Burán Ferry

Burán is the name of a space shuttle launched by the Soviet Union in 1988. Although the Soviet shuttle program was called MKS, it ended up being better known as < i>Burán (Russian: Буран, 'snowstorm' or 'blizzard'), first and only vehicle in the series to reach space.

Together with the shuttle, the launchers, the Energia rocket and the AN-225 transport plane were developed. All of this was part of the Energy/Buran project that began in 1976, replacing the "Spiral" aerospace system project. In the construction of the Energía, the concept of the "Vulkan" rocket was used, which was a design based on the Proton rocket, but much larger and with greater range, using the same toxic hypergolic fuels. The "Vulkan" designation was later given to a variation of the Energia that has eight boosters and multiple stages.

Work began in 1976 at the Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI), as a response to the US space shuttle program. Soviet politicians were convinced that the space shuttle could be an effective weapon from the moment the US Department of Defense began taking part in the project. They thought the shuttle could destabilize the balance of power established during the Cold War. This project became the largest and most expensive in the history of Soviet space exploration.

Because the debut of the Buran shuttle followed that of the space shuttle Columbia, and given the similarities between the two shuttles, many speculated that espionage could have played an important role in the development of the Soviet shuttle. This impression was also supported by the memory of the similarities between the Tupolev Tu-144 and Concorde supersonic passenger aircraft. However, today it is known that, although externally it does share the aerodynamic characteristics of the American space shuttle, internally it is a product developed by Soviet aerospace engineering (an argument already made by those responsible for the project at the time of its development).

The development of the Burán

The development of the Burán shuttle began in the early 1970s as a response to the US space shuttle program. When NASA announced the project, Soviet space program engineers began to study the validity of the program, originally dismissing the project as they did not believe the program's cost figures were realistic. However, when they learned that the shuttle could be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Soviet military suspected that the program was actually a nuclear bomber, since a launch from Vandenberg allowed it to fly over the main centers of the Union Soviet in just 10 minutes.

In February 1976, despite the fact that scientists were skeptical of the military suspicion, the NPO Mólniya design cabinet was created) for the development of the project, under the direction of Gleb Evgenievich Lozino-Lozinsky (Глеб Евгеньевич Лозино-Лозинский, Dec. 1909 - Nov. 2001) who was also responsible for the Spiral project, of which he was the successor. While Soviet engineers preferred a smaller, lighter lift vehicle, military commanders pushed for a full-scale copy of the American shuttle's delta wing, in an effort to maintain strategic parity between the two superpowers.

The construction of the ferries began in 1980, and in 1984 the first Burán was completed. However, already in July 1983, the first suborbital flights of scale models took place, the BOR-5. Given the progress of the program, five other scale models were prepared. A test vehicle with four rear-mounted jet engines was also built. This vehicle is known as OK-GLI, or "Burán Aerodynamic Analogue." These jet engines were used to take off from a common runway, and once a certain point was reached, they were turned off to make the Burán descend gliding to the runway. This provided invaluable information on the handling characteristics of the design, and was achieved by a much simpler method than that used by the US shuttle program, consisting of mounting the test shuttle Enterprise on a modified Boeing 747 aircraft and detaching it. of it in full flight. The aerodynamic tests of the Burán concluded after 24 flights, and the test airplane was subsequently retired. Sometimes analog models or "moquettes" 1:1 of the Buran were transported on the gigantic Antonov An-225 aircraft, in 1989 an AN:225 was transported as a "backpack" to a Burán to the Le Bourget International Aviation Fair (in the suburbs of Paris).

His first and only flight

The only orbital flight of the Burán (unmanned) occurred at 3:00 UTC on November 15, 1988. It was placed into orbit by an Energía launcher specifically designed for this flight. The life support system was not installed, nor were the cockpit controls. The shuttle made two complete orbits before returning, performing an impressive automatic landing on the runway of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The American shuttles, although almost completely automatic, had to be piloted manually in atmospheric flight. The automatic guidance system was designed at the Khartron Scientific Research Center (in Kharkiv), it was the greatest achievement since it did not require the intervention of human pilots.

Part of the launch was televised, although not the launch itself. This gave rise to speculation that it was a "fabricated" mission, and that the subsequent landing had not occurred from orbit, but from a plane carrying one of the Russian shuttles (a process that was used on the American side to test the aerodynamic characteristics of your own devices). Videos of that launch have since been released, confirming that indeed, the Buran was launched and in the poor weather conditions that the Soviet media had claimed such a launch took place.

The premature end of the Burán

Following this first successful flight, the project was suspended due to the lack of funds and the political situation in the Soviet Union. The following two orbiters, scheduled for 1990 and 1992, were never completed. On 30 June 1993, the project was officially cancelled by Russian President Borís Yeltsin. At that time the Russian era had spent some 2 billion rubles on the project.

This program wanted to enhance national pride, promote research and provide the technological knowledge that Americans gained with their own space shuttle program. In addition, the Buran was intended to become the supplier of materials for the Mir space station, which had been launched in 1986 and remained in service until 2001. When Mir was finally visited by a shuttle, the visitor was the American shuttle, and not the Burán.

The "Burán SO" module, a docking module that was to be used for the rendezvous with the Mir space station, was modified for use with the US space shuttle during the Shuttle-Mir missions.

The deterioration of the remains of the programme

The Burán type ferries completed at the cancellation of the program (1.01 11F35 or K1 «Burán» and 1.02 11F35 or K2 «Ptichka», "little bird" in Russian), and the remains of the project are today the property of Kazakhstan. In 2002, the roof of the hangar that housed the only Buran that had completed an orbital flight and a mock-up of the Energia launcher collapsed due to lack of maintenance, destroying the vehicle. Eight workers also died in this accident.

The second Burán series (2.01 11F35 K3 and 2.02 11F35 K4), a modified ferry with a new flight bridge design and equipped with ejectable seats for the first tripling flights, never left the Tushino factory, and there are three of them left in poor conditions of conservation. Parts of these vehicles have even been sold online.

Device 2.03 (11F35 K5) was decommissioned when the program was canceled and no longer exists.

Although there were five Burán devices in production, there were up to eight test vehicles. These vehicles were used in static resistance tests or atmospheric tests. Some of them were nothing more than mere mockups for testing electrical equipment, crew procedures, etc.

The strange journey of the «OK-GLI»

The aerodynamic test vehicle "OK-GLI" was equipped with four rear jet engines (the fuel tank occupied a quarter of its cargo hold). This Burán could take off on its own for test flights. After the cancellation of the program, OK-GLI was stored at the Zhukovsky air base, near Moscow, and was later purchased by an Australian company, the "Buran Space Corporation" and transported by ship to Sydney via Gothenburg, Sweden (country of the operation contractors). This special airplane arrived at its destination on February 9, 2000, remaining for some years as a tourist attraction in Darling Bay.

Visitors could walk around and inside the vehicle (a platform was built along the cargo hold), and plans were made for a traveling exhibition to various cities in Australia and Asia. However, its owners went bankrupt and the vehicle was taken to a field where it was damaged and suffered various acts of vandalism.

In September 2004, a German journalist found the ferry near Bahrain. The German museum "Technik Museum Speyer" bought the device, where it has been on display since mid-2008.

The Burán, today

The serial numbers of each device and its current location are listed below:

OK-M (0.01)	Static tests	Baikonur Cosmodrome
OK-GLI (0.02)	Aerodynamic tests	German Museum «Technik Museum Speyer»
OK-KS (0.03)	Static integrity and electrical tests	Manufactures Energy in Korolev
OK-MT (0.04)	Engineering model	Destroyed
OK-TVA (0.15)	Static tests	Pan-Russian Exhibition Centre, Moscow
OK?	Static tests	Unknown
OK??? (0.6)	Static tests	Unknown
OK-TVI (0.8)	Thermal and vacuum static tests	Unknown
Buran (1.01)	Operational	Destroyed
Ptichka (1.02)	Discontinued construction (97% completed)	Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikal (2.01)	Discontinued construction (40% completed)	Tushino, Moscow
Buran (2.02)	Discontinued construction	Partially dismantled, Tushino, Moscow
Buran (2.03)	Discontinued construction	Destroyed

In 2003, the stoppage of U.S. shuttle flights led many to wonder whether it would be possible to re-operate with the Energy and Buran shuttle. However, by then all the necessary equipment, including vehicles, had fallen into disuse and deterioration, or had been dedicated to other uses after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Remarkable differences between Buran and NASA ferry

• The Buran is not an integral part of the launch system, but a mere load of the Russian Energy pitcher, which in turn was able to launch other cargo types of up to 80 tons like the Polyus military station.
• The duration of a typical flight was 10 days, but adding supplies and fuel could be extended up to 30 days.
• The Buran orbiter has no major rockets, releasing space and weight for additional loads.
• The auxiliary rockets (boosters) of the Energy rocket use liquid fuel (cosene/oxygen) instead of solid fuel like the American.
• The Energy launcher, including its main engines, was originally designed to be completely reusable, although subsequent budget cuts prevented this version from being completed. The American shuttle has reusable engines in the orbiter and reusable auxiliary engines, but it requires an external fuel tank that is not recoverable and burns in the atmosphere.
• The Buran ferry can put in low orbit about 30 tons in its standard configuration, compared to 25 tons of the American ferry.
• The Buran aeroplane support index is 6.5 in opposition to the 5.5 in the U.S. ferry.
• The load with which the Buran can return from an orbital flight is 20 t, while the American can only return 15 t.
• Although the thermal protection of both ferries does not have significant differences, Soviet engineers believed that theirs was thermodynamically superior.
• The Buran orbital manoeuvre system uses oxygen and kerosene instead of toxic propellants, and has a higher performance.
• The crew did not experience G-charges greater than 3.0 G during the ascent, and 1.6 G during the re-entry.
• The Buran ferry was able to carry out crewless missions, while the American was not. This means that the Burán was the first space shuttle to run completely with automatic pilot.