Soviet space shuttle could bail out NASA

The Soviet-era Buran space programme may be unexpectedly revived. With NASA about to retire its ageing fleet of space shuttles, there is a pressing need for viable space transport.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Buran
• space
• shuttle
• NASA
• Soviet
• Union
• Baikonur

[synonys]

The shuttle CAN be landed fully automatically. Final approach is done manually for the same reasons airline pilots land manually.

[LordKaisen]

@sovietkotek Im not saying the idea wasn't noble, but the communist system collapsed due to how it was set up. Besides, it wasn't real communism to begin with. Soviet lawmakers, leaders, vips were given preferential treatment, not exactly a government of the proletariat.

[Mr41432]

@FUCKAMERISCUM666 What has America done to you?

[FUCKAMERISCUM666]

USA Shuttle like to blow up on take off and when landing crappy made usa shuttle

[johanlaurasia]

How could Buran possibly be revived with buildings collapsing on them or sitting in a park for years as an attraction. The US Shuttles are at least serviceable... you can't say that about the Buran vehicles.

[KonChul]

@kalaw12 Agreed because it goes both ways. One could say that the US stole the ideas from Nazi Germany since Werner Von Braun was german. And you are right that science is indeed universal, but that is how it was back in the day. Now thankfully everyone is working together. The Hadron Collider, or Atom Smaher in Switzerland is such an international achievement. As for Buran... Who said that the past does not teach us anything new :-)

[sovietkotek]

@LordKaisen yeah i do know that in the later years,small counter revolutionary reforms changed things such as health care to be prioritized for the higher members of the government and other things like that. And no it wasn't communism, it was the Union of Soviet SOCIALIST republics. Due to human nature, communism would be extremely difficult to uphold. The USSR collapsed because of Gorbachev and Yeltsin. Their reforms caused suffering, starvation, inflation,death,disease,drugs, killing millions

[sovietkotek]

@LordKaisen thats your opinion, and there's nothing much wrong with it, everyone has opinions. But considering the Iron curtain, and that the Soviet system affected differently the various republics(they were after all, under different policies and leadership), the notion that the Soviet Union was a failure is a relatively refutable stereotype, that has been explained by plenty of former soviets themselves, but even among the former Soviet citizens, they have their viewpoints.

[LordKaisen]

@sovietkotek well the soviet union was a failed policy..wouldn't work under its system.

[ti994apc]

Just like the US space shuttle, I cost far too much and have very little to show for it. The Russians just figured it out faster. You can have hundreds of Soyuz or Falcon9 launches for the price of one Shuttle launch.