macey@praxis.co.uk (Ian Macey) (11/17/88)
Previously.... >>A few weeks after the dying words of the astronauts are heard, >>the shuttle will reenter the atmosphere at 5 or 6 miles per second. > >Nope. By that time the Soviets will have salvaged it and be performing >in-orbit repairs. Might give it a new paint job, too. At least the rescued astronauts will feel at home in the Russian shuttle Buran (means Snowstorm if you haven't already been told 2**30 times). I watched the flight on BBC news last night and while the name painted on the side was in Russian rather than Roman script, it was as much of a copy of the US shuttle as their Concordski was a copy of the British/French Concord, back in the 70's. The view here appears to be that, as with Concord, it's not a case of 'only one shape for the job' but rather one of 'let the west do the R&D and then we'll copy whatever they come up with'. Still I was impressed by the fact that the whole mission was flown by remote control and that the craft makes a powered landing with the aid of jets in the tail. The parawings on the boosters and airbags/parachutes on the center section are a great example of how the Russians use simple cheap technology imaginatively and well, and have thus maintained the lead in the space race. Ian. |\\\X\\|\ | Ian Macey Bath, England. (macey@praxis.co.uk) |\\X\\\|\\ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |\X\\\\|\\\| " there are never no bugs, only bugs you haven't found "
cadp17@vaxa.strath.ac.uk (G.M.T.) (09/05/90)
Does anybody have any information regarding the Soviet's shuttle Buran? Haven't heard a thing about it since that one unmanned test flight..... Gordon. -- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Gordon M. Tervit. JANET: CADP17@UK.AC.STRATH.VAXB | | BITNET: CADP17%VAXB.STRATH.AC.UK@UKACRL | | INTERNET: CADP17%VAXB.STRATH.AC.UK@EDU.CUNY.CUNYVM | +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones) (09/05/90)
In article <213.26e406d5@vaxa.strath.ac.uk>, cadp17@vaxa (G.M.T.) writes: > > Does anybody have any information regarding the Soviet's > shuttle Buran? > > Haven't heard a thing about it since that one unmanned > test flight..... > Buran, the first Soviet shuttle (to distinguish it from Buran, the entire shuttle project) will most likely only make that one flight. The Soviets have announced that they have two more shuttles under construction, and expect to fly one sometime in 1991, which will also be the next launch of the Energia. They will launch it unmanned, and it's supposed to dock with Mir, whose Kristal add-on module has a docking port to accommodate a shuttle. They are thinking about having a crew transfer to it for landing. Another possible use for their shuttle they are considering is to have it retrieve Salyut 7, which is still in orbit, though unused since 1986. Like the US shuttle, the Soviet shuttle has aroused some controversy within the Soviet space community. Sagdeev, for one, thinks it's a waste of money and the other Soviet boosters are more cost effective. I've heard it said that the Soviet military was so convinced of the military potential of our shuttle they wanted one too. -- Chris Jones clj@ksr.com {world,uunet,harvard}!ksr!clj