Quote:
Originally Posted by hotspur
great pics Hugh. 
Does seem the program never really got going,with only one remote flight in 1988,and closed down in 1993.The Buran looks a little smaller than its U.S version.
Seems such a waste on so many levels. |
The Buran is
much smaller than the Shuttle. From what I've read the Soviets didn't really need it but it was made primarily so that they could match capabilities with the US - sort of: are we missing something? better build one just in case.
It was well designed though and in many ways could have been better than the US shuttle, even the fact that the single flight was remotely controlled is something that the STS wasn't capable of. Of course being much smaller it wouldn't have been as capable at orbital delivery as the Shuttle and wouldn't have been able to carry something as large as the HST or Galileo but still would have been useful for matching the Shuttles cross range ability - important if you want to launch, complete one orbit, and then land at the same place.