![]() ![]() The shuttles that remain in the Baikonur hanger are a representation of not only the political competition between two nations, but also the attempt to send humans to the outer space and, perhaps, conquer the universe. This happened soon after its hangar collapsed following a massive earthquake that killed eight people. Moreover, the shuttle that was launched was eventually destroyed in 2002. ![]() The Buran became the sole Soviet orbiter to ever leave the earth. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the end of the Cold War, and the disintegration of the USSR in 1991, the Soviet shuttle program came to a halt. In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin decided to cancel the Soviet space program in its entirety. The ultimate goal of the space program, however, was never quite achieved. The successful launch of one of the Buran crafts in 1988 showed the world just how superior a shuttle the country crafted. This cargo was meant to build sophisticated weapons as well as space stations. Initially, the Buran shuttles built by the Soviets were designed to transport heavy cargo into space. The Buran Made History, but Never Fully Launched The Buran shuttle was deemed to be relatively safer compared to their US relatives. Moreover, the Buran was designed with emergency eject seats that served all crew members. These specially designed vehicles gave the Soviets greater leeway in sending vessels to space. Instead, as part of the Buran shuttle design series, it was attached to a massive rocket named Energia. Its counterpart, the Buran shuttle, was not designed with a typical engine. It also had a massive rocket that worked as the fuel tank. The shutter orbiter, for instance, was designed with its own engine. Though referred to as twin shuttles, there are significant structural differences. The two surviving vehicles found were a shuttle orbiter and a Buran orbiter. Structurally Unique Shuttles Image credit: Caters News Agency The twin Soviet vehicles were meant to compete with the winged orbiters designed by the US. This scheme constituted a part of the space race that pitted the then superpowers (USA and USSR) in a thrilling battle for dominance of outer space. The intriguing story of the twin shuttles began sometime in the 1970s and 1980s when space scientists in the former USSR designed and built them. Space Race Shuttles Image credit: David de Rueda To date, the Russians still use the Cosmodrome to send or retrieve astronauts who visit the International Space Station. The valued vehicles were ‘busy’ collecting dust, rust, and bird droppings. The Baikonur Cosmodrome is an active spaceport located approximately 1,500 miles southwest of Moscow. The twin crafts were hidden in a lonely hangar in the Kazakh steppe’s Baikonur Cosmodrome. The exciting discovery sparked speculation and curiosity regarding what the Russian space agency planned to do with the cherished remains of the vintage space shuttles. In 2017, space enthusiasts were thrilled by the news that two Soviet-era space crafts had been found abandoned in the Kazakhstan desert region. ![]()
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