Buran landing, with MiG-25 'Foxbat' chase plane
Buran Russian: Буран
Orbiter Vehicle Designation:	11F35 K1
Country:	Soviet Union
Named after:	"Snowstorm" [1]
First flight:	1K1 15 November 1988 [1]
Last flight:	1K1 15 November 1988 [1]
Number of missions:	1 [1]
Crews:	0 [1]
Time spent in space:	3 hours
Number of orbits:	2 [1]
Status:	Decommissioned, destroyed in hangar collapse

The Buran spacecraft, serial number 11F35 K1, was the only fully completed and operational space shuttle from the Soviet Union's Buran program. It flew in space only once, in 1988, before the program was cancelled in 1993. Image File history File linksMetadata Buran_landing. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Each NASA space shuttle designation is composed of a prefix and suffix seperated by a dash. ... Illustration of the Buran Shuttle on an Energiya booster rocket Buran_Energia on the launch pad at Baikonur Buran_Energia on the pad Buran on liftoff Buran on touchdown Buran piggybacked on an An-225 carrier The Soviet reusable spacecraft program Buran (Бура́н meaning snowstorm or blizzard... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Model of Energia rocket with Buran shuttle The Soviet reusable spacecraft program Buran (Бура́н meaning snowstorm or blizzard in Russian) began in 1976 at TsAGI as a response to the United States Space Shuttle program. ...

Like its American cousin, the Buran was transported on the back of a large jet airplane from its landing sites back to the launch complex. It was piggy-backed on the Soviet (now Ukrainian) Antonov An-225 aircraft, which was designed for this task, and is the largest powered aircraft in the world. Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) Translation: Workers of the world, unite!) Anthem: The Internationale (1922-1944) Hymn of the Soviet Union (1944-1991) Capital (and largest city) Moscow Official languages None; Russian de facto Government Socialist Republic/Federation of Soviet Republics  - Last President Mikhail Gorbachev  - Last Premier Ivan Silayev... Private Antonov AN-2 in the UK Antonov, aka Antonov Aeronautical Scientific/Technical Complex (Antonov ASTC) (Ukrainian: ) is a Ukraine-based (since 1952) aircraft manufacturing and services company (design office prefix An) with particular expertise in the field of very large aircraft construction. ... An-225 carrying a Buran shuttle The Antonov An-225 Mriya (NATO reporting name: Cossack) is a strategic airlift transport airplane that was built by Antonov (ASTC). ...

First flight

The first and only orbital launch of the (unmanned) shuttle Buran 1.01 was at 3:00 UTC on 15 November 1988. It was lifted into orbit by the specially designed Energia booster rocket. The life support system was not installed and no software was installed on the cockpit computers. ^[1] UTC redirects here. ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The shuttle orbited the Earth twice in 206 minutes of flight^[2]. On its return, it performed an automated landing on the shuttle runway at Baikonur Cosmodrome, where despite a lateral wind speed of 17 metres/second it made a successful landing only 3 metres laterally and 10 metres longitudinally from the target. ^[2] Map showing the location of Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan The Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakh: Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, Bayqoñır ğarış aylağı; Russian: Космодром Байконур, Kosmodrom Baykonur), also called Tyuratam, is the worlds oldest and largest operational space launch facility. ...

Part of the launch was televised, but the actual liftoff was not shown. This led to some speculation that the mission may have been fabricated, and that the subsequent landing may not have been from orbit but from a shuttle-carrying aircraft. In the United States, this procedure was used with Space Shuttle Enterprise to test the flight characteristics of the Space Shuttle on approach and landing, so that by the time mission STS-1 drew to a close, the handling characteristics of Space Shuttle Columbia would be known. Since then, the launch video has been released to the public, confirming that the shuttle did indeed lift off, with the poor weather conditions described by the Soviet media at the time easily seen. ^[3] The Space Shuttle Enterprise (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first Space Shuttle built for NASA. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield and was therefore not capable of space operations; her purpose was to perform test flights in the atmosphere. ... NASAs Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States governments current manned launch vehicle. ... The first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, launched April 12, 1981, returned April 14. ... Space Shuttle Columbia (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first spaceworthy space shuttle in NASAs orbital fleet (Enterprise preceded Columbia, but Enterprise was a non-spaceworthy test article intended for later conversion to a flightworthy vehicle). ...

Projected flights

Buran before liftoff.

As of 1989, it was projected that Buran would have an unmanned second flight in 1993, with a duration of 15-20 days. ^[4] Due to the cancellation of the project, this never took place. Image File history File links public domain image from NASA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links public domain image from NASA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Destruction

On May 12, 2002, a hangar housing a Buran 1.01 orbiter (possibly the actual Buran that flew in 1988) collapsed due to incomplete maintenance. The collapse killed eight workers and destroyed the orbiter as well as a mockup of an Energia booster rocket.[1] May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Hangars can be used to hold airplanes, airships and helicopters. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

• Photo of collapsed hangar
• Remains of Buran photo. The Buran's right front windshield is still visible under the debris.

References

November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Space Shuttle Buran

• Buran's first flight, lift-off video
• Detailed site about the Buran space shuttle
• NPO MOLNIYA Research and Industrial Corporation
• A personal view of Buran
• Buran photo-report at Pravda.ru

v • d • e  Space Shuttles
	US Space Shuttle program Enterprise (atmospheric tests) Pathfinder (ground test simulator) Columbia (destroyed 2003) Challenger (destroyed 1986) Discovery (active) Atlantis (active) Endeavour (active)	Soviet Buran program OK-GLI (BST-02) (aerotester) Buran (retired, destroyed 2002) Ptichka (95–97% completed, unused) 2.01 (incomplete) 2.02 (partially dismantled) 2.03 (dismantled)