Space Shuttle vs. Buran
buran.su
Space Shuttle vs. Buran
1–10 of 49 posts
Re: Space Shuttle vs. Buran
#2I didn't realize .su domains were still relevant. Also, very interesting content!
Re: Space Shuttle vs. Buran
#3Why did I get the vibe I was reading pro-Buran propaganda in 2016?
Re: Space Shuttle vs. Buran
#4The Buran boosters came down on parachutes and then landed on landing gear -- did that actually happen during either test?
Re: Space Shuttle vs. Buran
#5Interesting, I was just reading up on the space shuttle design process, and how the shuttle design was hurt by politics and scope creep. Apparently the project was in jeopardy at some point and needed buy-in from the Air Force. So they made a few changes, such as making it much bigger, and the tank disposable for potential military applications.
Well, turns out the shuttle was never used by the military. But the legacy of those decisions enabled but ultimately doomed the shuttle. It did not meet it's economic goals and was less safe because of them. Is that a correct reading of what happened?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_design_process
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/military/read.main/...
This is where the Buran comes in, they largely copied the shuttle, but did they have the foresight to improve the poor parts of the design?
Re: Space Shuttle vs. Buran
#6The Shuttle, despite its many problems, flew 133 successful flights.
Re: Space Shuttle vs. Buran
#7If anyone saw that note about the computer systems and wanted to learn more about Soviet-era computers, this may be a good place to start:
http://www.computer-museum.ru/english/argon.htm
I'm no expert in this subject.
Re: Space Shuttle vs. Buran
#8The Buran boosters came down on parachutes and then landed on landing gear -- did that actually happen during either test?
The shuttle itself completed several atmospheric and one orbital flight, demonstrating autopiloted runway landings from orbit.
The reusable booster technology was just planned, though. The project was cancelled long before they could be tested. I'm not even sure there were any finalized specifications.
Re: Space Shuttle vs. Buran
#9This article says the detached boosters fire rockets as they are landing and deploy landing gear. Was that ever demonstrated to work? I'm curious of there is precedent for this prior to SpaceX or just wishful thinking.
Re: Space Shuttle vs. Buran
#10The Shuttle, despite its many problems, flew 133 successful flights.
At a direct cost of around 1.5 billion dollars per flight. This includes a lot of flights that were essentially milk runs, bringing satellites into orbit or doing other light work that could have been just as easily done with much cheaper capsule flights.