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Soviet space shuttle could bail out NASA
Published: 15 November, 2008, 09:44
Edited: 19 October, 2010, 18:13
The Soviet-era Buran space programme, mothballed 20 years ago, may be revived. With NASA about to retire its ageing fleet of space shuttles, there is a pressing need for viable space transport.
I have my doubts whether this blog site has got anything to do with the former Buran space shuttle. A search of the internet has shown the Russians have been working on designing reusable space vehicles for about the past ten years. It appears money has been a problem and the designs of the space vehicles have changed. Try searching the internet and find a little information about future Russian spaceflight development. Also, have a look at the Falcon 9 rocket from America which my also be used to fly to the International Space Station.
Buran is not a space shuttle copy. The US space shuttle is an aircraft with an enormous belly mounted fuel tank and two RATO or JATO rockets to get it moving. The Buran is a glider that sits on a rocket. For Buran to take the 80 ton Skylab into space is simply a case of taking the fully laden 110 ton Buran off the rocket and putting the Skylab on (covered in a fairing to protect it). As you can see the rocket can carry rather heavier loads than the Skylab... it already carries the Buran which is already clearly heavier. The complexity and cost and time involved in construction in space means the bigger the bits you can put up in space the easier and cheaper and simpler it is to build and maintain space stations.