Message posted by Peter Merlin on February 03, 2011 at 12:34:50 PST:
Development of the Buran spacecraft began in 1976. The first full-scale, operational orbiter was unveiled to the public in 1988 shortly before its single space flight. It was a marvelously complex vehicle that represented a technological leap for the Soviets, who had to develop a substantial amount of technology, materials, and infrastructure. Similarities to the configuration of the U.S. space shuttle resulted from an attempt to match capabilities. Notably, the unmanned orbital mission of Buran in November 1988 successfully demonstrated an autonomous precision landing system. The greatest weakness of the Buran system was its lack of a clearly defined mission. It was primarily a product of the Cold War, developed in direct response to the U.S. space shuttle, which was perceived as a military threat by the Soviets. As the Cold War came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union, budget cuts and lack of a purpose for Buran led to the demise of the Russian shuttle effort. Technology developed for Buran and its Energiya launch vehicle survive today in the Zenit, Angara, and Sea Launch rockets as well as in engines used to power the U.S. Atlas series of launch vehicles. Docking hardware developed for Buran was used in the joint U.S.-Russian Shuttle/Mir program and on the International Space Station. Interestingly, the Soviet BOR-4 mini space plane that was flown in the early 1980s is also contributing to future spacecraft development. The BOR-4 was originally designed as a scaled down model of the planned Spiral space plane. When Spiral was cancelled, the craft was used to develop thermal protection systems for Buran. In the early 1990s, NASA borrowed the BOR-4 shape as the baseline for a proposed Personnel Launch System called the HL-20 to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. Although the PLS program was cancelled, the BOR-4 shape and HL-20 wind-tunnel data are now being used by Sierra Nevada Corporation in the development of the proposed Dream Chaser commercial space vehicle.
In Reply to: Re: OT: Russian Mystery Space Plane posted by loopbacktst4echo on February 03, 2011 at 7:37:23 PST:
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