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Chris, Slawomir... you're probably not aware one of the two Burans was brought here on a barge and on display at Darling Harbour for some years near Star Casino. I went to see it but found it somewhat disappointing - didn't keep any photos.
When the Soviet Union disintegrated the russkies were so broke they couldn't afford the freight to get it back to the motherland, and couldn't pay the rent owed at Darling Harbour. In the end the Darling Harbour Authority took possession in lieu of the debts and auctioned it on eBay... the asking price was a mere $1M but AFAIK they didn't get that much - the buyer had to take it away (ahem). It's probably rotting in a paddock somewhere as a kids plaything.
At the same time they had two cosmonauts stuck in orbit and they had to call on NASA to send the Shuttle to collect them.
It does rather imply the Soviet space program imploded in the 1980's for the simpler reason they were quite literally broke.
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