by CholmondleyWarner


I wonder which nation stole the design from the other?


What do you think?

Soviets began theirs in 1974.

USA?:

The Shuttle program was formally launched on January 5, 1972, when President Nixon announced that NASA would proceed with the development of a reusable Space Shuttle system.


But....

Even before the Apollo moon landing in 1969, in October 1968 NASA began early studies of space shuttle designs. The early studies were denoted "Phase A", and in June 1970, "Phase B", which were more detailed and specific.


www.century-of-flight.net...

Any guesses, now?


reply posted on 2-3-2011 @ 03:54 PM by SLAYER69
reply to post by zorgon


I knew you had a bunch of stuff stashed away. That's why I kept away from posting them. I figured you'd spring some stuff on us.


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