# Soviet 'Space Shuttle' Buran -- What's Your Take? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2000, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177 "2000-08-13T07:35:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sith_Sheriff_Brody)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/1 "2000-08-13T07:35:33Z")
Just to probe the depths (I noticed some russophiles and space-type-people here)… 1-Do you know what I’m talking about? 2-Is/was Buran a rip-off of the US Shuttle? 3-(Any comments, feelings, thoughts, questions, pictures, you would like to send our way, or you would like to hear) So… 1-Big fargin’ yes. 2-Most likely, although there are some unusual features I can go into, if need be. 3-I first heard about Buran not quite a year ago. I was instantly hooked. The thought that the USSR had a space shuttle like we did…What’d they do with it? What happened to it? Why hadn’t I heard about it before? I went on a quest to learn more about it, and piled up pics on my hard drive and books on my desk. I now consider Buran to be one of the best, most recent 'coulda, shoulda, woulda been’s. Any other thoughts? -SSB ---
**Author:** ![Revedge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Revedge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revedge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/2 "2000-08-13T09:06:18Z")
1 yes 2 Hell yes 3 Heard that it was now parked in a park in Russia. It just sits there like our unused Saturn V moon rockets do at Kennedy and JSC. Pretty damned expensive landscaping if you ask me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sith_Sheriff_Brody)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/3 "2000-08-13T09:20:59Z")
I’ve heard of a mock-up parked in Gorky Park being turned into some kind of themed attraction. Give me some time to find a pic of the poster. -SSB ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/4 "2000-08-13T19:57:37Z")
My understanding is that the Buran (trans. “Snowstorm”) went up once or maybe twice, unmanned, for testing, and then shortly thereafter the program got scrapped. Yeah, it looked like a blatant rip-off of the space shuttle… one big difference was that it was strapped to one of their Energia rockets, instead of a hydrogen fuel tank and a pair of solid-rocket boosters. ---
**Author:** ![Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sith_Sheriff_Brody)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/5 "2000-08-13T19:58:45Z")
[http://thematrix.acmecity.com/realworld/214/BTIGP.jpg](http://thematrix.acmecity.com/realworld/214/BTIGP.jpg) -SSB ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/6 "2000-08-13T19:59:30Z")
info and pictures: [http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/buran.html](http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/buran.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sith_Sheriff_Brody)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/7 "2000-08-13T20:04:40Z")
“Buran” = Snowstorm, Whirlwind, or Blizzard, depending on who you believe. It only flew once. And that one flight was unmanned. It flew by remote control and landed on autopilot, something our shuttle cannot do. Also, our orbiters use their main engines for launching. Buran has no launch-type engines; thus, all of the Energia rocket is booster (not ‘some boosters + a fuel tank’, like ours). ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/8 "2000-08-13T20:06:14Z")
My understanding is that the Buran (trans. “Snowstorm”) went up once or maybe twice, unmanned, for testing, and then shortly thereafter the program got scrapped. Yeah, it looked like a blatant rip-off of the space shuttle… one big difference was that it was strapped to one of their Energia rockets, instead of a hydrogen fuel tank and a pair of solid-rocket boosters. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/9 "2000-08-13T20:22:10Z")
The program ran out of money. However, I read that Buran has fuel to abort a landing and try again, unlike the US shuttle. ---
**Author:** ![Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sith_Sheriff_Brody)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/10 "2000-08-13T20:26:40Z")
That’s a good site, Drewbert, with some good pictures. -SSB ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/11 "2000-08-13T22:09:24Z")
If you like that, try [DeepCold](http://www.deepcold.com). It’s a site with recreations of proposed Cold War designs for American and Russian spacecraft. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/12 "2000-08-13T23:26:37Z")
I have no idea how that got posted twice… ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/13 "2000-08-13T23:35:27Z")
I have no idea how that got posted twice… ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/14 "2000-08-13T23:37:21Z")
OK. apparently I need to stop using the “Back” button right after posting. \*Shouldn’t this go in the “Post Padding Party” thread? ---
**Author:** ![Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@Sith\_Sheriff\_Brody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sith_Sheriff_Brody)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2000, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/15 "2000-08-14T04:31:46Z")
Deep Cold is very good. Thanks. -SSB ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2000, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soviet-space-shuttle-buran-whats-your-take/29177/16 "2000-08-14T07:22:29Z")
1: Yes 2: Depends on what you mean by “rip-off”. The launch configuration is very different - the Soviet system used expendable engines mounted on the main booster, while the U.S. system uses reusable engines on the orbiter. They did copy the aerodynamic design of the orbiter. NASA already cosnidered and tested numerous designs before coming up with an optimal design; there was no point in duplicating the effort. 3: By far the best on-line source of info on the Buran is at [http://www.friends-partners.org/~mwade/craft/buran.htm](http://www.friends-partners.org/~mwade/craft/buran.htm) . The Buran/Energia system was interesting because the Buran was just a capsule riding on this huge booster. The [Energia booster](http://www.friends-partners.org/~mwade/lvs/energia.htm) coud also be fitted with a simple payload canister instead of the Buran orbiter, allowing up to 200 tons of payload, if I recall correctly. The Space Station could have looked very different if this was in operation.