Buran (spacecraft)

This article is about the Buran spacecraft; for the Soviet space shuttle program see Buran program.
Buran
Буран
Buran (spacecraft)
Buran on launch pad 110/37
Country  Soviet Union
Named after "Snowstorm"[1]
Status Decommissioned; destroyed in a 2002 hangar collapse
First flight 1K1
15 November 1988[1]
Last flight 1K1
15 November 1988[1]
Number of missions 1[1]
Crews 0[1]
Time spent in space 3 hours
Number of orbits 2[1]
Buran being carried by the Antonov An-225.

The Buran spacecraft (Russian: Бура́н, IPA: [bʊˈran], Snowstorm or Blizzard), GRAU index 11F35 K1, was the only completed and operational space shuttle vehicle from the Soviet Buran program. The Buran completed one unmanned spaceflight in 1988 before the cancellation of the Soviet shuttle program in 1993. The Buran was subsequently destroyed by a hangar collapse in 2002.[2]

Contents

Overview

Main article: Buran program

The Buran spacecraft was designed for the delivery to orbit and return to Earth of spacecraft, cosmonauts, and supplies. 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.

First flight

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]

The shuttle orbited the Earth twice in 206 minutes of flight.[3] It performed an automated landing on the shuttle 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.[3]

Projected flights

In 1989, it was projected that Buran would have an unmanned second flight in 1993, with a duration of 15–20 days.[4] Due to the cancellation of the project after the break up of the Soviet Union, this never took place. Several scientists have been looking into trying to revive the Buran program, especially after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.[5] More recently, the director of Moscow's Central Machine Building Institute has said the Buran project will be reviewed in the hopes of restarting a similar manned spacecraft design, with rocket test launches as soon as 2015. [6] Russia also continues work on the PPTS but has abandoned the Kliper program, due to differences in vision with their European partners.[7][8][9]

Destruction

On May 12, 2002, a hangar housing Buran in Kazakhstan collapsed, due to poor maintenance. The collapse killed eight workers and destroyed the orbiter as well as a mock-up of an Energia carrier rocket.[10][11][12]

Soviet Space Shuttle Buran landing after its first (and only) space mission

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Buran". NASA. 12 November 1997. http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/buran.html. Retrieved 2006-08-15. ; Shuttle Buran at the Wayback Machine (archived January 28, 2008).
  2. ↑ Russianspaceweb.com
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chertok, Boris (2005). Asif A. Siddiqi. ed (PDF). Raketi i lyudi (trans. "Rockets and People"). NASA History Series. p. 179. http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050010181_2005010059.pdf. Retrieved 2006-07-03. 
  4. ↑ "Экипажи "Бурана" Несбывшиеся планы.". buran.ru. http://www.buran.ru/htm/pilots.htm. Retrieved 2006-08-05.  (Russian)
  5. ↑ Birch, Douglas (2003). "Russian space program is handed new responsibility" (url). Sun Foreign Staff. http://www.dailypress.com/sports/nationworld/bal-te.russia05feb05,0,3940646,full.story. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 
  6. ↑ "Russia To Review Its Space Shuttle Project". xinhua. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russia_To_Review_Its_Space_Shuttle_Project_999.html. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
  7. ↑ "Soviet space shuttle could bail out NASA". Current.com. 2008-12-31. http://current.com/items/89670174/soviet_space_shuttle_could_bail_out_nasa.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  8. ↑ "Soviet space shuttle could bail out NASA". Russiatoday.com. http://www.russiatoday.com/scitech/news/33330?gclid=CJSjwpD2qJgCFQEpGgod_jeUnA. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  9. ↑ "Russia, Europe abandon joint space project - Roscosmos". RIA Novosti. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090129/119870166.html. Retrieved 2009-01-29. 
  10. ↑ Whitehouse, David (2002-05-13). "Russia's space dreams abandoned". bbc.co.uk (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1985631.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-14. 
  11. ↑ Buran.ru: Photo of collapsed hangar
  12. ↑ Buran.ru: Remains of Buran photo with right front windscreen still visible under the debris

Further reading

External links


Buran program
Components
Energia · Mir · Kvant-1 · Kvant-2 · Kristall · Androgynous Peripheral Attach System
Orbiters
Buran (Shuttle 1.01) · Ptichka (Shuttle 1.02) · Baikal (Shuttle 2.01) · Shuttle 2.02 · Shuttle 2.03
Launch site
Testing
OK-ML-1 (OK-M) · OK-KS (003) · OK-ML-2 (OK-MT) · OK-GLI (Buran Analog aerotester) · OK-??? (Model 005?) · OK-TVI · OK-??? (Model 008?) · OK-TVA · BOR-4 · BOR-5
Related topics
Missions  · Buran hangar collapse
Space Shuttles
Space shuttle US.jpg American US Space Shuttle program   Soviet Soviet Buran program
Space shuttle USSR.jpg
  • OK-GLI (Buran Analog BST-02, aerotester)
  • Buran (Shuttle 1.01, destroyed 2002)
  • Ptichka (Shuttle 1.02, 95–97% completed)
  • Baikal (Shuttle 2.01, incomplete)
  • 2.02 (partially dismantled)
  • 2.03 (dismantled)