mcdowell@cfa250.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell) (10/24/88)
(Based on pictures from CNN and announcement by Radio Moscow..) The Soviet Space Shuttle orbiter is on the pad attached to the Energiya booster. According to the name painted on its side, it is called 'BURAN' (Snowstorm). (By the way, this is also the callsign that Gen. Anatoliy Filipchenko used on his spaceflights Soyuz-7 and Soyuz-16; he is now retired so I doubt it's anything to do with him). This name is one of several (Albatros, Kosmolyot, etc) that surfaced a few years ago as possible names for the Soviet Shuttle; can anyone remember who was responsible? (They obviously get a bit of street-cred for that!) The RM announcement said that the launch mass was 2400 tonnes. It said that final preparations were being made for launch. Such a quote a few years ago would have meant the launch was due within a week, but more recently it has been used many weeks in advance of the launch, so I wouldn't start camping out in front of CNN just yet..:-) Still, it now looks clear that it will go by the end of the year, and probably before Atlantis. The bets are that it will be unpiloted for this mission. Jonathan McDowell.
jim@blaise.rand.org (Jim Gillogly) (10/27/88)
Radio Moscow said tonight (Wednesday) that the launch will be Saturday, 29 Oct, and that it will be an unmanned flight. I know the net is a bad medium for reporting local news headlines, but I don't know how long it takes the newspapers to pick up on Radio Moscow... Jim Gillogly sdcrdcf!randvax!jim jim@rand.org
bob@etive.ed.ac.uk (Bob Gray) (11/02/88)
In article <1131@cfa237.cfa250.harvard.edu> mcdowell@cfa250.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell) writes: >The Soviet Space Shuttle orbiter is on the pad attached to the Energiya >booster. According to the name painted on its side, it is called >'BURAN' (Snowstorm). The BBC also reported that the second soviet shuttle, currently still under construction, is called Ptichka. They gave the translation as Birdie. Bob.
fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix) (11/03/88)
In article <899@etive.ed.ac.uk>, bob@etive.ed.ac.uk (Bob Gray) writes: > > The BBC also reported that the second soviet shuttle, > currently still under construction, is called Ptichka. > They gave the translation as Birdie. Maybe just "bird"? (Serbo-Croat and Russian aren't too far apart..."ptitsa" being bird and "mali ptitsa" being "little bird ~= birdie" in S-C. The initial p is not silent, btw.) Maybe the application doesn't fit, my serbian being as rusty as it is. :}
fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix) (11/03/88)
In article <75836@sun.uucp>, fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix) writes: > In article <899@etive.ed.ac.uk>, bob@etive.ed.ac.uk (Bob Gray) writes: > > > > The BBC also reported that the second soviet shuttle, > > currently still under construction, is called Ptichka. > > They gave the translation as Birdie. > > Maybe just "bird"? > > (Serbo-Croat and Russian aren't too far apart..."ptitsa" being > bird and "mali ptitsa" being "little bird ~= birdie" in S-C. > The initial p is not silent, btw.) > > Maybe the application doesn't fit, my serbian being as rusty as > it is. :} > On second though, the "chka" ending is pretty common for diminutives in Russian. Forget the whole thing, "Birdie" it is.
alastair@geovision.uucp (Alastair Mayer) (11/05/88)
In article <899@etive.ed.ac.uk> bob@etive.ed.ac.uk (Bob Gray) writes: >In article <1131@cfa237.cfa250.harvard.edu> mcdowell@cfa250.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell) writes: >>The Soviet Space Shuttle orbiter is on the pad attached to the Energiya >>booster. According to the name painted on its side, it is called >>'BURAN' (Snowstorm). > >The BBC also reported that the second soviet shuttle, >currently still under construction, is called Ptichka. >They gave the translation as Birdie. > Bob. Well, so much for my theory that the Soviets chose the name "Buran" to fill in the obvious gap in the shuttle name list: Atlantis -- Columbia Discovery (Enterprise) Yes, of course I'm kidding. :-)
vcc@eecs.nwu.edu (Guest from Vogelback) (11/05/88)
/ eecs.nwu.edu:sci.space.shuttle / bob@etive.ed.ac.uk (Bob Gray) / 11:18 am Nov 1, 1988 / In article <1131@cfa237.cfa250.harvard.edu> mcdowell@cfa250.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell) writes: >>The Soviet Space Shuttle orbiter is on the pad attached to the Energiya >>booster. According to the name painted on its side, it is called >>'BURAN' (Snowstorm). >The BBC also reported that the second soviet shuttle, >currently still under construction, is called Ptichka. >They gave the translation as Birdie. > Bob. ---------- And when it launches they will say, "Watch the Birdie!" :-) Or maybe, "Bye, bye, Birdie!" Robert Lentz Internet: Lentz@Nuacc.acns.nwu.edu Bitnet: Lentz@Nuacc