5.3 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buran programme | 4/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_programme | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T12:39:22.205241+00:00 | kb-cron |
Following a series of atmospheric test flights using the jet-powered OK-GLI prototype, the first operational spacecraft (Buran, orbiter 1K) flew one uncrewed test mission. At 03:00 UTC on 15 November 1988, Buran and the Energia carrier rocket lifted off from pad 110/37 in Baikonur. The life support system was not installed for the flight and no data was displayed on the CRT displays in the Command Compartment.
The shuttle orbited the Earth twice, travelling 83,707 kilometres (52,013 mi) in 3 hours and 25 minutes (0.14 flight days). On its return, it performed an automated landing on the shuttle runway (Site 251) at Baikonur Cosmodrome.
==== Planned flights ====
The planned flights for the shuttles in 1989, before the downsizing of the project and eventual cancellation, were:
1991 — Orbiter 2K uncrewed first flight, duration 1–2 days. 1992 — Orbiter 2K uncrewed second flight, duration 7–8 days. Orbital manoeuvres and space station approach test. 1993 — Buran (1K) uncrewed second flight, duration 15–20 days. 1994 — Orbiter 3K first crewed space test flight, duration of 24 hours. Craft equipped with life-support system and with two ejection seats. Crew would consist of two cosmonauts with Igor Volk as commander, and a flight engineer. 1994–1995 — Second, third, fourth and fifth crewed orbital test flights. The planned uncrewed second flight of orbiter 2K was changed in 1991 to the following:
December 1991 — Orbiter 2K uncrewed second flight, with a duration of 7–8 days. Orbital maneuvers and space station approach test: automatic docking with Mir's Kristall module crew transfer from Mir to the orbiter, with testing of some of its systems in the course of twenty-four hours, including the remote manipulator undocking and autonomous flight in orbit docking of the crewed Soyuz TM-101 with orbiter 2K crew transfer from the Soyuz to the orbiter and onboard work in the course of twenty-four hours automatic undocking and landing
=== Cancellation of the programme 1993 ===
After the first flight of a Buran shuttle, the project was suspended due to lack of funds and the political situation in the Soviet Union. The two subsequent orbiters, which were due in 1990 (Orbiter 2K) and 1992 (Orbiter 3K) were never completed with other articles being scrapped (see next section).
The project was officially terminated on 30 June 1993, by President Boris Yeltsin. At the time of its cancellation, 20 billion roubles had been spent on the Buran programme. Commenting on the discontinuation of the programme in his interview to New Scientist, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov described the project's end:"We had no civilian tasks for Buran and the military ones were no longer needed." The programme was designed to boost national pride, carry out research, and meet technological objectives similar to those of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, including resupply of the Mir space station, which was launched in 1986 and remained in service until 2001. When Mir was finally visited by a spaceplane, the visitor was a Space Shuttle orbiter, not a Buran-class orbiter. The Buran SO, a docking module that was to be used for rendezvous with the Mir space station, was refitted for use with the U.S. Space Shuttles during the Shuttle–Mir missions. The cost of a Buran launch carrying a 20-ton payload was estimated at 270 million roubles, vs 5.5 million roubles on the Proton rocket.
==== Baikonur hangar collapse ==== On 12 May 2002, a hangar roof at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan collapsed because of a structural failure due to poor maintenance. The collapse killed eight workers and destroyed one of the orbiters (Buran, orbiter 1K), which flew the test flight in 1988, as well as a mock-up of an Energia booster rocket. It was not clear to outsiders at the time which orbiter was destroyed and the BBC reported that it was just "a model" of the orbiter. It occurred at the MIK RN/MIK 112 building at Site 112 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, 14 years after the only Buran flight. Work on the roof had begun for a maintenance project, whose equipment is thought to have contributed to the collapse, together with heavy rainfall in the days preceding the collapse.
== List of vehicles == Five orbiters were planned to be built (designated 1K-5K, K stands for Корабль, 'craft, flying article'), with hull numbering starting with 1 or 2 (e.g. 1.01), two originally ordered in 1970s and three ("second series") additionally ordered in 1983. For research and testing purposes, several test articles were produced, designated 1M-8M (M stands for Макет, 'mock-up'), with hull numbering starting with 0 (e.g. 0.02). The programme prefix OK stands for Орбитальный Корабль, 'Orbital Vehicle' and carries the GRAU index number 11F35. By 1991 two operational vehicles were delivered to Baikonur, three others were under construction at the Tushino Machine-Building Plant (TMZ) near Moscow. Most of the geo-locations below show the orbiter bodies on the ground; in some cases Google Earth's History facility is required to see the orbiter within the dates specified.
=== Related test vehicles and models ===
== Revival possibilities ==