Buran back on?

LAST EDITED ON 01-07-01 AT 12:36 PM (GMT)[p]LAST EDITED ON 01-07-01 AT 12:36 PM (GMT)

I know its slightly off topic but I thought it might stir up some interest.

Russia Plans to Revive Buran ShuttleBy SPACE.com Staffposted: 10:45 am ET28 June 2001
The Russians reportedly plan to revive their Buran space shuttle, thanks to a booming business in Proton launches and the growing need to transport more heavy payloads to the International Space Station.The Buran, based on more advanced technologies than the older U.S. space shuttle fleet, flew only once and was mothballed in 1992 by a cash-strapped Russian government. Its return to service brings a vehicle capable of carrying 100-ton payloads — five times more than any Western space vehicle.”There is a future for this program,” Leonid Gurushkin, director of launch operations at Baikonur, told New Scientist magazine. “By extending the length (of Buran) we can carry 200 tons. There is no alternative to Buran and I don’t see any coming.” In 1988, Buran succeeded with a crewless flight when it orbited Earth twice and landed at its custom 2.8-mile landing strip in Baikonur Cosmodrome. Recently, Buran has been readied for flight and was shown to Western aerospace engineers last week by RSC Energia, the state company that built Buran. Buran machinery remains in place at Baikonur and the Energia hangars are packed with spare parts.Russia plans to finance the Buran redevelopment by selling more tourist trips, like Dennis Tito’s, to the space station, the magazine reported. Western space dollars also have flowed to Russia as payments for Proton rocket launches which recently have pushed up 17 commercial satellites in the same number of months, earning the nation more than $100 million per launch.Energia initially built two Buran shuttles and three main boosters. The program, designed to employ 30,000 people and make up to 30 launches a year, survived a while with military dollars despite a crumbling Soviet Union. Buran was seen as vital to missile defense. The shuttle’s only imported component was heat-resistant paint. Buran, which means snowstorm in English, lacks main engines so it has higher payload capability. It relies entirely on strap-on boosters, rather than the U.S. shuttle’s orange external tank, giving Buran more lifting power than the U.S. shuttles. On top of that, its uses liquid-fuel boosters rather than solid boosters. That means Buran’s boosters are throttle-able and theoretically safer — they can be regulated in intensity and turned on and off to avoid blow-up tragedies like Challenger.The Russian shuttle is assembled horizontally and lifted to vertical at the launch pad, unlike the U.S. shuttle which is assembled vertically. Energia believes Buran’s time has come with the need for larger payload transportation to the International Space Station. “We have been dreaming of this time,” Gurushkin told New Scientist.

For more details see: http://k26.com/buran/

http://www.spacer.com/news/russia-space-general-01m.html

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/buran_010628.html

Ivan