A Buran shuttle is for sale ?! - Is this true?!

Shaun Barrett · 2002-06-09 00:23:33

Yes, apparently it's all true. I heard they wanted $6 million for Buran.
A Buran did fly in space but was unmanned ... it may be this one they're trying to sell. I don't know.
In any event, shuttles and Burans are just wondrous technological dinosaurs, if you ask me! They're economic white elephants and should never have been built.
If you're thinking of buying it, my advice is to park it on a vacant lot in Los Angeles and open up a hamburger restaurant in the payload bay!

Phobos · 2002-06-09 11:47:11

It's too bad that the only Buran that was actually flight tested and ready to go was destroyed when the hangar roof collapsed on top of it. But then again if people wouldn't have died in event, it probably would have been for the best. The last thing we need is another inefficient space shuttle program going on.

Tom Jolly · 2002-06-09 14:05:22

I remember reading that the one for sale is a display at a museum, meaning it's likely been gutted to some degree. Hard to say, but I'm sure it's far from being remotely functional. And, even if it was, it'd probably cost another $10 to $20 million to build a new launch pad for it, money much better spent subsidizing X-Prize contenders.

Shaun Barrett · 2002-06-09 18:41:37

Phobos and Tom, I couldn't agree more.
See you in Los Angeles at the opening of BGD's new diner .... you want fries with that?!

Phobos · 2002-06-10 16:36:13

Sure. While I wait I think I'll sit in the pilot's seat and pretend I'm bringing 'er back in with all systems critical.

Mark S · 2002-06-14 13:26:49

There is a lot of confusion about the wherabouts of Burans and the static test articles. A static test article sits on display in Gorky Park, while the Aerodynamic test article (equivalent to the American "Enterprise" with jet engines) is on display in Australia. The only Buran to have flown in space was slated to go on display somewhere in Russia until several events took place last month. First, a radio station in LA tried to auction off one of the shuttles or mockups (it wasn't revealed which one they were selling.) Then the Buran hangar collapsed. I had heard that none of the shuttles were in the hangar at the time, but I've been hearing conflicting reports about this. I don't know if there are two Burans for sale, or if the topic of this thread is the Buran being auctioned by the radio station.

Mark S · 2002-06-14 13:35:38

After reading the story, it is clear that the Buran in question, which was the subject of a failed auction by the radio station, is the un-spaceworthy aerodynamic test article once on display in Australia.

The unique feature about this shuttle is the ability for powered flight under its four jet engines. Just imagine tooling around in your own space shuttle whil the rest of the general aviation crowd is flying Cessnas

If I had the money, I'd buy it in a heartbeat, and I'm sure that most of you feel the same way. I hope that some aviation museum has the good sense to buy it before the owners decide to sell it for scrap.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-10-15 15:22:43

more adrift than ever is a phrase used in 2022

an old thread for sure but maybe worth a visit since some now declare the best years are behind, Russia and Soviet feats a thing of the past?

The Russian Space Program Is Falling Back to Earth
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/arc … ne/671740/
The storied space superpower was already stalling. Then came the Ukraine war.

The new crew arrived at the International Space Station last week, all smiles and floating hair. There was, as usual, a little welcome ceremony, with heartfelt remarks from the newcomers streamed live for the people they left behind on Earth. A few of the astronauts floated above the others and turned upside down, hanging like bats, so that their beaming faces would fit into the frame.
But this latest trip was different: For the first time, a Russian cosmonaut had traveled to the space station on an American SpaceX capsule launched into orbit from Florida. The ride was the result of a new seat-swapping arrangement between the United States and Russia. Before 2020, when NASA started using SpaceX to reach the ISS, the space agency had relied solely on Russia’s astronaut-transport system, the Soyuz, paying millions of dollars a seat. Now American astronauts will fly on Soyuz, and Russian cosmonauts on SpaceX, with no money exchanged between the two countries.
The Russian and American space programs have been tangled up since the beginning, and they remain tethered now, even as relations between the two countries deteriorate because of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The two have no choice but to work together: The ISS is a shared space, with the U.S. and Russia its largest partners and Russia responsible for maintaining the station’s orbit.
Beyond the ISS, though, Russia’s space portfolio isn’t all that grandiose these days. Although cosmonauts fly into orbit regularly, Russia does not have a rover on the far side of the moon, as China has, or orbiters around Mars, as India and the United Arab Emirates have. It does not have a fleet of space telescopes like the U.S has. The Soviet Union was the first to send a human being to space, decades ago, and its early accomplishments are a distinct point of national pride. But the Russian space program has stalled for years, plagued by sparse budgets. And that was before Vladimir Putin’s onslaught on Ukraine: Some of the space plans the country still had in the works are falling apart. Now the Russian space effort may be more adrift than ever.

Putin meets regional leaders in trip to Kazakhstan
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/putin-meets-r … 36914.html

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-10-15 16:01:34)

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#1 2002-06-09 00:23:33

Re: A Buran shuttle is for sale ?! - Is this true?!

#2 2002-06-09 11:47:11

Re: A Buran shuttle is for sale ?! - Is this true?!

#3 2002-06-09 14:05:22

Re: A Buran shuttle is for sale ?! - Is this true?!

#4 2002-06-09 18:41:37

Re: A Buran shuttle is for sale ?! - Is this true?!

#5 2002-06-10 16:36:13

Re: A Buran shuttle is for sale ?! - Is this true?!

#6 2002-06-14 13:26:49

Re: A Buran shuttle is for sale ?! - Is this true?!

#7 2002-06-14 13:35:38

Re: A Buran shuttle is for sale ?! - Is this true?!

#8 2022-10-15 15:22:43

Re: A Buran shuttle is for sale ?! - Is this true?!

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