LAST EDITED ON Dec-27-04 AT 11:28 PM (EST)
Inspired by Sinclair's "Papushka" thread, Here are some shots of a flight I took the Buran shuttle on in the Orbiter Spaceflight simulator: As I mentioned before, Buran was only orbited once in RL (and it was unmanned), and only two were built. Although the design was largely copied from NASA's orbiter, in many ways the Buran system turned out to be superior, largely owing to the fact that the Buran was built 5 years after the STS and thus the Russian designers were able to observe the STS and learn from NASA's mistakes and apply appropriate improvements, but the main reason was Energia booster that carried it, which is a standalone launch system that could carry many payloads unlike the STS's booster assembly, which relied in part on the 3 large external-tank fed engines on the shuttle. Since Energia can do all the work at liftoff, the only engines Buran has need for are the two smaller rockets equivilent to the OMS engines on the STS, allowing for a larger cargo bay in an airframe the same size. Also, Energia can propel Buran into a higher orbit than the STS... Anyway, enjoy the show:1) Closeup of Buran and Energia on the launchpad at Baikonur Kosmodrome: the differences between Buran/Energia and the NASA shuttle should be obvious...
2) Another view of the Buran-Energia combo and it's launch pad complex
3)Liftoff!
4)T + 1:00. All systems normal...
5)60,000 meters and climbing: velocity now 1,700 meters per second
6)85,000 meters: The four Zenit boosters, (now expended) have automatically jettisoned: the engines in the Energia Core continue to soldier on: piloting this thing manually on takeoff is more demanding than the STS due to the line-of-thrust being offset from the center of mass, especially after booster separation. 
7)The Energia Core continues to carry the shuttle into orbit: As should be obvious from this pic, the Core is more than just a fuel tank, unlike the Core on the STS launch system
8)The Core has now expended the last of it's fuel, leaving the shuttle in an eliptical orbit with a periapsis of about 340km and a apoapsis of 760km: Shortly after separation, the shuttle's own engines were fired to adjust the orbit a bit...
9)The Buran, now in an "adjusted" orbit, with a periapsis of 509km, and an apaopsis of 727km: the shuttle has completed about 3/4s of an orbit, and is now over Spain...
10)Time to open the cargo bay doors: inside is a generic payload module the shuttle will dock with during this flight.
11)Now to use the remote manipulator system to remove the module from the cargo bay...
12)That's as far out as I can get it: the RMS arm on the Buran has a more limited range of movement that the one on the STS, so I'll have to release the payload then maneuver around it in order to dock.
13)The shuttle has manuvered into a docking position with the module, and the airlock has been extended: now ready to ease it in for hard dock.
14)Fingers of Gold: At least that's how the many branches of the Amazon River appear from orbit under reflected sunlight. The shuttle is now into it's second orbit.
15)Now time to take the Manned Maneuvering Module out for a spin: like the shuttle itself, this piece of technolegy is very similar to NASA's version.
16)The MMU is now behind the shuttle for an inspection of the main engines and rear RCS thrusters. This view best illustrades the differences between the tail-end of the Buran and the NASA shuttle.
17)Now for a closeup of the cockpit...
18)Now into our 8th orbit: By this shot, the MMU has long been recovered. The only real signifince of this shot is the Florida Peninsula below, as this is the closest I will come to a flyover of the Kennedy Space Center during this flight...
19)Now into the 16th orbit: Since a full day has passed since launch, Buran's projected orbital path once again crosses over Baikonur, which means it's time for re-entry. The payload has been released into orbit for future retrival, the bay doors are closed, and the main engines are now firing to slow the shuttle down for re-entry: At this point it's over Argentina...
20)The shuttle is just entering the upper atmosphere and already it's getting really hot from the friction: Right now, it's over north-eastern Iran.
21)As the atmosphere steadily thickens, so does to heat from from friction: the shuttle's heat shield tiles are now white-hot: It's currently over the Caspian Sea.
22)The shuttle has emerged from the re-entry blackout and is now slow enough to maneuver using it's control surfaces: I've overshot where I intended to come down, but it should still be close enough to glide back to a landing at Baikonur if I'm careful.
23)The shuttle is now on approach: in the background is the launchpad where the journey began...
24)Now on finals...
25)On the ground again, with the braking drogue deployed. Thus ends the journey: The shuttle was aloft for 25 hours and circled the Earth 16 times...
Jonathan Nikiforovs.
Milepost 180, CP Belleville Sub.
Repainter for Yonder Locomotive Works.
"A crictic is a man who creates nothing and thereby feels qualified to judge the work of creative men. There is logic in this; he is unbiased - he hates all creative people equally." - Lazarus Long
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RE: The space shuttle that wasn't to be (56k alert), Poltergeist, Dec-28-04, 00:27 AM, (1) RE: The space shuttle that wasn't to be (56k alert), JonN, Dec-28-04, 01:00 AM, (2) RE: The space shuttle that wasn't to be (56k alert), mjs2101, Dec-28-04, 07:15 PM, (3) RE: The space shuttle that wasn't to be (56k alert), JonN, Dec-28-04, 08:21 PM, (4) RE: The space shuttle that wasn't to be (56k alert), sinclair97, Dec-29-04, 06:03 PM, (5) RE: The space shuttle that wasn't to be (56k alert), thomil, Dec-29-04, 06:11 PM, (6) RE: The space shuttle that wasn't to be (56k alert), CPR_Malice_96th, Dec-30-04, 04:54 AM, (7)
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