The Buran copied another of the American shuttle’s most recognizable features, the robotic manipulator arm. The Buran’s version, known as the Onboard Manipulator System, was built to assist ...

The Buran spacecraft was the Soviet Union's response to NASA's space shuttle program. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The ...

The Buran was the Soviet Union’s answer to NASA's Space Shuttle, featuring innovations like automated flight and superior safety mechanisms. But after a single flight in 1988, the program was shelved.

Buran itself was destroyed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2002 when the hangar housing it collapsed. Another shuttle is also located at Baikonur, and a third rests at Zhukovsky Air Base near Moscow.

Footage of Buran’s 1988 launch. NASA’s decision to pursue the space shuttle on the heels of the Apollo program came down, in short, to funding.

A quarter-century ago, it seemed like the space shuttle suddenly got a new sibling. On Nov. 15, 1988, the Buran reusable orbiter, the crowning achievement of the Soviet space program, made its ...

The Russian space shuttle Buran - which looked similar to the U.S. space shuttle - is perched on an Energia rocket in 1988. Rsa Via Nasa. Feb. 11, 2008, 1:41 PM EST. By Robert Windrem.

The Soviet Union's Buran space shuttle program stands as one of the saddest episodes in aerospace history. After NASA began working on its space shuttle program in the early 1970s, ...

The first Buran shuttle made just a single, unpiloted flight to orbit in 1988. However, this vehicle was destroyed in 2002 after the roof of the hangar where it was stored at the Baikonur ...

The Soviet Union's Buran space shuttle program stands as one of the saddest episodes in aerospace history. After NASA began working on its space shuttle program in the early 1970s, the Soviet Union ...

A full-size mockup of a Soviet Buran space shuttle is departing Moscow for an exhibition center opening at the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Skip to main content. Open menu Close menu ...

For propulsion on final approach, the Buran was designed to incorporate two Saturn AL-31 jet engines situated on either side of the shuttle’s tailfin. However, for the Buran’s only flight, the ...