Buran relied on four main engines that were housed in a separate, disposable rocket stage. space shuttle's three main engines returned to Earth with the orbiter after each flight. Its single orbiting flight is notable for that accomplishment-the shuttle returned from space with a fine airplane-style landing controlled entirely by computer.Īnother obvious difference between the shuttles was the engine design. Their design featured some important differences.Ĭelebrated Soviet test pilots flew the craft on training flights (in Earth’s atmosphere, not in space), but Buran was ultimately designed to travel without the need for a human operator. But while the Soviets used all the information they could gather about the U.S. The Soviet shuttle bore a striking resemblance to its American counterpart for good reason: Its designers had acquired American shuttle specifications through espionage. In 1982, Australian reconnaissance aircraft circulated photos of Russian ships pulling out of the ocean a small model spacecraft that looked very familiar to American eyes. The program began in secret, but word soon leaked out. “It was the time when their space scientists had the world's attention because of the culmination of Soviet accomplishment in exploring Venus.” (Tuesday is the anniversary of the first human spaceflight, by Yuri Gagarin in 1961.)ĭespite those objections, the Soviet government committed extensive resources to the program.Īt its peak, Buran involved more than 150,000 engineers, scientists, technicians, and other employees-even if many of the factory workers didn't initially know exactly what they were producing. Soviet space officials lamented Buran's draining of funds from more successful endeavors. “It was roundly decried in the arena of Soviet space sciences at that time,” Lewis says. The decision didn't sit well with many inside the Soviet space program. military technology, so they wanted a shuttle for themselves and they built it as a competitor to the U.S. “This was during the era when the Soviet Union was really going full force trying to keep up with U.S. “The Soviet speculation was that the shuttle would be used to capture or destroy satellites,” says Lewis, who specializes in Soviet and Russian space programs. accomplishments in kind, says Cathleen Lewis, curator of International Space Programs at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. shuttle program into orbit in April 1981.)Ĭold War rivalry-and fear of space weaponry-made the Soviet Union feel it had to match U.S. (The space shuttle Columbia launched the U.S. space shuttle program during the early 1970s ignited Soviet interest in producing a similar spacecraft. Scientists in the USSR had toyed with ideas of reusable spacecraft for decades.
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