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Roscosmos PAO ____________________________ Some Additions to Gagarin’s Image These photos for Gagarin’s section of Roscosmos web depict Yury Gagarin in his common life, together with the other famous cosmonauts. Sent by Valentina Mikhno, who had got them from her uncle, these photos can serve as some addition to the image of the first cosmonaut.
The Buran (Russian: Бура́н, IPA: [bʊˈran], Snowstorm or Blizzard) program was a Soviet and later Russian reusable spacecraft project that began in 1974 at TsAGI and was formally suspended in 1993.[1] It was a response to the United States Space Shuttle program.[2] The project was the largest and the most expensive in the history of Soviet space exploration.[1] Development work included sending the BOR-5 on multiple sub-orbital test flights, and atmospheric flights of the OK-GLI. Buran completed one unmanned orbital spaceflight in 1988 before its cancellation in 1993.[1]
Above: The actual BOR-5 No. 505 space plane, which survived a scorching heat of hypersonic reentry into the Earth atmosphere in 1988, followed by almost two decades of neglect. It is a question which was more damaging.
It could have been in March 1966, when a NASA planning team developed a statement of work for a "Reusable Ground Launch Vehicle Concept and Development Planning Study." Or it could have been at an Apollo applications conference held at the Manned Spacecraft Center (later the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center) in Houston on October 27, 1966, when leaders of the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Manned Spacecraft Center agreed to pursue independent studies of a shuttle system along the lines of a March 1966 statement of work. Or most certainly a point of inception would be January 23, 1969, when George E. Mueller, NASA's Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, approved contract negotiations for initial shuttle design work .3 Or it could have been even much earlier.
Even before the Apollo moon landing in 1969, in October 1968, NASA began early studies of space shuttle designs. The early studies were denoted "Phase A", and in June 1970, "Phase B", which were more detailed and specific. The primary intended use of the space shuttle was supporting the future space station. This function would dictate most of the shuttle's features. The U.S. Air Force was also interested in using the shuttle, and NASA welcomed their participation and influence to ensure political and financial support for the shuttle program. Initially, many potential shuttle designs were proposed during the 1960s, and they varied widely. Many were exceedingly complex. An attempt to re-simplify was made in the form of the "DC-3" by Maxime Faget, who had designed the Mercury capsule among other vehicles. The DC-3 was a small craft with a 20,000-pound (9 metric ton) payload, a four-man capacity, and limited aerodynamic maneuverability. At a minimum, the DC-3 provided a baseline "workable" (but not significantly advanced) system by which other systems could be compared for price-performance compromises.
Originally posted by METACOMET
I'd be interested to know the year this photo was taken. The US had shuttle designs in the early 1960's with Lockheed's Star Clipper, the North American Aviation DC-3 and the ILRV.
Also notice the wing design in the photo compared to the Buran and the nasa space shuttle.
Good find, thanks for sharing.
Originally posted by JiggyPotamus
This is just an opinion, but the model in the Gagarin picture resembles the NASA shuttle more than the first Soviet shuttle. I am basing this solely on the design of the physical characteristics, ie the tail-fin, wings, etc. The nose bothers me a bit, but all in all I really have zero clue as to whether we are getting the entire truth in the matter. We could be...Or not.
The Soviet government asked the Russian TsNIIMash (ЦНИИМАШ, Central Institute of Machine-building, a major player in defense analysis) for an expert opinion. Institute director, Yuri Mozzhorin, recalls that for a long time the institute could not envisage a civilian payload large enough to require a vehicle of that capacity. Based on this, as well as on US profitability analyses of that time, which showed that the Space Shuttle would be economically efficient only with a large number of launches (one every week or so), Mozzhorin concluded that the vehicle had a military purpose, although he was unable to say exactly what. The Soviet program was further boosted after Defense Minister Ustinov received a report from analysts showing that, at least in theory, the Space Shuttle could be used to deploy nuclear bombs over Soviet territory. Chertok recounts that Ustinov was so worried by the possibility that he made the Soviet response program a top priority.
Officially, the Buran spacecraft was designed for the delivery to orbit and return to Earth of spacecraft, cosmonauts, and supplies. Both Chertok and Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy suggest that from the beginning, the program was military in nature; however, the exact military capabilities, or intended capabilities, of the Buran program remain classified. Commenting on the discontinuation of the program in his interview to New Scientist, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov confirms their accounts:
“ We had no civilian tasks for Buran and the military ones were no longer needed. It was originally designed as a military system for weapon delivery, maybe even nuclear weapons. The American shuttle also has military uses.
Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Wolfenz
Gonna do a Zorgon here..
Have a look at this puppy:
As for your pic, it isn't Buran, but it is a "prototype" shuttle, as is the one above,
This is Buran:
No dates yet!
HL-20 lifting body The "luxury" crew rescue vehicle option was the Langley Research Center's $2-billion HL-20 which was loosely based on a Soviet spaceplane design
Based on the classic comic strip and movie serials from the 1930s, ABC-TV's "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" was a light-hearted sci-fi adventure series that followed the adventures of American astronaut William "Buck" Rogers who was accidentally frozen in cryogenic sleep in 1987, only to be revived 500 years in the future where he joined forces with humanity's remnants to battle various alien antagonists. Roger's original "ride" was the Ranger 3, "the last of America's Deep Space Probes," a "compact" version of the American Space Shuttle then in development.
On the morning of April 14, 1981, the space shuttle Columbia approached NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. With astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen at the controls, the maiden flight of the world's first reusable space vehicle was headed for touchdown, wrapping up the boldest test flight in history.
Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Wolfenz
No doubt there are many prototypes.
A re-usable spacecraft has been on the cards for the Soviets and USA for a long time, although the original intention was for a large capacity bomber, long range bomber.
The similarities between the two shuttles is due to both countries ultimately working together in some aspects of design as well. Not only that, the delta wing design is the most maneuverable upon re-entry.